The Ministry of Labour’s Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA) yesterday officially launched the National Job Bank, an online platform aimed at improving the access to employment opportunities for jobseekers.
The initiative is intended to aid in the delivery of President Irfaan Ali’s commitment to create 50,000 jobs in five years.
The National Job Bank can be accessed at https://jobs.gov.gy/ and job seekers will be able to peruse the database for suitable vacancies free of cost. The platform will also enable employers from both the private and public sectors to use the site to list vacancies and link with potential candidates to fill the respective posts based on their qualifications, skills and competencies.
Job seekers can apply for jobs immediately after registering to use the site and the platform even provides the option for job seekers to upload their resumes, which will be accessible to potential employers.
During his address at the launch, which was held in the Ministry’s Boardroom yesterday morning, Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton said latitude will be given for employment agencies to utilise the Job Bank but it will have to be done within a framework.
He added that credit will also have to be given to the CRMA once any data or information is utilised from the Job Bank. “There will be no fees attached to any potential employer or job seeker. No fees will be attached [for] utilising our data. Secondly, any aspect of our data you utilise, you must give credit to the Ministry of Labour Central Employment and Man-power Agency. It is not a free for all. We will not allow a free for all. We will not allow anyone to utilise our information, utilise our data and claim it and use it as their own,” Hamilton explained.
Hamilton also used the occasion to announce that the ministry is seeking legal guidance on regularising employment agencies. “We want all employment agencies operating in this space to be registered and regulated by the Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency,” he said.
Hamilton further stated that the ministry will also write to all employment agencies and inform them about their participation and restrictions. “I think it is useful for them to participate because it will take CRMA to another level, nationally and internationally,” he said.
Hamilton expressed hope that the oil and gas industry will utilise the Job Bank permanently before adding that it is not only available to Guyanese nationals. “The job bank is too important….It’s a national and international job bank that people can utilise because we know there might have many people in the diaspora that [are] seeking jobs to come back home to Guyana and they should have access to the job bank,” he said.
Chief Recruitment and Manpower Officer Yolanda Grant said that it is anticipated that the National Job Bank will revolutionise the modus operandi of job seekers. “So that there will be an increase in job seekers that will access the available job opportunities,” she said.
With the expanding labour opportunities, Grant said, job seekers will be able to access jobs that match their skillset, competencies and career choices. “As Guyana is on a precipice of an upper trajectory, the Central Recruitment and Man-power agency will not only cater for employment but also provide opportunities where everyone will reap benefit through the National Job Bank,” she noted.
Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour Bishram Kuppen said that the Job Bank was designed with consideration being given to the he needs of employees and job seekers.
According to Kuppen, it was structured to allow a synergistic interaction between employers and job seekers without the intervention of any third party. “Employees now have this valuable, cost-free resource to list their vacancies to find suitable candidates to fill their vacant positions. Job seekers now also have a cost free resource to browse the job bank database within the sectors and in the locations they want to be in,” Kuppen said.
To supplement to services of the job bank, Kuppen noted that the CRMA will still be available to job seekers and employers who prefer face-to-face interactions.
A mobile app will soon be available to complement the website.
