00:00The announcement for the opening for the application of jobs came via social media
00:05as phase one of the National Recruitment Drive 2025 was launched on Sunday.
00:10It has been stated by the government that it is to recruit people for over 20,000 positions
00:15from skilled trades to administration, for example, drivers, plumbers, electricians, laborers and clerks
00:22across 25 government ministries.
00:24The post to the Facebook page T&T Job Recruitment invites people to apply through the online portal
00:31employtt.gov.tt.
00:34But hours after the page was launched, some people were having problems filling out the applications online.
00:40Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessa addressed it on her official Facebook page,
00:44saying all of the information could be attained at a velodrome in Kuva.
00:48In an interview with TV6 News, Works and Infrastructure Minister Jolene John says
00:53the large number of vacancies is an indication of where the public service stands at this time.
00:59And if it is you have over 20,000 vacancies, it means the whole public service is broken, right?
01:06In addition to where you have the established position, that is the monthly paid position primarily,
01:13you have the public service commission who moves very slowly.
01:17But people are complaining that the potholes are not being fixed, the grass is not being cut and so on.
01:22But these jobs really belong to daily paid employees.
01:26According to the minister, it spans different public sector entities, including her ministry,
01:32local government and the Public Transport Service Corporation.
01:35So what we are looking to do in phase one is to treat with the daily paid cadre particularly in these areas and in these particular ministries
01:44and jobs that are approved, that will approve contract positions, that will approve by cabinet.
01:51Right, those are the first set of jobs.
01:53The jobs that come under the established position and in terms of that and treated with the public service commission,
01:58they remain with the public service commission.
02:00The minister estimates that there are about 1,700 to 2,500 vacancies at the housing ministry alone,
02:07of which 1,400 are daily paid positions.
02:10The need for employment seems evident as John reveals an overwhelming response from the public.
02:16As of midday today, we went live at 12 o'clock last night.
02:22Again, you could have said well, it's kind of soft opening.
02:24And at midday, we had 11,000 persons applying online.
02:31So we have a centre in the velodrome, the cycling velodrome.
02:36It's open today, it's going to be open tomorrow, it's open on Tuesday into Friday,
02:41which will be giving additional information, assisting people with filling out their application forms.
02:45Because some people won't be able to manoeuvre the online portal.
02:49The opening hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
02:52And the government has indicated that more censors will be open soon.
02:57It is the intention that you will be interviewing and selecting all of next week.
03:03I think those are going to be most likely thousands of interesting people.
03:08John says the jobs were catered for in the 2025 to 2026 fiscal plan,
03:13and the matter was supposed to be addressed as part of the Prime Minister's presentation
03:17during the budget debate, which collapsed in the House of Representatives on Friday,
03:22after both the government and opposition failed to produce a speaker.
03:26So she will take the opportunity in a few days to still come and speak about this whole jobs initiative,
03:34because it will not only be the public sector, you know,
03:37the government also will enable, act as an enabler for the private sector to create good paying jobs.
03:45While noting that the initiative was not launched with much publicity,
03:49the minister tells us her expectation is that all ministries will be out at the centre on Tuesday
03:55to facilitate those seeking employment.
03:57Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
Comments