Labor chief: Where do CW fees go?

NMI Department of Labor Secretary Edith Deleon Guerrero disclosed yesterday that the Inos administration will require all recipients of contract worker fees to account for how they provided training to local workers.

The Public School System, the Northern Marianas College, and the Northern Marianas Technical Institute have all been asked to submit a comprehensive report on how and where the CW fees were spent by each agency, along with the outcomes of these investments.

Deleon Guerrero made this clear yesterday during her presentation to the NMTI board, where she also disclosed that of the 1,170 jobs posted on the department’s website since the beginning of fiscal year 2013 through April 30, more than half—or 56 percent—were posted for renewal positions.

The Inos administration gave PSS and NMC $500,000 each in CW fees this fiscal year to fund vocational and career technological programs, while NMTI was given $400,000 from the same CW funds.

“For all the investments we’ve done…where are we today? That’s the missing component in the inventory of the workforce,” Deleon Guerrero said. “We’re looking for the tangibles or the outcome of these [CW] funding that came through. We need to know how the money was spent and where is the outcome. In other words, we require accountability from these three agencies so we can have a comprehensive report to the governor.”

Based on the data she presented yesterday, the local labor agency recorded a total of 1,170 job vacancy announcements posted from October 2013 to April 30 this year. Of this number, 657 were determined to have been posted for renewals while 457 were marked as “new.”

“For the reporting period above, there were 64 individuals hired—or 5 percent—of the total jobs posted by employers. Thirty-nine percent were new jobs posted, whereas a greater percentage—56 percent—were renewals of CW visas,” she said.

Citing the same data, Deleon Guerrero said that 14 jobs posted were for “transfers,” 38 were for “replacements,” and four were for “temporary.”

She disclosed that most of the positions being advertised by companies—especially on renewals and new—are entry-level positions that could easily be transitioned to U.S. qualified workers.

Among the job categories posted, according to the data, are building and grounds cleaning maintenance (110); food preparation and serving related occupations (197); sales and related occupations (80); installation and repair occupations (92); office and administrative support (55); business and financial operations occupations (187); and others.

According to Deleon Guerrero, these data are vital tools for government agencies to “strategize” on what they need to offer as training for local workers.

“A lot of these positions are simple, short-term training positions that could easily be populated and transitioned,” she said.

She encouraged NMTI to start the conversation with some companies or agencies to apprenticize one or two of its programs with the U.S. Department of Labor.

It was revealed that the CNMI has yet to develop a true apprenticeship program despite the passage of Public Law 15-5, for which funding has always been suspended.

“The reality is: the transition is already set in law. We need to work harder in terms of filling the pipeline,” Deleon Guerrero said.