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First Job Fair for southern and  western region |27 March 2023

First Job Fair for southern and  western region

          Employment department satisfied with turnout

 

By Patsy Canaya

 

Jobseekers from the southern and western regions were able to register for employment at a one-day fair organised at the Anse Boileau playing field on Saturday by the Employment department.

This was during the first in a series of sensitisation job fairs planned this year by the department in collaboration with its key partners, namely businesses and employment-related services.

A dozen organisations were present at the fair, including several tourism establishments, the defence forces, Seychelles Pension Fund, the Enterprise Seychelles Agency, social workers and the employment department itself, which was promoting its different work programmes.

The director for employment programme, Marinette Freminot, explained that the southern and western region was the first to be targeted as the matter was raised at the recent regional meeting held by the Local Government department.

“They were proposing to hold such event and this also blended well with the ministry’s plan and strategy to decentralise its services to the public. In addition, the members of the National Assembly from this region have also been asking for such activity for a while and thus the reason for the fair,” said Ms Freminot.

The fair was not only an opportunity for the employing organisations to showcase their vacancies, and create awareness about employment opportunities, but to sensitise the public on various employment-related services on offer in the country.

Marcus Bonne from Kempinski Seychelles resort described it as an interesting initiative. The Baie Lazare-based tourism estasblishment had registered a dozen jobseekers two hours after opening, a number which Mr Bonne said could have been higher had there been more publicity about the event.

“It would have been better if we had a bigger crowd and more people seeing what we have on offer. I am not too sure if many people knew we were having this recruitment fair here today so it is a bit disappointing that we do not have that many people,” he said.

For human resource manager of the Mango House Seychelles Resort, Cheryl Marie, the turnout was significant, considering people are usually busy on Saturday.

Other than Mango House Seychelles Resort, Ms Marie’s desk was representing Hilton Northolme Resort and Spa, Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort and Spa, DoubleTree by Hilton Seychelles – Allamanda Resort and Spa as well as a new hotel that will be opening its doors soon on Ile Platte. The team was targeting to register a large number of new recruits but had registered 10 jobseekers two hours into the fair.

“Since we started we have had some candidates showing interests and even filling in our forms. We have several posts for example in operations, restaurants, kitchen and human resource section as well. It started slow but the people started coming in droves one hour into the fair but as you can see now it has died down by midday,” she explained.

The Enterprise Seychelles Agency (Esa), was also present and promoting its various services, including training and business counselling for those wanting to start their new business. Twenty-five people approached their stand for information and registration.

“We are impressed with the turnout because since setting up our desk, we have had people approaching and querying about our services, including the steps to start their business,” explained Esa’s official Beryl Nagapin.

She said they have now been captured into Esa’s system, where they will be able to get all the information shared.

“It is good that we decentralise this fair, because we are based in town and so this is an opportunity for people from that region to get a chance to talk to us as well. We are bringing our services closer to them,” said Mrs Nagapin.

The Employment department was sensitising the public about its schemes namely ‘My First Job’, Reskilling and Skills Development Programme.

Employment official, Annette Freminot, also said she was satisfied with the turnout although it was not a large crowd and more people were interested in registering for full-time employment instead of seeking short-term training. Five had registered by midday.

“We are still getting people dropping by every now and then to get the information related to our various programmes. So far we have more people registering for reskilling, because they feel they do not have the proper skills to do the type of jobs they want to venture into. So, we are advising and registering them,” explained Ms Freminot.

One participant was Melvin Adrienne, who currently owns his own disc jockey business, providing entertainment on request, to various tourism establishments. Melvin said he wanted to venture into something more permanent and secure and was looking at the options available.

“There are times I am needed for a week, or a month but there are also times when I will not get any duties so I want to go into some other fields, where I will have more control over my employment,” he said, adding he was interested in customer care, but was eager and willing to train for anything.

Sherley Alphonse, who is already employed, was not seeking a new job but rather new information about work-related matters. “For example I am learning more about taxes and import and other services offered by the Seychelles Revenue Commission. I also know more about voluntary contribution by the Seychelles Pension Fund so it was more information gathering in my case,” she said.

The Employment department said it was satisfied with Saturday’s turnout.

“The department is satisfied with the number of employing organisations that participated in the sensitisation job fair as well as public turnout taking into account it was the first such fair being organised at regional level. We expect that as we continue with the remaining ones at other regions it will be better in terms of public turnout and participation from the different organisations,” said Ms Freminot.
The next sensitisation job fair will be for the central and northern region and will take place in May at the International Conference Centre.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the sensitisation job fair on Saturday.

 

Patsy Canaya

Photos by Louis Toussaint

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