POSITIVE Parenting

It is now summer and although some teenagers and young adults have landed summer jobs islandwide, many more are still seeking work.

However, finding jobs can be an arduous task, as, with the instability of global economies and the impact locally, some employers are taking on fewer summer workers.

Gleaner checks with more than 10 businesses across the country last week, revealed that they have slashed the number of jobs that they provide to summer workers.

Garth Young, manager of Young's Pharmacy in May Pen, Clarendon, said he has cut back because "business has slowed". He attributed this to the economic situation in Jamaica and said while he has put on hold the employment of new people for the summer, the children of staff members are being facilitated on weekends.

Young said this was a first for his establishment as he normally employs approximately 15 per cent more workers around this time of the year, but that figure has been reduced to about 10 per cent.

Voluntary work

Although the hours are also shorter, Young is considering accommodating students who wish to do voluntary work at his business place. This is to facilitate those who want to gain experience in the working world. He added that some people who have worked at the pharmacy have moved on to college and university and still come back for jobs during the summer.

Karlene Burgess, summer employment pro-gramme coordinator at GraceKennedy, said the company has reduced the number of summer employees this year. She gave no details on the reduction, but said the company provided summer jobs regardless of the state of the economy, and that the number of jobs might fluctuate for various reasons. GraceKennedy has two types of programmes in which summer employees either work in a subsidiary, or they are placed in non-profit organisations where the company pays them. The high school and university students are employed during July and August with preference given to children of employees and residents of surrounding communities.

One company in Kingston has cut by 20 the number of holiday workers it employs, attributing this to the fact that it had taken on more employees earlier in the year.

However, while some businesses are reducing the number of summer employees, two have confirmed that they will not be providing any such jobs this year.

Opportunity

On the other hand, one company has increased the number of persons working for the summer from 80 to 87. Patria-Kay Aarons, public relations manager at Digicel, said the telecommunications company has been providing between 80 and 90 jobs annually for the last two years because it was aware of the importance of giving students the opportunity to gain experience in the working world.

"We have recognised the importance of giving work experience and summer is a great time to do this," explained Aarons. She noted that the company has been working closely with high schools and universities.

While the jobs vary across the board, there are some things that the different businesses agree on regarding employment of people, whether full time or part time. They note that personality, good communication skills and level of qualification play a major role in the procedure.