[Photo: FILE]
Fiji’s labour market is facing serious imbalances, with gaps on both the supply and demand sides, according to Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation CEO Edward Bernard.
Responding to concerns about whether graduates are leaving institutions with the wrong skills or whether the private sector is failing to absorb talent, Bernard says the issue is far more complex.
He revealed that while thousands enrol in training programmes, completion rates remain a concern.
“For example, if you look at 2024, from FNU, there was about 7000 students that were registered for Tivet, only 50% actually graduated. So you’re not only talking about the quality, but you’re also talking about the numbers that are coming out.”
Bernard also pointed to a growing outflow of workers overseas, further tightening the local labour pool.
At the same time, Bernard says there are around 10,000 people registered with the National Employment Centre who are not currently in work, alongside others choosing not to work due to high remittance inflows, which now stand at around $1.4 billion.
According to the latest Bureau of Statistics data, youth unemployment is at 18 percent, while 26 percent of young people are not in employment, education or training.
Despite this, Bernard says businesses are still struggling to fill roles, highlighting a clear mismatch between available workers and industry needs.
He stresses that Fiji’s labour market is now “very distorted” and warned that urgent action is needed to address the imbalance.
