The Ministry of Labour and Social Security is slated to host its final 2021 job fair from December 28 to December 30.

It is expected that the three-day job fair will provide more employment for Jamaicans, with a special invite to persons seeking work in the hospitality sector.

Lyndon Ford, director of the Electronic Labour Exchange (ELE) in the ministry, is encouraging individuals who lost their jobs to the pandemic, to visit the employment portal and register through the Labour Market Information System at www.lmis.gov.jm.

Ford encouraged young Jamaicans, particularly those living in the parishes of Trelawny, St Mary and Hanover to participate in the event.

According to Ford, with the phased reopening of the country, and the steady boost in the tourism sector, there are highly sought after vacancies in the hospitality industry. These include waiters, carpenters, plumbers, air-conditioning technicians, bartenders, housekeepers, preventive maintenance managers, restaurant managers and maintenance software administrators.

The last job fair held earlier this month, was a successful one, as over 70 per cent of the persons shortlisted were hired immediately.

With this in mind, the director is imploring persons who have the requisite skills to upload their résumés. “We are therefore asking persons who have the requisite skills and experience to upload their resumes to facilitate them having access to be a part of our job fair,” Ford said.

Only those who are shortlisted will be interviewed.

Those shortlisted will be required to provide original proof of qualification, two references, two passport size photographs, the National Insurance Scheme (NIS) number, Tax Registration Number (TRN) and two or more hard copies of their résumés.

Ford is imploring individuals to utilise the information system to their advantage as it provides an opportunity for employers and jobseekers to post available jobs and seek available jobs respectively.

Although in support of every person in Jamaican being a part of the Labour Market Information System, he stressed that individuals who lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, ought to use the information system as a means to get back into the labour market.

“While I encourage every person in Jamaica to be a part of the labour market information system, I am going to reiterate that it is absolutely important that persons who have been affected by COVID-19, may have lost jobs through redundancies and lay-offs and have the requisite skills to post their resume and utilise the employment portal in terms of the skills database as a means of getting back into the labour market,” Ford said.