MLHRD trains stakeholders in labour statistics |23 June 2015

As part of its effort to modernise and improve its labour statistics system, the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development (MLHRD) is conducting a national three-day training workshop on labour statistics.

Other than statisticians from the National Bureau of Statistics, the workshop which is being held at the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) conference room on Latanier Road is being attended by representatives of government ministries and agencies, workers’ and employers’ organisations, private employment agencies, as well as of the Seychelles Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

The training on labour statistics which started yesterday and ends tomorrow will also cover what is called the labour market information system (LMIS). The overall objective is to build the capacity of MLHRD staff and other stakeholders in labour statistics and data analysis for the effective coordination and implementation of the LMIS. Other topics to be covered include the definition of employment as per the ILO, survey planning, forms of works, labour underutilisation and decent work indicators.

According to MLHRD director for policy planning and research Susan Morel, the main purpose of LMIS, which has been developed locally in 2005 in collaboration with the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT), is to store and process labour market information and allow the retrieval of statistical reports.

She said that the system is for the moment being applied on the jobseeker module but needs to be updated with today’s relevant indicators and requirements for it to be efficiently used by relevant users.

Miss Morel also underlined that it guides employment policies and shape strategies that respond to the challenges of the labour market and in addition provides information on the dynamics of the labour market.

“The labour market has remarkably changed during the last fifteen years,” she remarked.

Commenting on the local labour market trends, she highlighted that the current unemployment rate is below 5%, but that there is a high demand for labour mainly in industries like tourism, construction and manufacturing.

Miss Morel revealed that the labour ministry produces a quarterly statistics bulletin where statistics registered concern the number of jobseekers, vacancies, placements, training schemes, migrant workers, occupational accidents, grievances and Employment Tribunal cases.

Noting that statistics are important for the government and for the employment sector, she consequently asked the workshop beneficiaries to make them a priority for their respective organisations.

The workshop which has been organised with the collaboration of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is being facilitated by a labour statistics expert from the organisation, Dr Coffi Agossou.

According to Dr Agossou, the training which is also being held in other African countries will help better understand labour statistics standards and how to effectively apply them to the employment reality.

The training on labour statistics is the result of a request for technical assistance to the ILO from the MLHRD. It is one of the activities under the ongoing Seychelles Decent Work Country Programme for the period 2011 to 2015.