HERBERT LEWIS, Guest ColumnistMuch has been said and indeed written about the problem of providing productive work for the unemployed and the masses of underemployed in less developed countries like ours. Unemployment and underemployment are regarded primarily as symptoms of economic underdevelopment and this leads to the conclusion that the remedy must be sought by promoting more rapid economic development.
There is little doubt that employment problems will not be solved without this, but it does not follow that measures to promote economic development, will of themselves suffice to provide enough jobs for the impoverished masses within an acceptable period of time. It would appear that there has been little systematic study of what may be needed to be done besides promoting economic development if an acceptable rate of progress is to be achieved in providing the jobs which are so desperately needed.
opportunity for productive work
It is hard to think of any subject which calls more urgently for serious study. An opportunity for productive work is not merely a means to a higher income. It is, in my opinion, a means to self-respect, to the development of human potentialities and to a sense of participation in the common purposes of our society. The apparent hopelessness as expressed by so many of our young people who on a daily basis are crying out for a job is such that unless hundreds of new jobs are provided before long, then hundreds of them will be deprived of these opportunities.
There are different paths to economic development, and along some of these paths, more new jobs will be created more quickly than along others. If, however, paths of development are chosen which provide relatively few new jobs in the early stages, those who need and do seek work or more work will scarcely share in the benefits of any progress. It should never be forgotten that the purpose of economic development is to raise levels of living and the main purpose of insisting that employment objectives should be given weight in the choice of alternative paths of economic development is that this is the surest, if not the only, way of making certain that the improvements in levels of living which come about as economic development proceeds will be widely shared.
Unemployment and under-employment are major causes of poverty, and the objective of providing more and more productive employment is a major element in the broader objective of promoting higher levels of living.
In considering the whole question of economic develop-ment as an important path towards alleviating unemploy-ment and underemployment, we must not forget that the level of investment is a critical factor in the whole mix. Slow and uncertain rate of investment oftentimes is the main reason for slow rate of development in general and of employment creation in particular. As we reflect on the importance of investment to development, we must remember that money tends to go where it feels safe. In other words, the climate must be conducive to that investment. Developing countries like ours rely heavily on the availability of foreign capital and technical assistance. This has become necessary since we have mostly a low capacity to export and a low capacity to save.
Jamaica is in a competitive world, the kind of world which we possibly have never seen before. We are competing in a global marketplace for the same dollar for which many other countries are competing investment dollars which are critical to our development and, which are important to our job creation.
How successful we are likely to be in competing will depend on how soon we are able to put our house in order in certain areas. The most talked-about areas which need urgent attention are:
The need to reduce if not eliminate all together crime and violence.
The need to completely wipe out corruption.
The reduction of bureaucratic red tape.
The availability of trained and skilled persons.
There is no doubt that if we succeed in effectively dealing with the above major areas of impediments, this country could in a short time, experience levels of investments both locally and foreign, which could make a vast difference to our economic development and the creation of jobs.
Herbert Lewis is an industrial relations specialist and past president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation.
