More Young Men Urged to Enter GSS Sector

More young men are being urged to join the pool of workers in the country’s Global Services Sector (GSS).

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator the Hon. Aubyn Hill, made the call, while addressing the recent graduation ceremony for the first set of 114 graduates of the GSS apprenticeship programme.

“I want to see a lot more men in here…we need to take these young men who are strong and get them in this programme so other forces don’t take them,” he said.

The apprenticeship programme is a flagship initiative of the GSS Project, which is a five-year, US$15 million undertaking being implemented by the Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO).

It will provide Jamaicans with access to training and better jobs in the sector, which includes knowledge process outsourcing, information technology outsourcing and business process outsourcing.

The project is being funded by a loan signed in 2019 between the Government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Through the apprenticeship programme, GSS firms can upskill their employees into new areas of management and provide them with the necessary training to fill leadership roles.

“I want to see a lot more women coming in and a lot more young men. We need to cut off those (negative) forces and make sure the young men come into the workforce and become exporters,” the Minister added.

He noted that talent continues to give Jamaica a competitive advantage in the global outsourcing space and is one of the main areas of discussion when courting and engaging investors globally.

The Minister said that the global services sector is “a very good place to work”, and a booming industry that “kept on growing” throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wednesday’s graduation ceremony was held at JAMPRO’s head office in Kingston under the theme: ‘Celebrating the Journey…Embracing the Future’.

The 114 apprentices, who graduated, have qualified for the industry-endorsed National Council on Technical Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) Certificate in Supervisory Management issued by the HEART/NSTA Trust.

Source: JIS