Belize battles farm labor shortage with new initiatives

Sectors such as agriculture continue to see a shortage of labour, and the Government of Belize is working on several initiatives to address the issue. According to the Ministry of Labour, industries such as citrus and bananas in the south as well as sugarcane in the north, have been grappling for some time with not having enough workers. Minister of Labour Florencio Marin Jr. says that there are various factors at play, including the lowering of the unemployment rate, fields like the BPO sector becoming more attractive, and the difficulties associated with bringing in migrant workers. Marin says that the issue was brought up in Cabinet recently, and interventions were approved to address the issue from several angles. These may include some form of education campaign in Guatemala to attract migrant workers. 

Florencio Marin Jr, Minister of Labour: “We just, was it last week or the week before I believe, cabinet approved an  initiative to be able to tap into the other labour resources the country has. You know for some reason women are underrepresented in the workforce.  We also have our young people underrepresented in the workforce.  And as well, we need to bring in migrant workers to be able to assist, to fill this gap.  If we want our economy to continue on the growth path we need labour. You know, and so we start at home first with the under-representation of our  women workers and for our youths. Then we proceed to the migrants. When I was down south we’re talking to the employers they already have contacts  in Guatemala and in Honduras to who would assist them. Their issue is not necessarily getting people who would want to come. Their issue is the  paperwork that needs to get done. The different ministers you have to deal with labor under my ministry you have to deal with immigration you have to deal with social security issues so the whole idea is to eventually try to streamline it for everybody and for them I mean it makes good business sense.”

Yesterday, the Ministry launched new online payment options for Temporary Work Permits (TEPS) to help simplify the process of bringing in temporary workers.