Brief History, Tasks and Objectives

The Labour Market Information Unit (LMIU) was established in October 2010 following a series of initiatives by the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development (MLSMED) aimed at achieving and maintaining labour market equilibrium through, inter alia, the optimal utilization of the national human resource capital. The LMIU has the following as its objectives; to analyze trends in the Labour Market with particular emphasis on the demand for labour; to optimize the efficiency of investment in human resource development and minimize the chance of shortfalls in labour supply to the energy and other key sectors, and to produce an initial set of short and medium term (2010-2014) employment estimates for selected industries using modern statistical methodologies and econometric modeling.

The LMIU is also mandated to prepare the Terms of Reference for the recruitment of consultants to undertake a survey of the demand and supply of labour in Trinidad and Tobago. The LMIU would be grateful for any assistance that the ILO could provide in this recruitment process. The short term work plan of the LMIU is summarized at Appendix 1.

Justification

The Ministry of Labour Small and Micro Enterprise Development completed the first phase of recruitment for its LMI Unit by June-July 2010 and operations began in October of that year. During the process of selection and recruitment it became clear that while candidates were qualified and had prior experience with statistics, quantitative and other research, only a very limited number of candidates had extensive experience with labour statistics, labour market analysis, forecasting and projections. This was due in part to the highly specialised nature of labour market statistics and analysis, especially in developing countries.

Considering this actual situation the management at the Ministry of Labour Small and Micro Development decided that an intensive, high quality induction training course on LMI and specific areas of Labour Statistics must be the starting point to jump the creation of this unit.

Objective and Organisation

Learning Objective
The intensive induction training course on LMI and specific areas of Labour Statistics aims at providing participants with a level of understanding and skills of LMI and Labour Statistics that will serve as a platform that individual staff members can use for further specialised training and will assist the unit as a whole to develop a work programme and coordinate its implementation.

With this objective in mind the participants will, at the end of the training:

1. Have an understanding of:

• The basic concepts currently used in labour market information, statistics, analysis and forecasting and related statistical infra-structure
• The major methodologies and related techniques in labour/employment statistics, analysis and forecasting
• The related national and international sources for concepts and methods
• The ILO’s labour statistics/analysis repositories
• Approaches to establishing and enhancing Labour Market Information Systems

2. Attain the following skills:

• Design a strategy to establish or enhance data sources and statistical infra-structure in identified (specific) areas in labour market information, statistics, analysis and forecasting
• Design personal and unit specific training programmes in the areas of labour market information, statistics, analysis and forecasting
• Design a strategy to establish or enhance a Labour market Information System

Course methodology and organisation

The dominant approach in this training course is “learning by doing”. Following this approach, this training activity will combine training with producing the outline of the unit’s work plan or a strategy on an actual priority issue in the work plan. In thematic sessions one or more presentations on conceptual and methodological issues followed by discussion will lead up to a working group session that will focus on producing an output that can contribute to the finalisation of the LMI Unit’s work plan.

Table 1: Six thematic sessions/subject areas for the intensive induction training course for the LMI Unit of the Ministry of Labour and Small and Micro Enterprise Development.

Thematic session on		Days	Output working group
1.	Employment (including projections)	2	An outline for an integrated system of employment statistics (data sources, labour accounts, projections)
2.	Wages	2	Review of the latest design of the CSO’s Wage Survey and recommendations
3.	Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES)	2	·       Quick scan of the HIES/CPI in Trinidad and Tobago in the context of international guidelines and recommendations ·       Preparing actual estimates of the working poor for Trinidad and Tobago for the data sets of 2005 and 2010
4.	Social Protection and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH)	2	Review of existing SP and OSH statistics in Trinidad and Tobago and recommendations for enhancement
5.	Industrial Relations.	1	Review of the OECS LMIS and its relevance for the Labour Administration and LMI in Trinidad and Tobago
6.	LMIS	1
	Total	10