I would like to give my opinion on hiring youngsters out of school as civil servants. What I wonder is this: Why recruit each and every youngster with a little education for a job in government? Are there really so many civil servants needed? What about outsourcing of certain government tasks (primarily administrative tasks)? What is being done to make it more attractive for businesses to hire locals (unskilled and skilled laborers)? Why is there not more diversity in education for our youngsters? Why is there not a "master plan" for the socio-economic landscaping of Sint Maarten in the (near) future?
It is sad to see that there is so much recruiting going on by government to have vacancies filled by our educated youngsters. In our opinion it is more desirable that our youngsters find jobs in the private sector and that government focuses on efficiency with limited resources. Do you want everybody with, for example, an accounting degree working for government? Which local with an accounting degree is then going to work in the private sector? I also believe that certain government duties can be outsourced. This is not being done to the fullest right now. In case it does happen, the project/duties most likely will go to a "consultancy bureau" from someone who has close ties with those in power.
It is also sad to see that there are so many laborers from abroad who can be hired, because they mastered a trade and our youngsters did not. We should create more diversity in our educational system and stimulate our youngsters to learn something else than "hospitality and trade" and "business administration". We hardly have local doctors, pharmacists, craftsman (shoe repair, goldsmith, butcher, tailor, etc). Maybe we should have limited scholarships for certain studies to create a diverse group of professionals and introduce more laws on hiring local people. Here comes possitive discrimination into play.
The question is: Who will be working in what sector 25 years from now in Sint Maarten?
Have a great day,
Sjaoel "Shooz" Richardson
