INTER-AMERICANDEVELOPMENT

BANK

The Bahamas: challenges ahead

for skills development, and some elements to

move forward

Laura RipaniIDB

July , 2015 TRANSFORMATION Forum

Nassau, The Bahamas

Agenda

1. Key challenges

I. Low productivity

Source: Samuel, W (2013) based on World Economic Outlook

Productivity Growth in The Caribbean, 2000-2011 (average, percent)

II. High Youth Unemployment

Source: Labour Force Survey, DOS. Note: 15-24 years old.

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

2001 2014

III. Skills Gap

There is a disconnection

between Education and

Training System and

Employers

2. Skills Gap

Wages and Productivity Survey (2012) brings new evidence on:

Sample

Main findings in four facts

Fact 1. Technical, basic and soft skills: most important criteria for hiring, more than formal education

Source: 2012 Wage and Productivity Survey

Fact 2. Lack of specific skills, lack of experience and soft skills are the top three most cited as the greatest

difficulty for hiring

Source: 2012 Wage and Productivity Survey

Fact 3. Skills gaps are also perceived as one of the main barriers to productivity

Source: 2012 Wage and Productivity Survey

Fact 4. Main reason for dismissal of staff: problems with behaviour, pointing to the lack of soft skills

50% of employers invested in training in the past 2 years, but

not to the level they think is needed

Employers: need training for employees mainly to improve production

Employers: validated results on skills + highlighted need of more public-private integration

Next steps

National Development Plan

Vision 2040: skills at the center

of the construction of

thecountry’s future

We need to unlock the country’s talent…

…meeting the employers’ needs

Collective efforts are needed to prevent a skills trap for youth

- 23 -

Lack of attitude and skills for first job

Fewer job opportunities

Less on- the-jobexperience

<- Youth stuck in Low-Skill Trap ->

3. Some ingredients

Skills demand identification• Identify and systematically

review private sector needs in terms of skill– Examples: sector skills

councils, information systems.

Information to job seekers about what

skills the labour market

demands

On-the-job training strategies to align workers’ skills with specific skills demands

Soft skills training to improve attitudes and behaviour in the workplace

Integration of actors into a skills system to improve productivity

Performance Management Results and impacts: learning and

re-designing as needed

We should act nowand together

Some questions for the debate today1. What do you think are the main reasons why

there is a skills shortage in The Bahamas?

2. What are the bottlenecks to developing these skills for specific sectors?

3. How can we improve the skills orientation to private sector needs?

4. Is more public-private integration feasible?

THANK YOU!Contact: Laura Ripani: laurari@iadb.org Maria Victoria Fazio: mfazio@iadb.org