Foreign Employment Research and Promotion Training

This technical training for representatives of Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru governments is aimed at increasing capacity of officials in Departments of Labour, embassy officers and other government staff, to provide a foundation for governments to develop the framework to carry out foreign employment market research and promotion. The training will cover information on foreign labour markets in low-skilled and semi-skilled occupations where there may be opportunities for decent work, and provide guidance on using information to promote and strengthen participation of workers in labour migration program.

INTRODUCTION

International labour migration, particularly temporary labour migration, has been identified as a key development priority in each of Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru. Whilst the three countries vary significantly in terms of the nature of their labour markets, they also share many similarities, including:
  • Relatively small number of national employment opportunities due to lack of comparative advantage in goods production, primarily because of lack of natural resources, especially remote locations, long distance from markets, and high sea freight costs;
  • Comparatively high levels of skilled emigration (‘brain drain’) but limited opportunities for low skilled emigration / circular migration where unemployment is high;
  • In the case of Kiribati and Tuvalu, high reliance on remittances from migrants.

The training seeks to provide a foundation for government officials to develop the skills required for these tasks and aims to:
  • Improve knowledge of relevant foreign labour markets in low-skilled and semi-skilled occupations where there may be opportunities for decent work;
  • Equip government officials involved in labour migration with information for how to collect and analyse data on foreign labour markets, and how to use the information to develop labour marketing and promotion activities; and
  • Provide participants with an opportunity to discuss possible collaboration between the countries’ in undertaking foreign employment research and promotion.

At the end of the programme participants should be able to:
  • Understand the key aspects of labour migration schemes for low and semi-skilled workers in the relevant sectors;
  • Have basic skills in carrying out research on labour migration opportunities and a plan for how the information will be researched and shared across government.

PARTICIPANTS

Around 15 participants are expected with six participants from Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru respectively, and the remaining participants based with embassies in Suva of the respective countries.