Forty-five youth, mainly from inner-city communities, have been trained and certified as call centre operators, under the Jamaica Emergency Employment Programme (JEEP). The training was done over four weeks at the University of the West Indies Open Campus, with resources from JEEP, in collaboration with the HEART Trust /NTA. Beneficiary, Annakay Williams said the job readiness initiative has enabled the...

Thousands of unemployed Jamaicans are benefiting from the services of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s job matching facility, which links persons with certified skills, with local and overseas employers. Since January 2014, the Labour Market Information System (LMIS) website - www.lmis.gov.jm - has received more than 17,774 hits, and attracted more than 11,960 new visitors. With the growing...

The Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Employment Agency Unit is warning the public to beware of overseas employment agencies that operate from cyberspace. The warning comes following an increase in the number of complaints the Unit has received from members of the public, who have reportedly been scammed by illegal overseas employment agencies operating via the Internet. Speaking with...

A total of $93 million has been set aside for the continuation of the Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP) III, in the 2013/14 Estimates of Expenditure, now before the House of Representatives. The project, which is being implemented by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), with funding from the European Union, began in May 2012 and is slated to run until...

As the Government works to improve the economic and social well being of persons with disabilities, a sum of $40 million has been set aside in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, to further assist this group. The money has been provided under the Social and Economic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities project, which seeks to increase the employ-ability and skills...

Labour and Social Security Minister, Hon. Derrick Kellier, says introduction of the flexi-work arrangement, and the anticipated resulting positive economic spin-offs from doing do, could generate increased employment, particularly for Jamaica’s youth. He made this point while speaking at the first in the Ministry’s series of Regional Dissemination Sessions, at the Wexford Court Hotel in Montego Bay, on April 3,...

The Government has set aside $278.9 million in the 2014/15 Estimates of Expenditure, which have been tabled in the House of Representatives, to continue the Public Sector Modernisation Programme, this year. Under the Public Sector Moderation Programme III, which is funded by the European Union (EU), Inter-American Bank (IDB), China Co-Financing Fund, and the Government of Jamaica, Ministries, Departments, and...