Employment statistics for the second quarter of 2021, April through to June 2021, shows a decrease in jobseekers compared to the first quarter of this year along with reductions in registered vacancies and terminations through redundancies.

However, given the rise in economic activities, the employment department has recorded a slight increase in the number of demand for foreign workers during this same quarter.

In a press conference on Friday, the Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, Patricia Francourt, noted that statistics for the second quarter of 2021 is reflective of the progress made in the labour market as well as in the economy and business community.

“When I presented the budget for this year for this department, I made note that, throughout this pandemic, it is necessary for us to have and maintain a stable labour market, that our economic recovery remains positive and our citizens can benefit from a reasonable cost of living,” stated Minister Francourt during the press conference.

Besides the minister, Friday’s press conference was attended by the principal secretary for employment Jules Baker and executive director in the employment department Veronique Bresson.

PS Baker observed a decrease in registered jobseekers from quarter one to quarter two, with 595 registrations (54% females and 46% males) between April and June 2021 compared to almost 1134 registrations between January and March 2021 (60.4% females and 39.6% males).

Most of the registrations were on Mahé followed by Praslin and La Digue.

Overall for both quarters, the highest numbers of jobseekers that registered with the employment services came from Grand Anse Praslin – 112 jobseekers in the first quarter and 35 in the second.

Meanwhile on Mahé, Mont Buxton notes the highest number of registered job seekers with 54 in quarter one and 33 in quarter two.

Despite a total of 1725 referrals out of 1729 registrations undertaken from January-June, 30% of individuals referred remain unemployed for various reasons, mainly due to skills-mismatch.

The employment department also recorded a 78% decrease in applications for redundancies in the second quarter compared to the first, with only 15 organisations planning their applications in April-June compared to 69 organisations from January – March 2021.

This comprised 140 workers, 106 Seychellois and 34 non-Seychellois compared to 363 workers for quarter one, 331 Seychellois and 32 non-Seychellois.

The declining redundancy applications can be attributed to the opening of borders and increase in tourism arrivals.

Similarly the number of vacancies declined quarter on quarter, decreasing to 1014 vacancies in April-June from 2225 registered vacancies in January-March.

On the flip side, an increase of applications for non-Seychellois workers was recorded for the second quarter.

A total of 3559 applications (1493 new applications and 2049 renewals) were received in the second quarter compared to 3182 applications (1512 new and 1668 renewals) received in quarter one.

Industries representing the highest number of applications during the second quarter were the construction industry (41%), accommodations and food services (25.5%), and wholesale and retail (8.5%).

Elsie Pointe