00:00Minister of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development, Kennedy Swarit Singh,
00:04says the government's decision to settle back pay and adjust wages should be viewed as a strategic
00:11economic intervention capable of boosting labor force participation, stimulating domestic demand
00:17and strengthening small and micro-enterprise activity. He said this at the UWI's Trade and
00:23Economic Development Unit discussion on impact of back pay promises on the macroeconomy,
00:30on Monday. However, according to the minister, a key concern for policymakers is a steady decline
00:36in the labor force participation. He noted that participation fell from 62.1% in 2010 to about
00:4550% by 2020, with more recent Central Statistical Office data placing it at 54.6% in the second
00:55quarter of 2025. The declining labor force participation rate is a major concern for the
01:02Ministry of Labor and for the government of Trinidad and Tobago because it signals underutilization of
01:07the available human resources, suppressed potential output and a narrow tax base, all of which
01:13constrain economic growth and social resilience. He added that the labor sector is conducting research
01:20to inform evidence-based wage and labor market policies. He explained that remuneration remains a critical lever
01:28in encouraging people to enter or re-enter the workforce, particularly when combined with public sector
01:35hiring capacity, private sector responsiveness and sound fiscal management.
01:48can help reverse the decline in labor force participation. Additionally, back pay and pay adjustments can also influence
01:59the feasibility of site businesses moonlighting and support seed capital accumulation, helping to reduce the risk of
02:07early-stage business failure. He added that this can help reduce the risk of
02:10more people in employment through site businesses and new small and micro enterprises, thereby increasing
02:17measured labor force participation. Also on the seminar was Dr. Darren Conrad, Senior Lecturer and Head of the
02:23Department of Economics at the UWI, who says the state should end full financing of tertiary education.
02:29He argued that public funding should stop at secondary school as Trinidad and Tobago can no longer absorb the
02:36number of university graduates being produced.
02:39I'm never an advocate for full funding of tertiary education.
02:43As a matter of fact, full funding for education should stop at secondary school level.
02:47At the tertiary level, that's our choice, and we should be funding at least, if not all of it.
02:55But not 100% financing for tertiary level education because again, we're creating a situation where we're spending
03:02but we don't have the absorptive capacity in the labor market to hire these skilled individuals that we're
03:07producing, which lends itself to a different level of frustration in individuals.
03:12He warned that the current system is creating a mismatch between the skills produced by universities
03:17and the actual needs of the economy while placing an unsustainable burden on public finances.
03:24He added that many graduates are pursuing master's degrees simply to buy time when they cannot get a job.
03:31A trend, he said, only worsens existing problems.
03:35Vishana Pargu for TV6 News.
03:37Resenda Pargu.
03:40Sheldon.
03:40JANURA.
03:41RENALON.
03:41Sheldon.
03:41You
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