News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Oct. 12, 2021: With 25 countries and territories and over 7000 islands and archipelagos, means that work and career building in the region can be quite difficult. It may require a large amount of travel and remote working arrangements. However, there are some great options, and the opportunity definitely exists to create an equitable work life balance and a lengthy career.
The Big Five
The following career and employment options are condensed from the latest trends and business news from the region. There are indeed other options, and each specific island does have particular niche industries that are always looking for professional people. The insights provided herein are thus those for the region as a whole.
· Tourism.
Despite the difficulty in the travel and hospitality industries globally, the Caribbean has seen some positive growth in its tourism over the last year, with the industry generating 1.2 billion dollars for the Jamaican economy alone. Tourism has always been a massive employer of people in the region, and this looks to be continuing. From booking agents to tour planning there are opportunities a plenty in tourism.
There are indeed some tourism employment hotspots and places like St Lucia where tourism counts for 47.8 % of all formal employment, or the Bahamas where this figure is 32% where jobs will always be available. But the entire region has a solid tourism industry and as such if you’re looking for anything in hospitality or international travel and holidaying, then the Caribbean could very well be the right place to be looking.
· Logistics and transport.
Based on the aforementioned distances between the various islands and from the major regional markets the import and export industry are a suitable place to look and secure a long-term career. Most of the Caribbean and Latin America are looking at export led growth strategies and the only way to achieve this based on the geography of the area is through professional and reliable logistics. The opportunities for both employment at management level as well as for logistics start ups has never been greater. The skills in most demand is for logistics software engineers and logistics planners. It’s a complicated region for logistics and for those who want a challenge, export logistics in the Caribbean is a career worth considering.
Keep in mind that these logistics job opportunities have begun to be seen throughout the supply chain and as such its not just the external transport of goods, but the internal supply chain management and coordination to ensure that these Caribbean goods arrive at the right port and the right time.
· Safety and security, Policing.
With the new Interpol Caribbean office there is a moment of history and opportunity for local policing and public safety organizations.
With these new offices in the region there has been clear political will and now action to improve the public safety across the region and ensure that ours remains a tourist hotspot, but also a safe and secure environment for locals to raise families, start businesses and for foreign investors to come onboard for the development opportunities that must be realized.
Now is the time to undertake criminology studies, as it seems that this job sector is about to explode in the region. The demand for highly skilled and qualified professionals in the sector is growing and demands for those with varied skills such as criminology, psychology, forensics and behavioral theory will be well placed to lead in innovative regional efforts.
Cyber security should be viewed as a major component of this drive towards a safer and more secure region. As the movement of people and data means that protecting networks and data transfer methods is going to become even more important than it is at the moment, and this will see a demand in cyber security sleuths, programmers and analysts.
· Nursing and health care
The region is renowned for exporting our healthcare professionals around the globe. National healthcare in the US, the UK and Canada are saturated with highly professional nurses from the Caribbean. The result of this is a dire shortage of nursing and healthcare staff in general throughout the region. This has led to an international health partnership which looks to address some of these shortages in a strategic and unified fashion. The Pan American Health Organization has been central in establishing partnerships for training and the associated development of staffing capacity for the region.
Now is the time to be trained and if trained then, to return to a health system that is beginning to look forward and make some exciting progressive changes.
· Seasonal jobs
For many it’s not really a career choice and the seasonal work that is done while on a longer term ‘holiday’ is a side hustle. However, the numbers of people looking to spend longer periods in the region on a ‘working holiday has soared. It is also much more acceptable to develop a lifestyle career, where you are able to work when away. Jobs in teaching, resort bartending, and administration are available.
There are various websites and search opportunities to find professional jobs for a few months, or longer-term contracts are also available in everything from humanitarian aid and development to finance and accounting. Be sure to read the fine print and ensure that all offers of employment for such seasonal work is verified and confirmed before you travel.
Building a career in the Caribbean is becoming a more popular decision as the importance of creating a decent work life balance has increased. Both locals and ex-pats are looking to our region to establish business and with this comes opportunity for careers to be developed and the current growth opportunities to be fully realized. Lastly, keep in mind that if you are planning on working away from your normal place of residence, either as a foreign ex-pat or a travelling Caribbean, ensure that you have the correct work and travel permits and visas. It will do to keep in mind that it is a wide and varied region and there will be something for everyone and a fantastic place to build your best life.
