Council of trade unions calls on government to address unemployment crisis
BY CHRIS ALEX
The Council of Trade Unions (SICTU) has sounded the alarm over what it calls a “unemployment crisis” urging Government to take swift action to address soaring unemployment particularly among the nation’s youth.
Citing the latest International Labour Organization (ILO) Labour Report and data from the Solomon Islands Government’s 2020 Population Census (based on 2019 figures), SICTU revealed that total unemployment has reached 7.9 percent representing more than 23,000 people nearly doubling the natural unemployment rate of 4 percent.
The situation is even more severe for those under the age of 24, where the unemployment rate stands at 14–16 percent meaning roughly one in six young Solomon Islanders is without work, SICTU said.
“This is not just a statistic; it’s a crisis that is robbing our young people of their future,” SICTU National Secretary Adrian Tuhanuku said.
“The data confirms that our economy is failing to absorb new entrants to the workforce. If this trend continues, we risk long-term damage to both youth prospects and national stability.”
The findings also highlight that only 55.4 percent of working-age adults are engaged in the labour force primarily in urban centres while over half of all jobs are in the services sector.
Agriculture, once the backbone of the economy, accounts for just 27 percent of employment and is in decline. Compounding the problem, GDP growth remains stuck below three percent.
Tuhanuku warned that the figures likely understate the true scale of the crisis, as ILO methodology does not account for underemployment or discouraged workers who have given up looking for jobs.
In response, SICTU is calling on the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration (MCILI) and the Ministry of Finance and Treasury to:
Publicly outline their plan to address the ILO’s findings;
Prioritise job creation in agriculture, fisheries, and sustainable industries to diversify the economy;
Offer incentives to the private sector for local hiring and training;
Improve labour data collection to capture hidden unemployment; and launch an emergency youth employment plan to tackle the 14–16 percent youth jobless rate.
“The time for solutions is now,” Tuhanuku stressed. “We need policies that create real jobs not more guesswork. SICTU and its affiliates are ready to work alongside the Government and the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI) to deliver results through genuine tripartite cooperation.
