Employers asked on local hiring, wage hike

A government-initiated survey is asking CNMI employers to account their job needs, cite obstacles to hiring local residents, and give their opinion on the proposed minimum wage hike.

The 2006 CNMI Employer Survey is being conducted by the Workforce Development Summit Planning Committee, which is chaired by Northern Marianas College Small Business Development Center director Eric Plinske.

The survey contains 20 questions, which inquires, among others, why employers could not fill their job positions with local residents.

Question No. 10 asks respondents: “What is the biggest employment obstacle to employing more local residents in the private sector?”

It gives the following choices as answers: lack of skilled labor; education; compensation; worth ethics; and others.

It also asks employers to say how many local and nonresident workers they currently employ.

Question No. 9 asks the employers if they are in favor of a CNMI minimum wage increase.

“If yes, what do you feel the CNMI minimum wage should be? If no, please explain,” said the survey.

The questionnaire also asks employers to rate the effectiveness of schools in the CNMI as well as the University of Guam and University of Hawaii in providing the CNMI with a qualified workforce.

In particular, the survey asks respondents to rate how well the Northern Marianas College is meeting the community’s academic and training needs on a scale of 1 to 9, with 1 as poor and 5 as average.

The questionnaire asks about the respondents current job classification, participation in internships or job placement programs, benefits program, among others.

Plinske said the outcome of this survey will be presented during the summit on Nov. 30 at Fiesta Resort & Spa.

“We’d like to encourage all employers to please take time to answer the survey. It only takes about 15 minutes to fill out,” he said.

As of last week, he said his team had gotten back less than 200 questionnaires. He said the committee aims to gather at least 300.

Plinske said the survey forms are being distributed by volunteer college students. The Saipan Chamber of Commerce also helps in distributing it to its members.

The summit aims to offer an in-depth discussion of employment issues facing local residents, as well as the public and private sectors.

The summit seeks to gather business and government leaders to discuss “the CNMI’s critical employment needs so that government counseling, training, education, financial assistance, internship, and placement programs can unify their efforts and maximize resources to develop the necessary resident labor talent to fill positions.”

The government seeks to find 500 to 1,000 positions in the private sector that can be occupied by local residents.