Employers told: Cut out unqualified jobseekers

Despite a huge leap in the number of local residents seeking jobs in the private sector, Gov. Pedro P. Tenorio has said employers should not be forced to hire applicants who lack qualifications.

Locals who have signed up for employment totaled 1,516 in 1998, or a 170 percent jump from the previous year at 561, which officials largely attribute to the economic crisis that has led to business closures.

While the governor prodded private employers to take the initiative in training local people to provide them with more opportunities to enter the sector made up more than 90 percent of non-resident workers, businessmen should only accept qualified employees.

“If the private sector acknowledge that the applicant is qualified, they should hire the individual,” Tenorio said, in an interview Friday, but “I will not force the private sector to hire somebody who is not qualified for the job.”

The governor’s comments come amid growing complaints from employers that a number of local residents referred to them by the Department of Labor and Immigration for employment who either fail to meet the criteria set by companies or give up easily because they simply don’t want the job.

An executive of a garment manufacturing firm on Saipan who spoke on condition of anonymity said in an interview they have received a number of calls from DOLI asking to accept locals in the factory, but they declined it.

“This business needs highly skilled people because of the nature of the work and the schedule we have to meet. We don’t have time to train employees,” the company official explained.

Another publishing company said they hired a local over a guest worker who has strong background in marketing because the applicant was referred by the labor and immigration department.

Concerns of the private sector were echoed by House Majority Floor Leader Ana S. Teregeyo, who called on local applicants seeking employment to be more cooperative in light of shrinking job market.

Private companies are required under a law to consider the application of any resident referred by DOLI before hiring or renewing the employment contract of workers.

Although the department only refers residents to businesses which have job openings or about to renew the work contracts of guest workers, some 260 people were accepted to fill in various positions in the private sector.

The figure reflected an increase of nearly 180 percent from 93 recorded in 1997 who eventually found jobs during that year.

But the DOLI’s statistics did not indicate whether the workers are locally-born US citizens or Micronesians. It also excluded residents who had been hired in local companies without seeking assistance from the government agency.