Bridgetown.
Executive Director of tthe Barbados Employers Confederation ((BEC)Tony Walcott says he is not aware of any plans in the private sector beyond those already made public.
Neal & Massy (Barbados), the parent company of Super Centre and DacostaMannings Retail, along with Duty Free Caribbean Holdings, which operates Cave Shepherd, announced recently that they would be adjusting staff levels.
Walcott, speaking at the launch of BEC’s week of activities, said companies continued to evaluate their business models and find ways of holding on to their employees.
“I would expect that management in various companies will be reviewing their options as to how best they can streamline their operations to maintain sustainable enterprises. If we do not have sustainable enterprises, in the long term we will not have any jobs,” he said.
The executive director said that employers everyything humanly possible to maintain jobs.
"There has been a mixture of all types of programmes to hold on to employees as long as possible. In some sectors there are rotations. In others there are three day week and some marginal layoff but wherever possible redundancy is the last resort", Walcott said.
The BEC represents over 200 employers on the island.
