‘Let’s do a better job of enticing back former residents’
Lt. Gov. Ralph DLG Torres has pledged his support for the CNMI’s human resources sector, which continues to face concerns, including the challenge of bringing back skilled and talented residents to the CNMI.
Torres, speaking at the induction of a new board of directors of the Society for the Human Resource Management NMI Chapter on Thursday, said there is a need to open “the lines of communication and keeping them [CNMI residents abroad] informed of our work toward creating more jobs they would be proud to accept.”
“As someone who left the islands in search of an education, I know first hand of the disconnect between the employment market here and the potential labor pool abroad,” Torres said. “We can and will do a better job [of] informing our former residents around the world of our need and desire for them to come back home.”
Torres assured HR practitioners that his office is encouraging “open dialogs” so that these issues can be tackled. He said the industry can count on his help to address these human resources concerns.
“The truth is that your roles as human resource managers are vital in developing the necessary human capacity to meet the challenges of this new and exciting chapter in our Commonwealth. And in essence we all want the same thing. We all want our people, the stakeholders of our organizations, to grow and be more productive in our callings,” he said.
Torres led the swearing in of the new board of directors of the SHRM.
This year marks the group’s 18th year of providing an affiliate branch of the National Society for Human Resource Management Association for the Commonwealth’s human resource professionals.
The chapter’s 2015 board of directors is composed of president Frank L. Gibson, owner, HR Support, CNMI (1997 founding member); vice president Josephine DLG Mesta, director of Human Resources, Hyatt Regency Saipan (1997 founding member); treasurer Esther Ada, Human Resource manager, DFS Saipan, Ltd.; secretary Micah Parico-Acuavera, executive assistant, Triple J Saipan, Inc.; board members Ernesto Lacorte, chief financial officer, Saipan SDA Clinic; Evan Hunsberger, training manager, Pacific Islands Club Saipan; Bertha C. Leon Guerrero, Human Resource manager, Micronesia Resorts, Inc.; adviser Maria Luisa Ernest, director of Human Resources, Tan Holdings, Inc.; and past president Nora Mae Sablan, service manager, TakeCare Insurance Company, Inc. (Joel Pinaroc)
Until this Govt. stops hiring incompetent, uneducated, non experienced people at high salary due to their political connection and/or family name while offering a very low salary to a person that has to travel and live off island in the pursuit of an education and work, few will come back.
Many have had to go into debt for their education. Also many have abandoned their property and have nothing to live in if they return for a low paying job.
One idea may be to offer educated, skilled people a decent wage and also a housing allowance for a limited time, say for one year, until they can get back and work while renovating their old property to be able to live in.
Buenas Captain,
Majority of our people who migrated to the United States sold their government issue homesteads in the CNMI. Many that we encounter here in the United States have no intention of returning to the CNMI, because they had sold all their belongings prior to their migration. If this group of people decides to return to the CNMI, they would most likely be renting or be living with other relatives.
Such scenarios reminds me of the Hawaiian Islands, the indigenous were displaced on their own back yard.
Our people who are in the United States are rooted within the system and there is a slight chance for them to return as a family to the CNMI.
Most of those abandoned properties you see around the island are bought and paid for.
Si Yu’us Ma’ase
I believe that people don’t return because there are still groups of people that think we live in the old caste system. They feel their families are destined to rule. Others work in fear of these people. I think that Dr. Walker, the Orthopedic Surgeon, suffered at the hands of the Muna clan to cite an example. Who wants to live in fear anyway? We don’t live financially rich lives but we have more pride than to let a bunch of grass skirt wearing bullies try and ruin our children’s pride for wanting to return home again. Maybe that is why more of us have moved away and live outside the Marianas. Maybe we don’t have a lot of money but we need to clean these power hungry people out of politics, administrations etc.