Navigating the Skills Shortages and Recruitment Challenges in St. Lucia

HR Professionals from close to thirty Chamber Member Companies participated in the Chamber HR Connect where issues related to the challenges members have reported in recruitment of appropriate talent. The context for the event was presented as follows:

The Chamber has over the years brought HR Managers from Member Companies to discuss issues of common interest. This has led to the Chamber developing among other things an Annual Training Calendar that offers a number of People Development Programs that Chamber Members subscribe to. The Chamber wishes to reassess and ensure it is meeting the needs of members.

Secondly from the findings of the Chamber Business Performance Survey over the last five years, the story is clear, there has been consistent and ongoing recruitment difficulty, rising labour‑cost pressure, but positive business growth and declining unemployment has taken place in the economy.

The labour recruitment challenges aren't just cyclical pains—they’re systemic skill gaps. The question was therefore how can the Chamber meaningfully reduce recruitment roadblocks, stabilize costs, and fortify the supply of skilled labour at scale?

The questions posed to participants was: (1) What Are the Main People Development Challenges Facing Your Business?”

(2) “What are the Training Programs that if the Chamber Hosted Will Have a Significant and Positive Impact on Your Company”

Fourteen (14) priority actions and or areas were identified which members thought the Chamber could assist with. Theses priority areas have been reduced to ten areas and these findings are now being validated by the Chamber through a quick survey.

The Session was so engaging and positive a second round of discussions using a ZOOM platform was held on June 26, 2025, and a series of specific actions were recommended to be taken by the Chamber to help address the Recruitment Challenges faced by Members.  These will be presented to members upon validation.

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