Contract Signed for SPIRO Project Consultants

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has signed a contract for new consultants under the Strengthening the Public Investment in Labour Market Services (SPIRO) Project.

The contract was awarded to Ada Shima Hasani and Trond Henning Olesen, who will assess and improve upon the existing public employment services of the Ministry such as the Electronic Labour Exchange (ELE) and the Labour Market Information System (LMIS).

Speaking at the signing ceremony held at the Ministry’s North Street office in Kingston on Friday (February 28), Portfolio Minister, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr. welcomed the partnership, which he said is a significant step in strengthening Jamaica’s employment services.

“Having now two qualified and competent consultants with the SPIRO Project that are focused on the necessary adjustments to the business process and to the IT (information technology) prospectives, I’m looking forward to something that will emerge that will be practical, simple and effective,” Minister Charles said.

He noted, further, that the goal for the project is to enable as many persons as possible to access information to evaluate a range of job opportunities, while also allowing employers to identify potential candidates.

“Once it becomes a website that is heavily trafficked, that perhaps has its own complementary app or other modalities, then we would be able to use it almost as a catalyst for information gathering and to communicate to persons the various aspects of the evolution of this process of making Jamaica become a space where we have a robust and resilient workforce,” Mr. Charles Jr. said.

Consultant on the SPIRO project, Ada Shima Hasani, commended the Ministry for laying the necessary groundwork for the project and making crucial linkages with key stakeholders.

“To build a national and public employment service it is key to have this relationship with key stakeholders… and I think that is well in place. Building upon that, the employers are very excited and, of course, they are really thrilled [with] the idea of having a portal in particular that suits their needs but also to have the right job sitters,” she said.

She added that the project will primarily target young people, persons in rural and underserved communities, and persons with disabilities.

“[It will also target] not only communities which are distanced due to location but also [those] that struggle with others social problems, such as crime, to ensure that these three main target groups have the needed support by the public employment service to get into the labour market,” Mrs. Hasani said.