Chamber President Wants Collaboration Between MoE and BPOs

On Wednesday, Business Senator, Kevin Herrera said that the shortage of labour that B.P.O. companies are currently experiencing suggests that the Prime Minister’s comments on unemployment are indeed so. The PM, using figures published by the Statistical Institute of Belize earlier this year, stated that unemployment was down to three percent. Today, the President of the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who is the general manager of a B.P.O., also agreed that the numbers must be reflective of a low unemployment rate. She added that it’s good when an industry has grown to a point where there is need for further development, such is the case with the B.P.O. sector. Meighan is of the view that there is now need for some intervention by the Ministry of Education to take the training of B.P.O. agents and employees one step further.

 

Katherine Meighan, President, B.C.C.I

“The B.P.O. sector has been an amazing contributor towards the Belizean economy. Part of that is the diversity angle. B.P.O.’s also play a role, just like the tourism industry, agriculture, et cetera, et cetera. I think that B.P.O.’s offer in general for Belizeans across the board, a professional environment, fair wages, and it also offers an opportunity for career growth and development. Now, we are currently seeing that the unemployment rate is low, and of course that connects to the continued growth of this sector, especially this sector that is very much connected to labor because the labor is really the bones, the heart, the assets. And what we are hoping to do, and, what we see as a solution going forward is really trying to collaborate and connect. We have our B.P.O. members that are asking us for support with training and development professional skills. And we also want to collaborate and connect and encourage the government to do the same because one, there’s opportunities from within for movement upwards through professional development, training, et cetera. There are also these opportunities where we can also prepare for the future. So we can work with the Ministry of Education to talk about what is the potential campaigns and what are the opportunities coming into the longer term and how can we connect that to the educational curriculum.”