COVID-19 has changed the entire Barbados economy, business and job markets. We have to make quick changes to ensure that Barbadians can support themselves.
Hordes of people are working remotely on millions of projects around the world. Gone are the days where borders existed as it relates to many jobs across all sectors. There is a thriving Internet-job industry and many people in Barbados are missing out on this opportunity daily.
Most of our welcome stamp visitors who left their homes across the world and came to Barbados are working remotely. Some of them have been working with companies directly but others have been using online platforms that are also accessible to Barbadians and Caribbean people.
We spend time within our shores but we are not focused on where the Internet money is. We need to use the Internet as the powerful tool it was made to be.
We have many smart and educated minds in our communities that can easily secure thousands of Internet-based jobs, which pay in US dollars. This is a solution that can help so many people in our communities, as most sectors are under major threat and the tourism industry battles with significant losses and declines in arrivals. Businesses are closing this week and many more people will be out of work.
Internet jobs are available. The number of jobs posted at the time of writing this article was well over 15 million. We need to go after these jobs posted online now. Barbados has high Internet penetration rates and fast enough broadband speeds so working online for the majority of us should not be a problem.
I want all Barbadians who are looking for work to go to the following websites as soon as possible: WWW.UPWORK.COM and WWW.FREELANCER.COM. I want you to sign up and make a profile with your CV or LinkedIn and add your skill set. Make your best profile possible and apply for online jobs in your industry. The jobs vary and you can choose either quick jobs or long-term contracts with businesses and clients. You can have multiple online jobs or contracts. It is very flexible in most cases.
I have also reviewed a list of the top companies that hire an online workforce through these platforms. These companies include Amazon, AIRBNB, Microsoft, GE, Facebook, IBM, AIRBUS and Deloitte, along with thousands of other companies looking for skilled workers.
There are also several ways to be paid, including via wire transfer, Payoneer, PayPal and others. Government and commercial banks need to ensure that Barbadians have better banking facilities to seamlessly accommodate incoming payments to bank accounts in Barbados through third party merchants, such as PayPal. Our banking system must rise to the challenge in 2021 to ensure that Barbadians survive the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Richie Quintyne Commercial Broker NVEST Estates
