Hot Occupations in the Jamaican Labour Market:

 April 1, to June 30, 2010

January 1 to March 31, 2010

Hot Occupations provides an analysis of vacancies advertised in the Gleaner and Observer newspapers, and via the Internet during each quarter. A total of 4,180 vacancies were advertised in the Gleaner and Observer from April 1 to June 30, 2010. This was 36.2 per cent higher than the previous quarter when total vacancies tallied was 3,068. 

Number of Vacancies For The Top Ten Occupations: January to March 2010 and April to June 2010

The vacancies that featured in the top ten in the April to June quarter almost doubled compared to the previous quarter. As is shown in Table 1 most of the vacancies advertised in the January to March and April to June quarters were similar. The most frequently occurring occupation in the April to June quarter was Sales Representatives which totalled 305, an increase compared to the previous quarter. The new occupations in the top ten are Teachers, Early Childhood Practitioners and Packers. Manager was the third highest over the two quarters.

Due to the scheduled restart of the school year in September, advertised vacancies for teachers increased during the April to June. Demand was highest for English Language, Mathematics, Spanish, Music and Physical Education teachers. Various types of Managers, Sales/Marketing personnel and supervisors were needed during the quarter ending June 2010. They included:

• Branch, Sales and Operations Managers; 

• Sales/Marketing Personnel such as Sales Representatives, Sales Executives, Marketing Representatives; and

• Security, Regional, Food Service/Food and Beverage Supervisors.

Top Ten Vacancies By Occupation: January 1 to June 30, 2010

Table 1  

Source: Gleaner and Observer Newspapers 

The types of qualifications associated with the top ten vacancies during the quarter April to June 2010 are given in Table 2. The advertisements for all of the occupations except Early Childhood Practitioners and Bartenders had a range of qualifications. No qualification was stipulated for packers.

Occupations and Qualifications Requested: April to June 2010

Table 2 

Source: Gleaner and Observer newspapers

Advertised Vacancies By Occupations Groups

Disaggregation of the data by occupational group revealed that the occupations in highest demand during the two quarters were in the "Professional, Senior Officials and Technicians" and "Service Workers, Shop and Market Sales Workers", as shown in Table 3. 

Vacancies By Occupational Groups

Table 3 

Source: Gleaner and Observer Newspapers

Vacancies by Industry

In the April to June quarter most of the jobs advertised were in the Education sector, as is shown in Table 4. 

Industries with the Highest Vacancies: April to June 2010

Table 4  

Source: Gleaner and Observer newspapers

Advertised Vacancies By Parish

The print advertisements provided information on the location of 1,457 advertisements. Most of the work opportunities were available in Kingston and St. Andrew (803) while St. James was was the second with 231. Third, fourth and fifth were St. Catherine, St. Ann and Westmoreland. The lowest was Trelawny which had twelve. 

Vacancies Advertised via the Internet

A total of 116 jobs were posted on the electronic job-matching services of Splashjamaica.com and the Electronic Labour Exchange (ELE) during the period April to June 2010. As is shown in Table 5, the postings were primarily for Managers, Field Officers, Sales Representatives, Customer Service Agents and Accountants. The major industry areas for which there were increased advertisements were Wholesale and Retail, Manufacture, Education, Finance and Insurance, Communication, Hotels and Security Services.  

Leading Occupations advertised via the Internet

Table 5 

Source: www.splashjamaica.com and www.lmis-ele.org.jm 

Work Permit Approvals

Work permits are approved based on the need of local companies to fill positions for which it is deemed there is inadequate local expertise. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security issued 865 work permits from April 1 to June 30, 2010. This is 7.3 per cent higher than the previous quarter January to March 2010 (806). The occupations for which the most work permits were issued were in the "Professionals, Senior Officials and Technicians" category. They included "Directors, Managers, Working Proprietors and Supervisors" and "Architects, Engineers and Surveyors", (See Table 6). This was followed by "Craft and Related Trades Workers" category with "Plumbers, Technicians and Other Construction Workers".

