REDUCING the unemployment rate to below 4 per cent by 2021 has been a challenge for the Ministry of Employment.
This was shared by the ministry’s operations and policy deputy secretary Puamau Sowane, who said this was one of their greatest tasks under the National Development Plan.
He mentioned this during a question and answer session on the launch of the Fiji Green Jobs Assessment: A Preliminary Study of Green Employment in Fiji report in Suva on Thursday.
“If you look at it right now, the unemployment rate in Fiji is probably sitting around 4.5 per cent and the number of those unemployed are basically those that are youths, they are the new graduates,” Mr Sowane said.
“What we have identified is that most of the new graduates are finding it very difficult to find jobs.”
Mr Sowane said some had graduated with “insignificant qualifications”, adding it would be interesting if the Global Green Growth Institute could liaise directly with training institutions on what the future looked like in terms of the qualifications that would be required while addressing green jobs.
According to the 2015 to 2016 Employment and Unemployment Survey from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics, the youth unemployment rate for those between the ages of 15 and 24 was at 18.1 per cent.
This was a total of 10,214 youths.
In 2017, former employment minister Jone Usamate said unemployment was an issue the Government was committed to addressing.
He had said the key strategy for Government in finding employment for the unemployed was to grow the economy.
In the 2019/2020 National Budget, the Government had announced the Employment Ministry would continue to support initiatives such as its Job Fair and Schools Employment Exposure Programme.
The ministry also said it would continue to monitor and review its performance, advance its labour reforms, enhance compliance across the 10 sectorial-based wages, and invest in research and cultivate new business opportunities.
A total of $13.4million was allocated to the Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations in the 2019-2020 National Budget.
