Feb 17 - Government “Rejects And Condemns” GSD Attack On Future Job Strategy
The Government says that it condemns the GSD for its continuing campaign which it claims attempts to undermine the effectiveness of the Government strategy to increase the number of Gibraltarians in employment in accordance with the commitment given in the 2011 Election Manifesto.
This attempt, says statement from Number 6, was initially based on a fabricated version of what had been taking place invented by Mr Feetham and now perpetuated by Mr Bossino.
The Government explains its position as follows:
Over 300 employers in Gibraltar have entered into agreements to provide placements for trainees with a commitment to employ.
No employer is required to have a Government contract in order to take a trainee or alternatively to have a trainee in order to be awarded a Government contract. This has been stated in Parliament on many occasions.
The trainees are placed with an employer on probation for one month subject to suitability. All contracts for Government services are provided to firms on the approved contractors list following competitive pricing and a selection process. None of these firms are required to have trainees as a condition to submitting a bid.
However, approved Government contractors are required to meet their labour needs to fulfil their contracts from unemployed persons supplied by the Employment Service and they cannot terminate such employment without Government approval. These conditions were introduced by the GSD and continue to be applied to date.
The Government is conscious that there are still persons looking for work who need to be helped with training and employment opportunities, but the GSD is in no position to criticise what has been done so far.
In October 2012 the Employment Survey Report based on information provided by employers showed an increase in the number of Gibraltarians in full time employment as compared to October 2011 of 524, this result in one year compares with the increase by the GSD of 337 in 15 years. As regards the numbers obtaining employment on completion of the training period, the figures provided to Parliament for September 2013 showed that since the scheme commenced on 1st February 2012, a total of 999 Gibraltarians had been taken on and 564 of them had obtained employment following training. This represents a 56% success rate compared to the success rate claimed by the GSD for their time in Government of 28%.
Mr Bossino in his last public appearance described the 100% improvement as a small difference.
The position reflected in the above figures has improved further since these figures were published and when the Employment Survey results become known later this year the Government is confident that it will show again, a new and higher record in the number of Gibraltarian jobs in the economy.
