According to some business leaders, graduates of universities and colleges in Montego Bay have hopes of finding jobs this year in technology, industry and commerce. According to a release, some 270 graduates from the University of the West Indies Western Jamaica Campus (UWI-WJC), University of Technology (UTECH) and the Montego Bay Community College (MBCC) had their first contact with potential employees at a job fair last Thursday, held at the UWI, Mona Western Jamaica Campus, Montego Bay. The job fair which was hosted by the UWI-WJC Ambassadorial Corps, attracted the Business Processing Industry Association of Jamaica (BPIAJ), Sandals Resorts International, Rainforest Seafoods, Island Outsourcers, Sagicor Group, ATL Group, and the Fleming Group. The BPIAJ represents some 10 companies covering such areas as customer care, telemarketing sales, accounting and payroll. Association manager of BPIAJ, Julaire Hall described the job fair as “a very good effort.” “There are jobs out there,” she said, and some of the companies she represented were looking for employees. A positive view of the job market for graduates also came from Tanya-Sue Young, dealer principal of ATL Automotive, a member of the ATL Group. Asked if jobs were in fact available, she said “absolutely”, adding, “Yes, there is work out there for those who want it and want it well enough to work hard.”
Young noted, “The world of business is not contracting, it’s growing. As much as it is that the economy is getting tighter people have to get more creative … to squeeze a bigger slice of the pie and the brightest and the most composed will float to the top.” Coming out of interviews, Young said “The thing that strikes me most is that young people are having to make some serious decisions about their education; I met several who are about to put their education on pause because of affordability.” Fleming Group is an international company that manages high-end business to business conferences and has recently established a base in Montego Bay. Partner Miro Hornak said they had just started recruiting and were pleased “to find participants interested in this kind of job.” Dr. Barbara Grandison, of the UWI-WJC Ambassadorial Corps explained that their role as business people was to support the university in whatever areas they could and to make suggestions for its advancement in western Jamaica. “This job fair is one of those where we thought it could be of help to students leaving the university and having a little bit of difficulty getting jobs,” she said.
