‘Work, get experience, get paid’ – Teixeira urges young people as many job vacancies go unfilled

Young people are being urged to take advantage of available opportunities as many job vacancies across the country remain unfilled, with Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira encouraging them to work, gain experience and earn rather than overlook existing openings.

Her advice is that there is no basis for persons to claim a lack of job opportunities.

In fact, she posited that many individuals fail to apply when vacancies are advertised, yet later complain that there are no jobs available.

Speaking during the recent sod-turning ceremony for the Bartica Hospital, Teixeira highlighted that this disconnect continued to be a major issue, stressing that opportunities do exist but are often overlooked.

“When we [the government] are advertising jobs, people are not applying. And then they say there is no work – there is [actually] plenty of work [available]. There is too much work in Guyana right now. We don’t have enough people. So I’m asking the younger generation, whether it’s a job you like or a job you think you don’t want to do, work, get experience, get paid, go on to study: you have various programmes – you have the GOAL (Guyana Online Academy of Learning) programme; you have the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) programme amongst others.”

She also highlighted that thousands of nurses, teachers, doctors and engineers are being trained across the country. According to her, the opportunities available to young people are greater than ever before, stressing that some individuals who claim they cannot find jobs need to be made aware of the wide range of options that exist.

The Minister pointed out that a level of sacrifice was necessary, recalling that she personally worked in a factory to support herself through university. She highlighted the various jobs she undertook as proof of her commitment.

“I worked in a factory making car filters in order to put myself through university, I was a domestic worker. I was a terrible waitress – I got fired for being a waitress because I kept spilling tea and coffee and so on. But I worked. And I’m just using the example that if you want something badly enough, you’re going to sacrifice to get it,” Teixeira noted.

She urged young people to take risks and explore different career paths, noting that they may not initially know whether they want to work in construction, plumbing, electrical work, or engineering. She encouraged them to try new opportunities, emphasising that if it did not work out, they could start over again, because they were still young.

“Take risks. You didn’t know if you wanted to work in a construction site. You didn’t know if you wanted to be a plumber, electrician, or an engineer. Take a chance. Try it. If it doesn’t work, you start over again. You’re young. A lot of the people are young,” the Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Minister said. Meanwhile, turning her attention to the public service, she noted that there was a need to redefine certain roles, emphasising that outdated job descriptions were no longer effective.

“Things we couldn’t imagine five years ago are coming to this country. And so we need an educated workforce. We need people to be educated and educated well, and be able to go on to get their professional training, to be able to function in these new jobs that are being created. In the public service, we have to redefine some of the jobs because the old public service definitions don’t work anymore. And so every piece has to fit together,” Teixeira explained.