Over 600 vacancies open on new Labour Management System
More than 600 jobs are currently available on the Virgin Islands’ Labour Management System (LMS), with officials urging Belongers to register and take advantage of the opportunities.
Workforce Development Manager at the Department of Labour and Workforce Development, Roxanne DeWint-Toussaint, told attendees at a recent job fair in the Third District that her unit monitors postings on the system once they expire.
“I want to let all of you who are here today know that the labour management system, which is the system that has been created to automate all of our labour processes, currently has 555 jobs. Am I correct, Leo? It’s 603. So I looked at it yesterday and today it has on 603,” DeWint-Toussaint stated.
She explained that the law gives Virgin Islanders first preference when filling vacancies. “My unit basically operates off of Section 117 of the Virgin Islands Labour Code. If a Virgin Islander is qualified, then they’re to be given first preference. We also look at Section 2A of the Virgin Islands, which states that employment opportunities are supposed to be fair and balanced and ensure that Virgin Islanders take preference,” she explained.
Acting Labour Commissioner Mervin Hastings stressed that registration on the LMS is now mandatory for residents, whether employed or not. He noted that a new dashboard was recently added for labour disputes.
“If you’re employed in the Virgin Islands and you want to make a dispute, whether or not you’re an employer or an employee, the only way now that you can make a dispute to the Labour Department is to log on with your password and go in and make a dispute to this department,” Hastings said.
Hastings added that Virgin Islanders risk missing out if they do not engage with the system.
“We have 603 jobs available in the Virgin Islands right now in the labour management system. We’re finding that it seems like everyone else throughout the world is registering and applying for jobs. But Virgin Islanders… are not applying,” he explained.
“I don’t want you blaming the Labour Department when we approve a work permit because you, as Virgin Islanders, are not applying for these jobs,” Hastings warned.
The Labour Management System was launched earlier this year to digitise the work permit process and improve transparency in recruitment. The platform was introduced to replace manual applications and provide real-time access to job listings. Officials have said the system is designed to ensure Belongers and residents are prioritised for employment in line with the Labour Code.
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Boy willock you large bossie, your job fair dominating the news cycle you on to something imagine when d 3 put you in !!!
He should make sure people in the district get jobs too. Dow is show
And 2 Vorgin Islanders wanting a job.
How can we fill these vacancies if we hate and do not want people on Work permits.
I guess businesses will have to go to amore business friendly nation.
“Why does the Labour Department continue to mislead the public? You know that all jobs in the BVI must be advertised, and the majority of these are tied to work permits. The reality is that only 29% of BVIslanders are in the workforce because your department has failed to enforce a true ‘BVI first’ policy. Now you are trying to create the impression that such a policy already exists, when it does not.” And please don’t tell me that the youths do not want to work.
When you sign on to the system it does not ask whether you are a BVIslander/Belonger. Even when you are applying to these roles, the employers have no indication of whether someone is a BVIslander/Belonger. Anyone can sign up to the system and apply for these jobs.
How exactly is the Labour Department ensuring that BVIslanders/Belongers are truly being given first preference? Many of the professional services firms advertise with recruiters in the UK and make offers to people who live abroad. They then advertise these positions on the Labour System or in local newspapers only as a formality after they have already found a candidate. BVIslanders/Belongers do not stand a real chance. How is the Labour Department dealing with these situations?
Wouldn’t your application form indicate your status? Just asking…
It has a drop down menu where you select Permit, Exemption, etc.
After selecting the Permit exemption for example, it forces you to put in your NHI and exemption permit number lower down.
So what? If the qualifications are on par then the BVIslander/Belonger will be considered. Considered does not mean they automatically get the job.
When will they realize that the BVI is very unique in that it has a very small population but quite a lot of opportunities in terms of jobs? When will we realize that because of the standard of life over the last 30-40yrs there are some jobs that locals just do not want to take up. What are the 600 jobs? Are they technical? Marine? Hospitality? Entry Level? Why throw out these statistics without breaking it down properly so that people can understand? Instead of playing politics and holding up businesses for foolishness they need to look at the labour dept stats over the last 10yrs and amend our curriculums accordingly to ensure that our people are being adequately trained to take up positions and maybe eventually own their own business.
Why are there so many non locals in government? Even in the entry level jobs? You go to government offices and even some of the cashiers aren’t from here. We have too many non locals in government. They constantly hire expats while overlooking their own.
The system still need work on
They hire exist because they accept less while person born are being entitled they show to work does nothing claims they not being paid enough hence the expat suck salt and do they job.yall don’t look at that islander want $20 hence expect work for 9
That demonstrates that we have a serious labour shortage problem.
Where to sign up?
Lms.com
“Gong”, I agree with you!
Provide a breakdown of the jobs by sector, and the minimum wage of pay!
Six hundred jobs, and they’re all domestic, is certainly not the kinds of jobs most young Virgin Islanders are looking for!
What we need at that department is concise, and honest answers!
Come on now, dear Labour Department!
