In a Natural Resource-Driven Economy, Job Creation Must Be Matched by the Preparation of Guyanese Workers
By Hon. Sharma Solomon MP (APNU)- Guyana’s economic growth has to mean more than the expansion of oil production, the construction of infrastructure and the announcement of mostly low paying government jobs. It must mean that Guyanese are properly prepared, qualified and positioned to benefit from the opportunities being created. We have been considered for over seven years as a major oil-producing nation, with billions of dollars flowing through our economy every day.
However, the question is whether our workforce is being developed at the same pace as our economy, and whether the ordinary Guyanese worker is acquiring the skills, earning the wages and securing the opportunities necessary to improve his or her circumstances.
The Government points to around 156,000 additional persons employed between the first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2025, with unemployment declining to 6.2 per cent. However, these numbers do not tell the full story.
The Bureau of Statistics’ Labour Force Survey for the fourth quarter of 2025 shows that 43.2 per cent of workers were in informal employment under its basic measurement. With very little or no security of tenure.
Youth unemployment stood at 12.6 per cent, while 27.1 per cent of young people were neither employed nor in education or training. You see, these are the numbers that should give us more cause for concern than celebration of job creation. They demand a serious examination of the quality, security and distribution of employment.
The concern becomes even greater when we consider the skills required to sustain our development. A Labour Assessment Survey undertaken by the Centre for Local Business Development, with support from the University of Guyana, projected that five major sectors would require between 53,000 and 60,000 additional workers over five years. These include oil and gas, construction, agriculture, health, transportation and logistics.
The assessment also warned that the projected output from our universities and technical and vocational institutions would not be sufficient to meet the demand. This is a national planning failure that cannot be corrected by announcing more vacancies or recruiting workers from overseas.
The IMF has also identified labour shortages and skills mismatches as constraints on Guyana’s development. The Government itself has acknowledged that the challenge is shifting from just creating jobs to ensuring that the skills required to fill those jobs are available. It announced a National Manpower Planning Agency.
However, Guyanese are entitled to ask: Where is the comprehensive assessment of the skills we need? What has been established about the shortages in our industries? How many Guyanese are being trained and certified to fill those positions? How many have actually secured employment after completing that training? Also, what mechanism exists to ensure that foreign expertise brought into the country is accompanied by meaningful skills transfer and a clear pathway for Guyanese to advance into professional, technical and managerial positions?
These very relevant and important questions. They are questions of national economic policy. We cannot have an economy growing at an extraordinary pace while our workforce remains inadequately prepared for the opportunities that growth creates. A welder, electrician, mechanic, engineer, surveyor or heavy equipment operator must be able to see a pathway from training to certification, from certification to employment, and from employment to professional advancement.
Our technical institutions must be connected directly to the needs of the industry, with proper apprenticeships, recognised qualifications and measurable employment targets. Training must prepare Guyanese not simply to enter the labour market, but to compete for the better paid and more secure positions within it.
We also can’t overlook and must confront the loss of skilled Guyanese to overseas opportunities. We cannot continue to educate and train our citizens only to have them leave in search of better wages, professional recognition and career advancement. Attracting foreign expertise may be necessary to address immediate shortages, but it cannot become a substitute for developing our own human resources. Government must create the conditions for Guyanese to remain, return and advance. This means competitive remuneration, merit-based opportunities, professional development and a workforce policy that recognises the value of local skills.
The same principle must guide local content. The Government reports US$466.2 million in preliminary expenditure in priority local content areas during the first half of 2026. The question is not just how much was spent, but how much has strengthened genuinely Guyanese owned businesses, created sustainable employment and built the capacity of local contractors to undertake more sophisticated work. Guyanese must not be confined to providing labour while others control the contracts, supply chains and higher-value opportunities. Our petroleum, gold, bauxite, forestry and other natural resources must provide a pathway for Guyanese to become skilled professionals, contractors, suppliers, investors and owners. Employment is important, but participation in the economic development and ownership of our resources must be the greater national ambition.
The Minister of Labour must therefore explain how Government intends to close the gap between the jobs being created and the skills available among Guyanese. When will the promised manpower studies be completed and made public? What measurable targets have been established for training and employing Guyanese in skilled and professional positions? How will Government monitor wages, job security and career advancement?
What accountability will exist to ensure that employers benefiting from our resources and major public investments contribute to training and transferring skills to Guyanese workers? These are matters that require a coordinated national workforce strategy, supported by reliable labour market information and regular public reporting.
The measure of this oil economy must not simply be how much oil we produce or how many people we employ. It must be how much better equipped Guyanese are to earn, build, own and prosper from the wealth beneath their feet. Guyanese must not merely provide the labour for the development of their country. They must have the skills, the opportunity and a meaningful stake in that development.
