On the Thursday 7th April, 2022, the 6th Meeting of Senior Officials with Responsibility for the Regional Labour Market Information System was held to review the conceptual design of the updated Labour Market Information System (LMIS).
Established in 2017, the Regional Labour Market Information System (RLMIS) is geared towards the proper management of the regime for the free movement of skilled labour, as enshrined in Article 46 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas. This initiative is a collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill) and covers fourteen (14) Member states, of which St. Vincent and the Grenadines is included. Each Member State has a critical role to play in the implementation of the Regional LMIS, in particular the National Statistical Offices; the Ministry with the responsibility for Labour; and the National Insurance Agency.
The regional LMIS entails systematic collection of labour market data which would provide for evidence-based decision-making as it relates to national and regional policies in areas such as job creation and job security. These policies would help to address critical problems such as long-term unemployment and youth unemployment. Additionally, the implementation of such policies would lead to an improved labour market efficiency across CARICOM Member States and strengthen the Region's competitiveness. Each LMIS is built on a .Stat platform that would create an ease of use for all users; from data managers and providers to job seekers.
The principal labour marketing data-producing agencies of St. Vincent and the Grenadines are the Department of Labour (DoL) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries, Rural Transformation, Industry and Labour, the Statistical Office (SO), and the National Insurance Services (NIS)
On the 30th August 2021, the heads of these agencies signed an Addendum to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Labour Market Information System (SVG-LMIS), in which they gave their firm commitment, to produce and disseminate labour market data and to collaborate to provide labour market analysis reports on a regular basis.
The Regional LMIS indicators for each agency are the following;
Statistical Office (SO): Labour Force Statistics & General Labour Market Statistics.
National Insurance Services (NIS): Occupational Health Statistics & Social Security Statistics.
Department of Labour (DOL): Public Employment Agency Statistics, Legal Framework & Non-national Worker and Overseas Placement Statistics