In the aftermath of the backlash faced after the announcement of its entirely male Corporate Management Team (CMT), the Guyana Water Inc (GWI) has sought to assure that its hiring practices are in no way discriminatory.
In a statement in yesterday’s Stabroek News, GWI stated that it has taken note of the comments and concerns surrounding the gender of its CMT and it attempted to shed some light on its hiring criteria as well as its employment policy and process.
The company insists that that “there is no exclusionary rule or policy for sex, race, religion, or political affiliation.” Instead, it points out, “candidates are specifically shortlisted and employed based on qualifications, experience and overall merit.”
As such it pointed out that candidates for CMT positions in particular are interviewed by a Board-appointed committee and their applications are further evaluated prior to their selection for the role. The release informed however, that of the eleven CMT Members, only three were recently appointed (in 2021), all of which were dominated by male applicants.
The utility referred to a paragraph in its ‘Conditions of Employment’ document which states, “The recruitment and selection procedure aims to provide equality of opportunity to all applicants and to enable the Guyana Water Inc. to recruit the best candidate for a vacancy regardless of gender or race, who will make a positive contribution to the achievement of the company’s objectives.”
Further, “equality of opportunity is an integral part of best recruitment practice and will avoid unlawful discrimination and encourage diversity throughout the structure of its employment.” We follow this concept.
GWI reminded that it is primarily an engineering company that requires technical or mechanical skills and its history has shown that many such roles rarely attract female applicants. Ergo, the majority of applications are from the male gender especially in such positions as Sanitation and Maintenance Workers, Technicians, Engineers and Craftsmen/women.
Notwithstanding, GWI says that it has within its employ, a large number of senior and junior managers in Customer Services, Purchasing and Accounting, and other such areas, who are of the female gender and who make “significant contributions towards the achievement of the company’s goals.”
The release iterated that all vacancies are duly advertised “to attract an appropriate number of candidates of suitable calibre and qualification and to demonstrate that the company is an equal opportunity employer”, as is stated in its Conditions of Employment manual.
