Jobless rates are rising again with the announcement Wednesday that 900 workers in Jamaica could soon be sent packing.
Alumina Partners of Jamaica on Wednesday said it will be suspending operations for one year, beginning on May 15. As a result, approximately 900 permanent employees will be given the pink slip, the company said.
ALPART blamed the slowdown in demand worldwide for alumina.
The latest job loss announcement comes on the heels of the layoff in Antigua at a company owned by accused swindler, Texas billionaire, Allen Stanford.
More than 200 workers at the Stanford Development Company were dismissed as of Feb 1. Company executives cited tough economic times as the reason for the layoffs of workers in the warehouse, landscaping and security departments.
Job losses in other sectors across the region are also growing. The Westin and Sheraton Grand Bahama Our Lucaya Resort says 181 employees, or about 18 percent of its beachfront workforce, have been let go.
This adds to 800 dismissed by the Atlantis Resort, also in the Bahamas, while Baha Mar Resorts Ltd. laid off some 80 employees at two Bahamas locations. Sandals also announced a 650 job cut in December while the Wyndham Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa, also in Puerto Rico, slashed 200.
The job cuts are not limited to tourism. Hewlett-Packard Co. recently said it will cut nearly 100 workers at its manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico by the end of April. While Digicel recently announced a 10 percent Caribbean workforce cut as its competitor, LIME, said it will cut 1,200.
Wyeth Pharmaceuticals in Puerto Rico has cut 276 while the Sugar Company of Jamaica sent 8,000 workers packing with 14 weeks pay in December even as some 12,000 other workers could be affected by the sale of five factories to Brazilian company Infinity Bio Energy. And bauxite company, Rusal of Jamaica cut 150 jobs there and another 600 in Guyana.
The UN has forecast that the Caribbean economy is set to see a rise in unemployment rates this year to between 7.8 and 8.1 per cent as a result of the international crisis.
