(Newsroom Panama) With major construction projects under way, a mushrooming of new hotels, and the movement of major multinationals into the country, Panama is faced with a labor problem.
Some 25,000 jobs will become available during the expansion years, but there is a desperate shortage of workers able to speak English or with sufficient computer skills. It is not a problem being addressed in the schools system, where there are no immersion classes and many students have no access to computers.
The expanding hotel industry is facing major staff concerns, with new hotels cannibalizing others as they seek trained staff, and the movement of staff from one location to another is increasing T
he Metro construction project will need 4000 workers, before year’s end . ThelocalTrump Hotel has 300 vacanciesand customers of other recently opened hotels have seen the quality of service plummet as staff are enticed to greener fields.
Stores to be opened in the West Mall shopping center Arraiján need about 3 000 workers and the Pacific,Howard, development will provide 4,000 new jobs. by 2014
For businesses, says La Prensa the situation has worsened in the current environment. There is a shortage of bricklayers, welders,heavy equipment drivers, bilingual administrators, masons, carpenters, civil engineers, salesmen, messengers, cashiers, dishwashers and restaurant manager