No proof locals refuse jobs, Minister tells Parliament

Fiji cannot have more foreign workers than available local workers, Employment Minister Filimoni Vosarogo told Parliament today.

His comments followed a question from Opposition MP Parveen Bala, who asked whether any survey had been conducted to support employers’ claims that locals did not want to work.

“We can’t have a situation where we have a growing foreign workforce over and above the preference of a local workforce that is available,” Mr Vosarogo said.

Mr Bala said employers, particularly in the building industry, often claimed that locals did not want to work, which they said was why so many foreign workers were in the country.

He asked whether the Ministry of Employment had conducted a survey to establish whether those claims were true, saying some employers took advantage of the situation to hire foreign workers instead of locals.

Mr Vosarogo said no study had been presented to Parliament.

“If there had been a study conducted, I’m sure I’d be happy to share with Honourable Bala,” he said.

He said some employers claimed overseas workers worked longer hours and faster than local workers, but those claims needed to be supported by evidence.

“I’m sure that we have a very strong, very reliable and trustworthy workforce locally,” he said.

Mr Vosarogo said employers also had a responsibility to train local workers, even if the process took more time.

“It might take a little bit more of persuasion, it might take a little bit more of time, but I think we have to develop a culture where local employers take on the local workforce and make sure that they train them up,” he said.

He said the Government’s workforce alignment process, which was discussed in Parliament a day earlier, was important.

“It not only manages the supply, but it also manages the ethics that’s required in the workforce, in order for the economy to grow,” Mr Vosarogo said.