Prime Minister Gaston Browne has declared that Antigua and Barbuda is operating at near-full employment, while acknowledging that the government lacks current data to support that claim. According to Antigua News Room, Browne made the remarks while responding to a question in Parliament, conceding that an updated labour market survey is overdue.
"I will accept that we need to do a current one," Browne said, noting that the last labour survey was conducted around 2016 or 2017. "But we all know, at least anecdotally, that it's practically full employment in this country."
The Prime Minister pointed to the daily arrival of foreign nationals securing employment in Antigua and Barbuda as evidence of strong labour demand. "There are people coming into this country literally on a daily basis and obtaining employment," he said.
Browne also raised concerns about what he described as a growing cultural reluctance among some Antiguans and Barbudans to accept available positions for which they are qualified. Businesses, he said, continue to report difficulties filling roles in retail, security, domestic work, and hospitality.
The surge in work permit applications has led Cabinet to centralize the approval process, Browne noted, yet employers still report persistent challenges in recruiting local workers.
"I'm pretty convinced that we practically have full employment and that those who are not employed is that they're either not willing to work or they're unavailable to work," the Prime Minister said.