Put your degrees to work!
labor department is a complete joke !!!!!!!!! The a 10 year old could do a better job !!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is quite misleading. There is no way that I believe that there are 600 positions available as advertised on the Labour Management System. I am sure there is a large number of job openings and Virgin Islanders should have first preference. Unfortunately once you have one Asian or one expat working in your business, they make recommendations for someone else who is a hard worker and willing to come to the VI. They do not have a degree or training but they are hired sight unseen and they come.
I abhor the suggestion that all Virgin Islanders do not want to work and go to work and does nothing. I have worked my a$$ off from the day I stepped out of high school and college and still going. But, yes, in any demographic there will be persons who are not suitable for certain positions but some of the expats hired in some places are not suitable either. But the long and short is that you should have the first opportunity to work in your own country, especially for these entry level jobs that I see work permits being issued for. I personally know of young people that are uploading resumes and not even an acknowlegement. One recently got an answer and an appointment was made. The young lady was excited and got ready and showed up only to be told the person she had the appointment with was on vacation. We have to do better by our young people. They become despondent after a while and stop applying because they feel nobody cares to give them a job.
Young people, PLEASE APPLY and continue to do so until you receive employment IN YOUR COUNTRY. It is your birthright and, yes, you are ‘ENTITLED’ to it for you cannot have first preference anywhere else in the world, definitely not in Phillipines, Vietnam, Antigua, St. Kitts St. Vincent nor anywhere else. And yes I said it. Labour, do right by our children. They deserve it. Just like D3 had persons who are already here looking for work to show up, you can do the same. Invite them to come and speak with you en masse at the Sports Complex or somewhere and have persons there to speak about work ethics etc. DO SOMETHING. They are our children. 1,000 jobs in a 1,000 days, REMEMBER!
I will be interested to know the breakdown of these job vacancies too! There are so many young Virgin Islanders trained to the degree level that are unemployed due to job shortages. Many are relocating from THE BVI and do not plan to return. This is a huge problem that needs to be addressed now. Please stop playing mind games with people’s intelligence. The numbers do not reflect the reality of the acute job scarcity facing our territory. The brain drain that is currently taking place is concerning and unsustainable. Hey, but why should this current bunch of legislators care? Their salaries are set and that’s all that really matters to them all. Shameless bunch!
600 VACANCIES YOU SAY? STOP WITH THE GASLIGHTING CATFISHING S..T. THERE ARE SO MANY COLLEGE EDUCATED YOUNG ADULTS THAT SHOULD BE FILLING THOSE POSITIONS AND THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE GIVEN THE POSITIONS. I KNOW OF A YOUNG ADULT WHO WENT AWAY TO COLLEGE GOT HER MASTERS CAME BACK AND THE ONLY THING SHE CAN FIND AS EMPLOYMENT IS A SERVER AND A PART TIME CASHIER. WHAT YOU PEOPLE NEED TO DO IS SHUT THE F UP AND STOP FOOLING AND GASLIGHTING PEOPLE WITH THE CONSTANT BS.
There are scores of belongers who applied and tgey are out there in the public saying resumes were taken with the promise to call back and they never did
Stop fooling the public!! Ayo too unfair and need to stop . If it is not in friends social circles … we go back and call then you are told files cannot be found, you have to go over tge process
The Creator do not like ugly and one fine day, the BVI would wake up and wish people were here to help filled the positions
Ayo treat people like dirt
Most of these jobs are in construction and the Marine industry. When some people apply for compliance,office administrators both in corporate and non corporate they will tell you you are not qualified.what should then happen is to train some people in compliance,many companies are Asking for AML Reporting Officer, compliance in SAR,CFT etc.but not much people have the training. Then the salary really does not match the amount of work your brain is racing to accomplish daily.
Then, look at the amount of jobs available in St.Vincent,Belize,Grenada and Barbados that is now posted on their Facebook websites,for the Caricom workers,who don’t need work permit,their construction company is paying by the square foot while some BVI construction companies pay when they feel like.
We have competition we won’t win or able to barter.
I cant say that I’m surprised but there are allot of young individuals, professionals; locals that are struggling to get a job in their area of study. It’s just disappointing that they cannot get a job. They are being told that they are unqualified. All they can get are underqualified jobs that won’t help them survive the elevated cost of living in our Beautiful BVI.
Any youth that wants to further their education has to leave the BVI and invest in themselves. Now when they get back here to our beautiful BVI they struggle soo much with employment.
If you as a Local struggle with proper employment in your area of studies in your home country.
This Says allot about the Systems and Idiosyncrasies of our Beautiful BVI.
Some have left the to start all over in a foreign country.
I wil chalege the labor depsrment any day on this. You mean to tell me that if you are starting a business newly and ubchose the most qualified who happens to be from ove seas you intebd to force the trade licebse owber to ure who u want them to hire.I will surely be challeging you in case like that. Because the bvi has so much strving businesses who already making millions and you dont force them to hire locals. But the new businesses u want to choke. It is so sad the type of bad practices been allowed in this territory.