Labour ministry to launch job-matching app:
JAMAICA’S LABOUR ministry says it will roll out a mobile app by next March to make it easier to match jobseekers with employment opportunities posted on its electronic labour exchange website by firms wanting to hire workers. The exchange is part of the wider Labour Market Information System (LMIS).
“The LMIS is targeting young people, in particular, for they are a significant part of the jobseeking population, and they constitute an important pool of the skills that are sought after for opportunities locally and abroad,” the Government’s Jamaica Information Service (JIS), quoted Labour Minister Shahine Robinson as saying about the app.
“Against this background, I am beseeching qualified job seekers to register with the LMIS and post their résumés to indicate their availability for suitable job opportunities,” Robinson added.
The app, according to Robinson, is being developed in partnership with New Employment Opportunities (NEO), a private-sector initiative that provides job training and placement to mostly at-risk young people.
LMIS provides a database of quantitative and qualitative information about job opportunities, as well as prospective employees and their skills.
However, Robinson is hoping that the app will stimulate the use of LMIS, the take-up of which, the data suggests, has been relatively slow. Since its inception, 2,554 workers have found jobs via the site.
However, up to midNovember, with more than 10 months already gone in the year, only 84 employers had used the portal to either post jobs or recruit employees, compared to 278 during all of 2016. A total of 1,118 jobs were posted up to November 14.
On the other hand, 3,654 jobseekers had used the system up to mid-November, which is 87 per cent of the total of 4,192 in 2016.
Robinson said LMIS was an inexpensive service which Jamaican firms should use to find “qualified and trained workers”, adding that the app would enhance opportunities to attract overseas employers.