Labour out-migration remains moderate
THE December edition of the Pacific Economic Monitor says labour out-migration in Fiji has been steadily growing but remains moderate by South Pacific standards.
Launched last week, the latest issue of the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Pacific Economic Monitor (PEM) says a major driver has been Fiji’s access to various labour mobility schemes that Australia and New Zealand have with Pacific developing member countries (DMCs).
According to the PEM out of 34,400 Pacific workers employed in either Australia or New Zealand on one of the labour schemes, about 3300 were from Fiji.
It said more recently, migration for many Pacific DMCs had become more focused on skilled workers and in the case of Fiji, the pace of this emigration had left businesses in some sectors more susceptible to staff shortages.
The lead authors - Noel Del Castillo and Isoa Wainiqolo – wrote on the issue of “Accelerating Fiji’s recovery: Opportunities to expand youth employment and reduce brain drain”.
The authors highlight that while concerns about brain drain may be dismissed if labour migration was temporary, Richard Curtain a research associate, and recent former research fellow, with the Development Policy Centre, argues that the short-term impact of worker scarcity can be more significant for small island countries.
This is because a small-sized working population and pool of skilled workers limit opportunities to fill critical labour force gaps.
According to the PEM in the first 10 months of 2022, more Fiji citizens departed Fiji for emigration and employment purposes in Australia and the US than annual figures since 2016.
It said a positive effect of emigration had been to boost remittances which played a critical role in stabilizing Fiji’s external position and providing much needed cash to Fijians during the pandemic.
The report forecasts the continuous growth of remittances over the medium term and also cautions that the potential for brain drain to exacerbate skills gaps is an emerging concern.