In the next 10 – 15 years, a new generation of technology companies will transform Guyana…if we invest today
Guyana’s economic development and future competitiveness will depend on the emergence of a cadre of well educated young people, many of whom will create the next generation of technology companies which will solve local, regional and global problems, wipe out the nation’s youth unemployment problems and contribute to ‘real’ unprecedented economic growth unassociated with the nation’s petroleum industry.
Why manufacturing won’t save us
The prevailing thinking is that lower energy costs will significantly boost Guyana’s manufacturing capabilities, making the country’s value add products more globally competitive. Energy costs alone will not make Guyana’s manufacturing industry more globally competitive, companies will also need to recruit the talent to help them constantly innovate new products. Companies need to ensure that their production facilities house efficient robot systems and appropriately trained employees to staff those manufacturing facilities. Managing effectively in these dynamic technology environments will require a new batch of local companies that help these facilities to run efficiently–servicing robot systems, facility processes and providing ongoing support training and development and these companies simply do not exist in Guyana today.
Women & youth are disadvantaged in Guyana’s tiny labor force
According to a 2017, IDB survey, Guyana’s tiny population of approximately 750,000 citizen reflects a total over 15yrs old population of 550,000 persons. Most of those citizens reside in urban areas (72%), with a labor force participation rate of 56% or approximately 308,000 persons. The employment:population ratio of persons aged 15yrs and older is reported at 62% for men and 36.9% for women.
Survey results show that between 48.3% and 52.6% of the employed labor force hold informal jobs (no NIS reporting). Guyana’s average (monthly) labor income is listed at G$82,636 or USD $402. The unemployment rate for women is listed at 15.3% and 9.9% for men, while the youth unemployment rate (15 – 24yrs) is listed at 21.6%. The dire situation of youth employment is confirmed by the proportion of youth, not in education, employment or training which is recorded at 35%–women account for 63% of that rate. The percent of women in managerial positions was recorded at 37.8%.
Guyana’s private and public sectors unable to support optimal employment of citizens
According to a 2017 survey, Guyana’s private sector accounted for 67.4% hires, nonprofit organisations 10% while the public sector accounted for around 22% of hires. It must be noted that the employment rate of those with higher educational achievement, is lower than citizens with a secondary school education, although not intuitively, those with the lowest educational attainment are less likely to be unemployed than those with secondary education.
The reprioritisation and innovation of Guyana’s private sector industries
Within the next ten to fifteen years, the generation of Guyanese youth who are today engaged in creative, innovative activities that help them to develop their critical thinking, problem solving, self confidence, collaboration and conflict resolution skills, will lead in creating industries that meet the needs of local, regional and global markets. Because technology is changing so rapidly, we do not have a good projection of which jobs will be in demand for the future, but we do know that those essential skills we mentioned early will be critical for success in any industry.
Guyana does not have a large enough labor force to compete effectively on low cost labor jobs in countries like China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam or any of the countries where low cost manufacturing is taking place today. There are nearly 30 million programmers in the world–many in low wage, large population, developing countries. Even today; many Guyanese companies outsource IT development to India because of high level of skills and low wages.
Guyana’s best chance at global competitiveness is to focus on skills development and intellectual capacity of all of her children–Guyana’s Technical Institutes are critical to the nation’s development as they will continue to produce the plumbers, electricians, mechanics, contractors, masons the nation desperately needs. However these young people will also need all of the soft skills to aid them in the implementation of technology, marketing and operational processes which will help them to grow their businesses and to be massively successful.
STEM education will be critical to the development of companies which will support Guyana’s move to robotics, artificial intelligence, big data, cyber security, virtual reality and many other technology skills which will influence every single industry in Guyana including arts, entertainment, medicine, mining, agriculture and law.
Fundamentally, Guyana’s youth will need to be educated in engaging, project based learning environments and will need to be well rounded in the humanities, STEM, Sports & the Arts in order to help them develop those skills which will differentiate them and make them valuable contributors to the Guyanese economy in the future.
Additionally, if the academic and digital divide persists, a small number of privileged young people will benefit from the nation’s development while the vast majority will have to depend on lower wage service industries for employment. This will result in a nation further divided between ‘the haves’ and ‘the have nots’, rife with conflict and the resultant problems of inequality. Guyana is too small a nation to weather the storm of blatant, pervasive, structural inequality; the good thing is, we have enough time to plan appropriately.
