MoBay Chamber boss warns against ‘great resignation’ phenomenon
Published:Monday | December 13, 2021 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Janet Silvera, president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, says that should workers begin to get the feeling that they are not being paid enough they could well resign from their jobs and push the country’s labour force into a tailspin.
Silvera was speaking against the background of the so-called ‘great resignation’ phenomenon now affecting the US, where the workforce is dwindling, with more and more persons hopping out of low-paying jobs, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Young people, especially, are leaving their stable jobs to pursue entrepreneurial ventures or for global organisations that are willing to employ people remotely, leaving local employers struggling to fill the gaps,” said Silvera, while addressing a stakeholder consultation in Montego Bay on Friday.
The consultation was held under the theme ‘Transforming St James: Bridging the Gaps for Economic Growth and Development’ and hosted by the Heart/NSTA Trust and the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.
Silvera said the current generation of workers wants to be challenged and respected, and employers can no longer rely on the fact that people just need “a work”.
“Gone are the days when you look at an employee as just a worker; you have to now consider them a partner in growing the business,” she Silvera. “People want to work, yes, but they also want to earn respectable wages, and they want to be trained and motivated.”
The chamber boss further argued that although this is a move that affords upward mobility for many, it is critical for Jamaica and its business leaders to consider where the next generation of workers will come from.
Silvera said a new approach has to be taken in the face of the post-pandemic world, and that the importance of skills training has never been more essential.
“We have to examine what are the trends and recognise that it’s not business as usual,” noted Silvera. “We cannot sit around and think that the next generation is going to have the same loyalty to companies like before.
“We cannot just think outside of the box. we have to jump out and totally migrate outside of the box, and come up with creative means to attract, train, grow, develop, and retain employees,” added Silvera.