Belize faces a growing labour shortage

Belize is facing what labour officials are describing as a growing shortage of manual workers, a situation that is now beginning to impact major construction projects and key sectors of the economy, including tourism.  Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Labour, Tanya Santos, says the ministry has been receiving an increasing number of requests from employers seeking assistance in sourcing workers for various industries, particularly in manual labour and construction. According to CEO Santos, the shortage has become significant enough that businesses and project managers are struggling to fill vacancies needed to keep operations moving efficiently.

Tanya Santos Neal ,CEO, Ministry of Immigration: “That is a reality. And it’s across the country in almost every sector and I know that because we get many, many, many requests from agriculture industry, from construction, from the service industry and tourism for workers. And sometimes it’s or many times it’s manual labor. There’s a huge shortage of manual labor in the country. And there’s also in certain sectors shortage of skilled labor as well, skilled employees, and so we’re noticing we’re having to import a lot of that. And so that is what has the high demand for visas for work permits in Belize. You know there were a lot of Belizeans who left in the last few years. I was not aware but we had a meeting last week and one of the Mennonite community leaders was saying that they have been affected by emigration of workers in communities surrounding them, emigration to the United States. So they have had to find ways of getting people to fill those gaps. But also, especially when it comes to skilled labor, we need to find a way to match the demands with the education that we’re offering. And that’s why we have here today also present the Ministry of Education. They’re a key partner and they have been involved and working with us. But also Belize is a small country, our population is very small. You know, just within government you go to different meetings, it’s the same people you’re seeing because we don’t have the human resources. So it’s a combination of many factors.”

This labour shortage is now reportedly affecting ongoing infrastructure projects across the country. Area Representative for Belize Rural South, Andre Perez, says one example is the construction of the San Pedro Hospital, where officials have encountered delays due to a lack of available construction workers on the island.  Perez further explained that the shortage is not limited to construction, noting that San Pedro’s tourism and service industries are also experiencing difficulty finding enough workers to meet growing demand.  

Andre Perez, BRS Area Representative: “The labor shortage that is very important that they have been having some delays getting employment even though despite the fact that you know they pay what they’re paying it’s very good salaries that they offer but in general it just goes back to what is happening on the island labor shortage as it relates to the construction industry is a shortage of that. You know it’s not only confined to construction it is even in the service industry it’s a hard thing right now to get right now it’s the slow season but during the peak season you have like one restaurant taking away the chef from the other restaurant, that hotel taking away their best bartender and they’re eating one another because the labor shortage is incredible. But there’s other factors you need to consider as well. The high cost of rent is also another factor that we have to be looking at as well. So yes, and it’s across the whole country, you know? And you need to know as well that the BPO industry has been a part of it, which is a good thing. BPO industry, I think, employs approximately 16,000 people working in the BPO industry. That has taken away some of that from the service industry. I’m not saying it as a wrong thing, but it highlights. The BPO’s are being established inland. It’s best for them to stay and work there instead of come to San Pedro. So that has been a factor that affecting in terms of the service industry, construction, just about everything.”

The Ministry of Labour says it is now examining possible solutions to help connect employers with available workers while also encouraging greater workforce participation and training opportunities nationwide.