Manpower Shortages at Crop Over Festival as Local Entertainment Sector Rebounds Post-Pandemic

The volume of events, plus the vast amount of people who exited the local entertainment sector, has led to some manpower shortages this Crop Over Festival.

President of the Entertainment Association of Barbados Rudy Maloney and chief executive officer of the National Cultural (NCF) Foundation Carol Roberts said this was happening as the season continues to intensify.

“The service providers are really stretched. You are seeing the guys that run bars and the people who put up stages looking for additional people because you just don’t have enough based on the amount of events that are happening,” Maloney said.

This year scores of events have been scheduled during June, July and August. There were also many more fetes and other activities held ahead of the official start of summer and the festival.

Roberts said the issue was not unique to Barbados and reasoned that it was an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Because the industry was shut down for about two years, a lot of the workers have sought other sources of income because they had to. This is a global thing and the sector is slowly building back its resources.

“So I am noticing a shortage of skilled manpower and chatting with event promoters, producers and service providers, there are tons of events that are not only stretching capital resources and assets but also human resources.”

She added: “Individuals such as lighting technicians, sound engineers . . . we have them from fledgling up to highly qualified but it’s to

the point where they are sought after by other countries. I think that’s because the world has thrown the cultural and entertainment doors wide open since COVID-19 and there are just so many events,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Roberts said the sector was performing well and the NCF would continue to provide opportunities for stakeholders and service providers to improve.

“Shipping also continues to impact the ability to get items in within the timeline we would like but against that backdrop, I still think we are doing relatively well.

“We have also been [assisting] quietly and we have been offering business development grants so that service providers can scale up and refresh and update their services. That will continue going into CARIFESTA next year,” she added.