Ten local companies have been identified by the T&T Manufacturers Association (TTMA) and the American Chamber of Commerce of T&T (AmchamTT) to spearhead an initiative for absorption of Cepep workers into the private sector.The two groups met this week with Trade Minister Vasant Bharath to discuss the proposed move aimed a addressing a chronic labour shortage in the private sector
This follows a suggestion made at a meeting between business groups and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar that TTMA and AmchamTT formulate a strategy for private sector access to the Cepep programme.Sources told the T&T Guardian that TTMA CEO Ramesh Ramdeen and AmCham's chief executive, Nirad Tewarie attended the meeting with Bharath at which the proposal was discussed but this has not been officially confirmed by either entity.
Commenting on the proposal, Allyson West, a tax consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said there are no other immediate solutions available to the business community to address their manpower problems.
"We don't have a choice because people are looking for labour and they can't find it. Labour now has tons of choices, they have easy jobs and the first approach is to go to Cepep because they don't have to work as hard as they have to in the private sector and they are getting a regular pay to live on. If we consume a lot of our cheaper labour force in that area, then we are depriving the productive sectors of getting access to that labour."
West was speaking to reporters yesterday after a breakfast meeting to discuss challenges facing the manufacturing sector and the 2015 Budget at the Courtyard Marriott, Port-of-Spain. West said there is too much dependency when it comes to social programmes like Cepep."If you are paying people to do less (work less hours), why am I going to do a full day's job? We are becoming a society of entitlement. We all have to contribute if we are to sustain ourselves," she said.