With many Caribbean countries still struggling with youth unemployment, Joseph Boll, CEO, Caribbean Employment Services Inc., said more of an effort can be made to meet the younger generation where they are.
“Jobs and careers are serious, and of course they have a major impact on your life. But, although they are significant, sticking to the traditional way of recruiting, advertising and hiring will not continue to cut it as time goes on,” he said.
Boll’s firm is a completely digital recruitment service and job board that services the entire Caribbean, being one of the precious few of its kind in the region. A long-time proponent of remote work and its benefits, Boll has brought that philosophy into the Caribbean recruitment space, aiming to modernize the labour market whilst connecting Caribbean jobseekers with the highest-quality employers in the region, in North America and even beyond.
He noted that youth unemployment, especially amongst young men, has been a trending challenge in many Caribbean countries over the years and for multiple reasons — many of which are not easily addressed or rectified.
However, he added that “using outdated ways to reach new, younger candidates is not doing any favours” either.
“A lot of the younger generation, new graduates from both secondary and tertiary institutions, feel shut out of their own native labour markets,’ Boll said. “If you listen to their concerns, many say they feel like there aren’t enough opportunities for them or that employers don’t want them, so they have to go abroad to find jobs. But employers are singing the same tune from the other side of the coin — saying they are having a hard time hiring. In many cases, the issue from both ends is a missed connection, where employers aren’t looking where the younger generation is, and the younger generation isn’t familiar with the cues and older methods companies are using.”
Taking the recruitment process online can help to address both issues and help employers recruit young, new talent, Boll suggested. He emphasized how much easier it is for talented youth to find and apply for jobs using their mobile phones rather than going through more outdated methods, and noted the many ways employers can benefit.
“This is what we at Caribbean Employment Services have been working to facilitate, and we’re happy to help both jobseekers and employers who are ready to come into the 21st Century,” he said.
