No cruise control

RECENT scenes of people almost stampeding for jobs are not likely to be the last.

These scenes, viewed from different angles, tell us different stories about the state of our country and economy.

On the bright side, there is clearly much appetite for the kinds of cruise-ship jobs on offer from Royal Caribbean Group International. The lure of sea travel is not hard to understand, especially for younger people seeking adventure or a chance to earn foreign exchange.

But jobs on cruise liners – and roughly 2,000 are on offer in an arrangement with the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and the Arts – demand time away from home for extended periods. There is an element of escapism alongside the economics.

We have long known official unemployment figures have been distorted by the State’s make-work programmes as well as the vagaries of official statistics. The Central Bank’s Annual Economic Survey 2021, published earlier this year, put the 2020 unemployment rate at 5.7 per cent. This reflected a drop of more than 21,000 in the total number of people with jobs.

But there are all sorts of gaps in the records. Some businesses that closed would not have filed retrenchment notices, for example.

Unemployment statistics alone cannot give us the full picture. Also at play are reduced job security, less competitive salary levels and factors affecting the quality of life, such as inflation.

Some of the scenes at Port of Spain, San Fernando and Tobago this week resembled the mad rush for grants and cheques already seen during the pandemic as almost 40,000 people applied for covid19 assistance.

With big question marks now over the State’s funding for tertiary-level institutions, the removal of GATE and cuts to scholarships, employment for young people is far from a straightforward matter. The lure of Royal Caribbean’s jobs, in that context, is more understandable.

These jobs will require certain skills, but they can nurture new skills too. That can only bode well for the tourism and recreation sectors, especially given the closure of training entities such as the TT Tourism and Hospitality Institute.

Another story told by the cruise-ship crowds is that of laxity when it comes to covid19.

Cruise ships were, during the early phases of the pandemic, seen as particularly dangerous breeding grounds for the virus. That so many people still wish to work on cruise liners speaks either to complete confidence that the pandemic is behind us, or complete indifference to the need for caution.

The lack of physical distancing at recruitment sites this week suggests the latter is more likely.

But with Royal Caribbean turning away unvaccinated applicants in Tobago, maybe one silver lining will be that more people will decide to get the jab as they try to venture out to sea.