Padarath: Public-sector freeze will stymie young professionals

PRINCES Town MP Barry Padarath has said Government's freeze on filling of vacancies in the public sector will stymie young people seeking to advance their careers.

He was contributing to the budget debate in the House on Monday.

He said Youth Development Minister Fitzgerald Hinds, in his previous contribution, boasted about about youth employment programmes in a time when the country's largest employer, the Government, via the public service, had announced freezing of the filling of vacancies in all positions (for a year).

"Where was that minister when Cabinet decided to freeze these positions?"

Padarath recalled when he came into the public service as a young diplomat with a previous incarnation of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. He said people who specialise in areas such as international relations would need this type of job for their career.

"This move will stymie the careers of many young people in the country."

He said the Finance Minister's budget theme, "Resetting the Economy for Growth and Innovation," was "more like 'disconnect, switch off, (and) crash and burn the economy.'"

He said the social media platform TikTok reminded him a lot of Hinds' contribution, as it was a "good song and dance," but there were no tangible or measurable deliverables.

Padarath stressed despite massive job losses and very little economic activity regarding youth employment, the minister failed to give targets and figures. He said he suspected the youth unemployment numbers were very high because of the type of industries affected by the downturn in economy and "which crashed long before covid."