Employees Rating Of Their Readiness For Future Job of Interest

Q. In what areas do you think you would need training in order to better equip you for this future job??

Training Needed for Future Job Base: n=69

Critical Thinking

Problem shooting and resolution

Time Management

Organisation Skills

Supervisory Skills

Digital Fluency

Adaptability

Self-Awareness

Analysis/Solution Mindset

Empathy

Entrepreneurial mindset

Social Diversity Awareness

Specific Technical Job skills

Q. How would you rate your ability for this future job position?

Exceeds requirements

Meets requirements

Does not meet requirements

Not sure

Resilience

Collaboration

Conclusion

• The labour market in the immediate short-term promises to be a vibrant one featuring a demand for a diverse range of skill sets.

• Firms are confident about the future outlook of business as the large majority of the sample (76%) anticipate a need to hire new employees in the short-term.

• Cayman Islands can expect an increase in demand for semi-skilled jobs, these are jobs that require certain abilities and training beforehand but not advanced training or specialized skill sets.

• The RESEMBID project appears to be almost perfectly aligned in terms of its focus areas for training and certification with the skills that will be demanded by firms in the future.

Conclusion

• The largest employers are likely to be those in the industries of Hotel & Tourism, ICT and Solar Photovoltaic, three (3) of the four (4) target industries established for the RESEMBID Project. In addition to these industries, job opportunities are likely to emerge in the Financial Services Sector and Professional, Scientific and Technical sector.

• There is however a misalignment between the demand and supply side, with jobs of interest not aligned to the future jobs in demand except in the case of Accounts and Finance. Employers are already concerned about the unavailability of Cayman Nationals for specific jobs but should not expect any meaningful change in the immediate future without a concerted effort on the part of policy makers and key stakeholders to bridge the gap.

• Without such efforts CI can expect to see an increase in the reliance on Nonnationals with work permit for required skill sets especially as firms anticipate business growth and greater diversity in the range of jobs that will be available.

Recommendations

• Based on the findings of these surveys, it is MRSL’s considered view that there needs to be much effort on the part of the Government, Educational Institutions and other key stakeholder groups including the business sector to:

• Identify and implement strategies that could encourage Cayman Nationals who are currently under and unemployed to become interested in the jobs that will be available in the immediate future as unearthed by this research.

• Continue the dialogue with key partners like RESEMBID around efforts for behavior change among this target group.

Recommendations

• Further dialogue with employers to ensure that there is a precise definition and understanding of the skill sets that will be needed for the future job positions within their firms in order to ensure a greater level of job readiness by new employees.

• Considering the extent of the dissonance between future jobs of interest and jobs in demand, policy makers should anticipate and plan for a gradual change from any effort to ensure greater alignment between jobs of interest and jobs in demand.