The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (MSAE) Tuesday concurred with what Vice-President James Michel stated in his last budget address in which he said there were more than 3,000 job opportunities waiting to be taken up by Seychellois.

Giving the present situation, the director general for employment, Mr Jean Raguin, said there were in fact a total of nearly 4,000 jobs occupied by foreigners, if one took into consideration those posts that were held by non-Seychellois through various structures.

He gave the example of Seychelles Industrial Trade Zone which had the avenue to recruit workers from outside the country, and the provisions of the Investment Promotion Act (IPA) which allowed for the employment of some non-Seychellois.

Nevertheless, Mr Raguin reiterated that government policy and practice were that exhaustive efforts be made to ensure that there were no Seychellois who were qualified for given jobs before foreigners were recruited.

Acknowledging that there were about 2,500 job seekers, Mr Raguin said that the pool of unemployed Seychellois was made up of people who would have rendered themselves more competitive for available jobs with the acquisition of some training and some additional skills.

"We do not, for example, have competent doctors or managers who are out of a job and cannot find one, notwithstanding, of course, any exceptions where an individual may have made himself unacceptable by employers," he said.

Saying that expatriates comprised nine percent of Seychelles' labour force, Mr Raguin further expounded that many of the job seekers were people who never finished secondary education.

He said the onus lay on such individuals to enhance their skills through the many chances Seychelles offered for self development, giving the centre for skills development as one avenue through which the unemployed could render themselves in greater demand on the labour market. He gave studies by correspondence or through evening classes as other examples of channels which Seychellois could use to further their knowledge and skills.

"But the initiative really needs to come from the people themselves," he said.

Asked about foreigners working in some of the new establishments within the hospitality industry, Mr Raguin said that under the IPA, investors, whose contribution to the country could obviously not be snubbed, had the leeway to negotiate and part of their packages often entailed the investors' hiring part of their labourforce from outside the country.

"Nevertheless, we normally ensure that there are more Seychellois working in these establishments," he said.

Mr Raguin stressed on the importance of the tourism industry, for example, in which he said a careful balance had to be arrived at. He said that being a key area for supporting the country's economy, it could not be allowed to suffer unduly for lack of adequate numbers of qualified Seychellois.

He referred also to certain workplaces, like some outlying islands, on which many Seychellois found difficulty to operate from.

"It is true we ought to give Seychellois priority in employment, but we cannot compel them to work in certain places, otherwise we would then be guilty of trying to implement forced labour.

He talked of need for training and education that would also help adjust the attitude of some people, for example those who failed to see some jobs as suitable employment, giving the example of fish cleaning at the Indian Ocean Tuna factory which some unemployed people avoided. He said that with such placement, it was a problem with attitude and not lack of incentives.

In his address, Vice-President Michel said that the over 3,000 opportunities had been created for Seychellois, who needed to work together and find ways, through incentives and training, "to get our own people to fill these posts."

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