A construction boom and acute shortages of skilled workers have fuelled a sharp increase in work permit applications, with authorities processing nearly 30 per cent more requests this year, a senior immigration official has revealed.
Speaking during a Barbados Employers’ Confederation roundtable on Wednesday, Jennifer Callender of the Immigration Department revealed that in 2023, authorities received 2 194 applications for work permits — 237 of which were long-term and 1 414 short-term.
That figure rose to 2 815 applications in 2024.
Between January and August last year, 140 long-term and 1 068 short-term permits were issued, and that an additional 1 600 applications were received between September and December, though the data for that period is still being processed.
Callender said: “As you might have recognised by driving around Barbados, we are currently undergoing a construction boom. Everywhere you’re going you see somebody building a hotel. And there are many big brands who are coming to Barbados.”
She noted that this level of infrastructural development has outpaced the capacity of the local labour force, forcing employers to look overseas for skilled workers such as masons, carpenters, electricians and plumbers, adding that most of these workers have come from China, India and Latin America, particularly Mexico, Colombia and Cuba.
Regional recruitment is also common among smaller subcontractors, with Jamaica and Guyana being the primary sources.
“Now Barbados remains open to companies seeking to recruit experienced persons from overseas, but only as long as they can prove that there are no qualified persons who are willing to take up the position,” Callendar added.
She said employers are required to advertise job vacancies in local newspapers twice a week for two weeks and that if no suitable applications are received, they must publish an objection notice in the paper under the same terms.
This gives citizens an opportunity to apply or lodge grievances with the chief immigration officer.
Callendar noted that while labour is being imported to meet demand, there is an effort to ensure skills transfer: “What we will typically do is ask that an understudy be identified so that they can train that person.”
The immigration official further shared that in addition to construction, other sectors contributing to the demand for foreign workers include healthcare and agriculture.
“In agriculture, even with the increased interest in achieving food security from Barbadian farmers, the majority of labour is sourced from the region-mainly Guyana, Jamaica and most recently Haiti,” she said, noting this also extends to poultry processing.
She said that in healthcare, the continued migration of trained Barbadian nurses to the US, UK and Canada has made regional recruitment necessary, referring to imported nurses who have come from Ghana.
There has also been an increase in work permit applications for caregivers, housekeepers and auxiliary nurses, which she noted is likely driven by the island’s ageing population and a rising need for elder care. (SM)
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