Coming back stronger is not an easy feat. Just as Mauritius’ economy is showing increasing resilience to the ongoing crisis, export-oriented companies are at the same time struggling to find workers on the local job market.
According to the Minister of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Hon. Sunil Bholah in a press conference on August 30: “There are approximately 2,000 vacancies in export-oriented companies right now” and “Government has received requests for assistance from these companies and it intends to relieve employers facing labour shortage in the next few months”.
For the Hon. Minister, labour shortage is a problem that must be dealt with should Mauritius seek to attract new investors anytime soon. “No investor will consider Mauritius seriously should this situation last longer”, he told the press following a meeting with the private sector business associations such as the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Mauritius Export Association.
Shortage of skilled-workers is not the only problem that the Mauritian export-oriented businesses face right now.
The Hon. Minister highlighted the fact that the lack of connectivity to top markets such as South Africa is another problem that businesses now have to be dealt with urgently.
Although total world exports in the first quarter of 2021 have gone up by 34% as compared to the same period in 2020, the number of cargo ships connecting Mauritius to South Africa have gone down “from 8 to 1 per month”, the Minister revealed.
Nonetheless, the fact that exports are on the rise again and that the 235 export-oriented companies are looking for 2000 new recruits is “a positive sign”. In the Jewelry Sector, identified as a Priority Sector in the National Export Strategy (2017-2021), a 36.2% increase has been observed.
