Work Permits Not Always Granted, Ministers Highlight Application Process

Not all work permits are granted.

That was made clear by both Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams and Minister of Labour Colin Jordan.

Abrahams, under whose portfolio immigration falls, indicated that while advertisements to fill job vacancies were a part of the application process for long-term work permits, they were not always granted.

“The fact that you see an advertisement in the newspaper does not mean that it is a done deal. People see the advertisement and call, concerned. Quite often, the things that they are concerned about, we are concerned about as well and in the majority of the instances, the applications don’t get approved.

“But anybody is free to apply for anything that they want. Once there is an application process, anybody whether credible or not credible, whether the application is merited or not merited, anybody is free to apply. After you have applied your application is considered and dealt with on the merits to it,” Abrahams said.

There was an outcry last week on social media and call-in programmes about some recent advertisements for work permits to allow non-nationals to fill positions in some businesses.

When contacted, Minister of Labour Colin Jordan said he was also aware of the newspaper ads indicating that companies intended to apply for work permits for non nationals to fill some positions.

“The idea of either blatantly trying to look outside of Barbados and the Caribbean to bring people in to do jobs that Barbadians can do, or the practice of concocting a job title and a job description that has at its roots an attempt to put the job in a place where a Barbadian can’t say they are qualified for it, those two things are very wrong and they are not to be tolerated.

“As a country, we spend significant amounts of money educating persons from nursery to tertiary. . . and so Barbadians are due the respect of making sure that wherever possible you can engage Barbadians,” Jordan said.

Speaking on the issue, the minister said it was worrying that some organisations would look outside Barbados to recruit individuals.

Jordan made it clear that his ministry believed that whenever job opportunities arise, organisations must first search for Barbadians to fill the positions, before heading to regional and international source markets.

“But wherever possible, you employ persons who are in the country and those scenarios like a tree climber and maid, is ridiculous,” Jordan said.

“My ministry intends within the next financial year to use technologies to match vacancies with people who are interested in taking advantage of opportunities. It also allows us to build up a skillset bank . . . so that employers, even without putting out an ad, can go into a system that allows them to see persons available and interested in the particular area” he said.

Jordan explained that once the Immigration Department reached out to his ministry inquiring about specific work permit applications, “we would say to them we do not believe that is a situation that allows for work permit”.