STATIN Undertakes First Ever Global Services Sector Survey

The Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) is currently conducting the first ever Global Services Sector (GSS) survey.

The study began on January 20 in all parishes and will run until March 2020.

GSS, more commonly associated with business process outsourcing (BPO), also includes operations in areas such as information technology-enabled services (ITES), knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), and legal process outsourcing (LPO).

Senior Statistician at STATIN, Ieesha Graham McIntosh, told JIS News that the entity was contracted by the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) to conduct the survey “in response to the growing demands for actionable empirical information”.

She said that the study is intended to produce a characterisation of firms and identify the segments in which they operate; capture information on capital expenditure and main constraints to growth; and identify the main characteristics of the workforce, including the number of workers, average salaries and the extent of internal/external on-the-job training.

Ms. Graham McIntosh told JIS News that the baseline data collected will inform a programme being undertaken by the Government to develop and promote the sector, through funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

“The use of statistics by policymakers is vital because it leads to informed decision-making that generates successful development outcome,” she noted.

Ms. Graham McIntosh encouraged businesses in the GSS to cooperate with the interviewers as they seek to obtain quality data.

STATIN is the country’s national statistics office. Its main functions are to collect, compile, analyse, abstract and publish statistical information relating to the commercial, industrial, social, economic and general activities and condition of the people.