The Barbados Employment and Career Counselling Service (BECCS), in collaboration with agencies from the United States of America (USA), recently concluded a very successful recruitment drive aimed at placing several Barbadians in employment overseas.
Director of BECCS, Yvette Walcott-Dennis, noted that two recruiting agencies, Adnil Services and the JTP Agency from Florida, conducted interviews for various categories of employment in the hospitality industry.
She disclosed that the agencies are full-service global labour specialists which are passionate about helping employers fulfill their talent shortfalls, through alternative staffing solutions.
Four overseas employers accompanied the agency representatives, and interviewed approximately 200 persons on February 17 and 18 for the categories of Servers, Cooks, Housekeepers, Stewards and Bell Valet and J1 Culinary and Front Desk.
Explaining that selected workers would be expected to start from the first week of April, Mrs. Walcott-Dennis commended both recruiting agencies.
She pointed out that they had worked with the BECCS office last year, which resulted in over 100 Barbadians being employed in various categories in the USA, for the winter season.
Those placed last year through the J1 and H2B programmes were in the categories of Front Desk, Cooks, Servers, Food Runners, Host and Food Service Workers. They have reportedly performed very well, and the two agencies have decided to take a trip to Barbados to recruit for the summer season.
The representative of Adnil Service, Linda Turner, speaking on the recruitment process, said that she was “very pleased with the turn-out and calibre of interviewees, and would be pleased to continue the relationship with Barbados”.
Meanwhile, JTP’s representative, Jim Turner, who expressed similar sentiments, remarked that he “not only liked the Barbadian workers, but the country also”. He promised to return later this year to recruit for the winter season.
Both recruiters have pledged to expand the job opportunities to Barbados, and indicated that these could include categories such as Landscaping, Construction, Life Guarding and Laundry Production Operators.
Mrs. Walcott-Dennis, in expressing appreciation to them, as well as the Barbadians who responded to BECCS’ appeal to seize job opportunities abroad, stressed: “The department is grateful to the two agencies, and looks forward to a healthy relationship with them.
“It will continue its mandate to provide high quality employment services to all Barbadian job seekers, employers, training institutions, government agencies and other stakeholders.”
She further acknowledged that BECCS would continue its recruitment for workers to the USA, and revealed that later this year, an employer would be visiting Barbados, under the H2A programme, to recruit for the agricultural programme.
Additionally, she stated that “efforts are also being directed towards expanding our external recruitment into other work categories for the Bajan workers”.
BECCS is a department under the aegis of the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and the Third Sector. Persons interested in applying for any of the programmes offered should send their résumés to beccsjobs@labour.gov.bb.