Frustrations of the jobless

Delroy Chuck

THE TRUE measure of a country's economic achievements is easily discerned by the choices available to its citizens. Do people have the jobs and opportunities to fend for themselves and to make a decent living through their own effort and creativity, and without having to depend on the public purse? When we count the number of jobs lost and the lack of economic opportunities throughout the length and breadth of Jamaica then pity the young school and tertiary level graduates who are about to join the frustrated and long suffering group of jobless.

The sad tale of a young university graduate, detailed in the Letter of the Day, Wednesday, June 27th, of his unsuccessful applications to get employment is a compelling story of the frustration and disillusionment demoralising so many young people in a hopeless society, made even more hopeless by a weak and failing economy. The writer did not give his name and, thus, his outstanding academic credentials cannot be verified. Yet, it is not an unfamiliar story of qualified, educated and talented young people unable to get jobs.

To my sure knowledge, investment in a university education could hitherto guarantee a job, but that sure guarantee is no longer valid in a country drifting and economically depressed for the better part of the past decade. I feel the despair of the many graduates who studied hard, invested time and effort to acquire a good education, gained qualification, and should now be eagerly sought by employers but who must now feel the society has failed them.

I feel it even more when I read the previously mentioned Letter of the Day and know the story could have been written by many thousands of ambitious young people who wander listlessly and yearn for independence and the opportunity to make a contribution to our beloved land. I understand the disillusionment of those who have been without a job for years without even a prospect of finding one. What sort of society are we creating when our brightest and best have to seek jobs and opportunities abroad? How do we convince students in Jamaica today that a good education is the key to success when they see so many unemployed graduates and under-employed professionals? Many qualified engineers, lawyers, architects, accountants, teachers, doctors etc. are without employment and the cry of most professionals nowadays is the lack of work, patients and clients.

Little available work

In the past, many young graduates would work with well-established firms and professionals as apprentices and for experience, but with little available work this is no longer possible. Then, the plight of the uneducated and unqualified becomes even more depressing, hopeless and gloomy. When the society fails to generate top quality employment, it is also unlikely to create low-level employment of any kind. Tens of thousands of hitherto employed no longer take home a regular salary. Children attend school irregularly, as lunch money and bus fares are not available and for many families even to put a decent meal on the table is a burdensome chore. Regularly, I meet and contend with the huddled mass of jobless and hopeless, particularly in our inner city communities. Most have not worked for months or years. Many are willing to engage in any worthy form of employment to make ends meet.

The haphazard employment given out by government agencies or some social work programmes are heavily oversubscribed. The emptiness, indebtedness and personal devastation of the thousands of jobless cannot be easily described. Really, it is a pitiful feeling to have mortgage, rent and bills to pay but no pay-cheque to meet the demands or even to satisfy the normal expectations of a household. When fathers cannot find money to buy food, pay school fees and take care of their families, it is demoralising, demeaning and devastating to their self-esteem.

There are probably hundreds of thousands of people, barely surviving, heading into deeper poverty, in search and in need of jobs and, amazingly, the Government spokespersons shamelessly speak of solid achievements and being on the right economic track. It is difficult to believe we are even heading for economic recovery when no week passes without headlines of major firms laying off and downsizing their operations. When Grace, Kennedy and Bank of Nova Scotia, two of the most profitable companies in Jamaica today, can still be laying off staff then one wonders where can the army of unemployed even hope to find jobs and opportunities. Even the employed must feel insecure and worried, as very few companies, businesses or offices are actually doing well and most find it difficult to meet their pay bills much less to achieve a decent profit margin.

To be sure, the Government of the day is fully responsible for the plight and frustration of the jobless and hopeless. It is Government's asinine policies that caused hundreds of businesses to close or downsize, stifled economic development, cut off credit and made it impossible for businesses to survive, shifted economic activity from production to paper investment and closed the avenues that normally create jobs and opportunities. It is the Government's deliberate policy to borrow and beg its way out of economic difficulties thereby increasing our national debt from under US$5 billion to over 10 billion during the past 5 years, and still seeks additional loans, instead of relying on the proven method of trade and investment to extricate the country from the economic wreckage.

Right economic path

How can we be on the right economic path when our exports are declining and our imports increasing? When our trade gap increases perennially then we are simply providing jobs for our competitors abroad. The reverse is desirable and critical for economic recovery. In fact, it is only through increased exports of goods and services that Jamaica's economic survival and expansion can be assured. But, there is no evidence or clear understanding of that simple fact.

Unless we start to export more and earn our way in the global economy then we will continue to be a basket case, unable to provide for our citizens, unable to provide the needed jobs and opportunities and, ultimately, unable to survive in the competitive market system. The mounting frustrations of our people will never be abated until we understand and accept that the world does not owe us a living and only through trade and investment will we ever meet the expectations and needs of our people.

Delroy Chuck is an attorney-at-law and Opposition Member of Parliament. He can be contacted by e-mail at delchuck@hotmail.com.

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