Government Targeting 50,000 BPO Jobs

Finance and Public Service Minister, Hon. Audley Shaw, says the Government is targeting the creation 50,000 Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) jobs in a “pretty short time.”

Speaking at Mayberry Investments Limited’s monthly investor forum at the Knutsford Court Hotel in New Kingston on January 17, the Minister  noted that the BPO sector has been growing “very aggressively” and has generated 26,000 jobs.

He said that the Jamaica Promotions Corporation, through its market research, has projected that nearly 11,000 new BPO jobs will be created by the end of the 2017/18 fiscal year on March 31.

Minister Shaw pointed out that ensuring that Jamaica has the requisite skills set to support growing industries like BPO remains a priority adding that “we have to focus more on training people.”

He noted that 17,000 persons are expected to be trained by the end of this year, many of whom will go into the BPO sector.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shaw informed that the Administration has created over 60,000 jobs since assuming office in February 2016. Of the number, nearly 40,000 were created in 2017.

“While we have created those jobs, the labour force has actually been expanding as well. More people have seen the signs of growth and have removed themselves from the unemployment and inactive line and are now actively seeking jobs,” he pointed out.

Mr. Shaw said the signs of growth are particularly evident in the construction industry.

“We see a lot of new buildings going up when you drive around the city (of Kingston). Two major high rise buildings are going up in downtown, and new (commercial) and apartment buildings all over New Kingston. The construction industry is booming in Jamaica right now,” he added.