Hot Occupations in the Jamaican Labour Market:

January 1 to March 31, 2010

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Hot Occupations tracks the demand for workers in the Jamaican labour market through advertisements in the print media and via the Internet. Vacancies compiled from the print media were advertised in the Sunday and Wednesday Gleaner and Observer. A total of 3,068 vacancies were advertised during the January 1 to March 31, 2010 quarter, an increase of 1,942 compared to 1,126 in October to December 2009.

Number of Vacancies For the Top Ten Occupations: October to December 2009 and January To March 2010

Table 1 shows that the top ten vacancies for the October to December and January to March quarters were similar. Most of the advertised vacancies during the January to March quarter were for Babysitters/Domestic Helpers, Sales Representatives were second and Managers third. 

Various types of Managers, Sales/Marketing personnel and Supervisors were needed during the quarter ending March 2010. They included:

• Sales/Marketing, Accounting/Accounts and General Managers;

• Sales/Marketing Personnel such as Sales Representative; Marketing Representative/Officer; Sales Associate/Executive; Salesman;  Marketing Assistant; Marketer; Promotions Officer; and

• Production, Security, Operations, Warehouse, Storeroom and Store Supervisors.

Top Ten Vacancies By Occupation: October to December 2009 and January to March 2010

Table 1  

Source: Gleaner and Observer newspapers

The range of qualifications requested for the top ten vacancies are presented in Table 2.

Occupations and Qualifications Requested: January to March 2010

Table 2   

Source: Gleaner and Observer newspapers

Advertised Vacancies by Occupational Group

Disaggregation of the data by occupational group revealed that the top two occupational groups in both quarters were "Service Workers, Shop and Market Sales Workers" and "Professional, Senior Officials and Technicians" as shown in Table 3.

Vacancies By Occupational Group

Table 3   

Source: Gleaner and Observer newspapers

Vacancies By Industry 

The five industries with the most vacancies are shown in Table 4. Most of the vacancies were in Education which was followed by Financial Intermediation. Various types of workers were needed in all of the sectors, (See Table 4). Some categories of workers were required in more than one sector. Vacancies for sales personnel occurred in "Wholesale and Retail, Repair of Motor Vehicles, Motorcycles and Personal and Household Goods", "Manufacture" and "Transport, Storage and Communication". The other case is accounting personnel for which there were advertisements in the "Education" and "Financial Intermediation" sectors. 

Industries with the Highest Vacancies: January to March 2010

Table 4   

Source: Gleaner and Observer Newspapers

Number of Advertised Vacancies By Parish

The print advertisements provided information on the location of 998 vacancies. The parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew, St. James and St. Catherine had the largest number of vacancies. More than half of the vacancies (590) were in Kingston and St. Andrew while the parish with the smallest number was Trelawny with three.

Vacancies Advertised via the Internet

A total of 94 jobs were posted on the electronic job-matching services of Splashjamaica.com and the Electronic Labour Exchange (ELE) during the period January to March 2010. The vacancies on Splashjamaica.com were primarily for Auditors, Lecturers, Sales Executives and Credit Officers while on the ELE they were for TVET Instructors and Career Development Officers, See Table 5. 

Leading Occupations advertised via the Internet

Table 5  

Source: www.splashjamaica.com and www.lmis-ele.org.jm

Work Permit Approvals

Disequilibrium arises when education and training institutions do not provide adequately trained workers to meet local demand. In such cases, companies may use workers from abroad to fill vacancies. The number of work permits issued January to March 2010 was 806. This figure is a decline of 13.9 per cent compared to October to December 2009. A large number of work permits were approved for "Directors, Managers, Working proprietors and Supervisors" (458) followed by "Plumbers, Technicians and other Construction workers" (82), "Chefs" (55), "Architects, Engineers, Surveyors" (30) and "Teachers, Lecturers, Training Instructors, Trainers, Instructors" (24).