The government’s approach to tackling unemployment is proving to be not only effective but historic, as more than 104,000 new jobs were created during the 2020-2025 period, Minister of Labour and Manpower Planning, Keoma Griffith, told the National Assembly on Wednesday during his maiden contribution to the 2026 budget debates.
Defending the government’s track record of creating opportunities for empowerment, Griffith said jobs were created in construction, mining and quarrying, transportation and storage, agriculture, manufacturing, health, education, and emerging service industries. Griffith said this expansion occurred as a result of the government’s sustained public investment, private sector confidence, and a prudent labour policy framework that puts decent work, skills training, and workforce adaptability first.
“The results are undeniable, Mr Speaker. The unemployment rate decreased dramatically by 50% from 12.8 per cent to 6.8 per cent, while youth unemployment fell from 30.2 per cent to 12.1 per cent,” said Griffith.
The minister noted that this is in stark contrast to the dismal record of the former APNU+AFC coalition, highlighting that during the period 2015-2019, the David Granger-led administration sat on its hands while approximately 30,000 citizens were unemployed.
“Despite all their promises, in 2019, only 535 jobs were realised through the Small Business Bureau and another 1,700 through GO-Invest (Guyana Office for Investment), leaving more than 28,000 Guyanese still without work. In a nation that was relatively small in size during this period, that is not merely underperformance; that is an outright failure,” the Labour Minister argued.
At a time when every sector was struggling, Griffith said the former APNU+AFC coalition was obsessed with lavish ceremonies such as the $350 million it spent on extravagant preparatory works for Guyana’s 50th Republic Anniversary celebration. The minister said this excessive spending could have been invested in training citizens and stimulating job creation.
Minister Griffith said his government’s vision is one that corrects this injustice against citizens, while paving the way for expanded skills training and empowerment.