Previous Story
Villagomez: Prioritize local hiring
|
Posted on Jan 26 2006
“Please give local workers a chance.”
Lt. Gov. Timothy P. Villagomez made this plea before members of the Society for Human Resources Management yesterday.
According to Villagomez, one of the policies of the new administration is to maximize local employment and, to succeed in this endeavor, the government needs HR managers to work on hiring, training, and retaining local workers.
He expressed hope that more local businesses would hire more local workers and follow the example of most gas stations and financial institutions such as Wells Fargo Financial, which employs a 100-percent local staff and pays them competitive wages.
Villagomez highlighted some of the advantages of hiring local workers. Local employment, he noted, does not require annual health and labor processing fees. In addition, employers are not 100-percent responsible for a local worker’s medical care.
“You develop goodwill with our government and local communities. You contribute to our social welfare. And we believe it is the right thing to do,” he said.
For its part, the government pledges to provide decent public education for the local workforce. The administration also vows to provide the necessary incentives for private investment and economic growth, the lieutenant governor said.
Local employees working in government will receive continued training and education, he added. Villagomez reported that key Cabinet members are already being trained using the resources of Northern Marianas College.
“Beyond this, we need to pursue a merit system of employment in government by setting traditional politics aside and rewarding performance. We also need to foster a healthy working environment that respects the potential of the individual employee,” he said.
