President Danny Faure chaired a meeting with key representatives of Government and the Seychelles Employee Transition Scheme (SETS) at State House this morning to receive an appraisal on the employment situation in the country. At the meeting, he was updated on progress of SETS, the number of redundancies, and programmes put in place by the Department of Employment.

Over the last few months, various programmes have been created to cater for Seychellois workers made redundant whereby the Department of Employment, Department of Family Affairs, Agency for Social Protection and SETS are working together to ensure that no Seychellois is left behind. President Faure emphasised the urgent need for communication and effective coordination between all concerned.

The Head of SETS, Mr Guy Morel, said that SETS has received a total of 300 applicants who have been made redundant, of which 55 cases are from Praslin, 6 from La Digue and the remaining 239 from Mahe. He announced that all applicants on Mahe have received work placements and that SETS is finalising placements for Praslin and La Digue this week. The SETS office on Mahe, based at Room 2, ICCS, is fully operational. 

SETS is focusing on 3 major projects: an Entrepreneurship Skilling Intervention, Upskilling for Management and Leadership in Tourism, and ‘Re bwaz mwan’, an environmental conservation project in partnership with Terrestrial Restoration Action Society of Seychelles (TRASS), an environmental NGO based on Praslin. SETS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Guy Morel Institute (TGMI) to deliver the upskilling interventions for entrepreneurs and small business owners and it is expected to start on 24 August 2020. The Upskilling for Management and Leadership in Tourism is targeted at those already in the tourism trade to allow them to progress to the next step in their career path. ‘Re bwaz mwan’ is a community project available to those made redundant or small business owners being assisted under the Financial Assistance for Job Retention programme (FA4JR) on Praslin, involving a national goal to plant over 100,000 trees on the island by December. 

The Department of Employment stated that the Internship Programme for University Graduates is progressing well. 300 youths on the My First Job scheme have managed to secure employment, and 3000 applicants are awaiting job placement under the  Unemployment Relief Scheme (URS).

The President reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ensure that every Seychellois is supported. He highlighted the various opportunities available, either with the Department of Employment or upskilling with SETS.

Present for the meeting at State House this afternoon was the Minister for Family Affairs, Mrs Mitcy Larue,  Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status, Mrs Miriam Telemaque, the Economic Advisor to the President, Mr Bertrand Belle, Special Advisor for Employment, Ms Veronique Bresson, the Principal Secretary for Public Affairs in the Office of the President, Mrs Doreen Arnephy, Principal Secretary for Employment, Mr Jules Baker, CEO of Seychelles’ Employee Transition Scheme (SETS), Mr Guy Morel,  Chief Policy Analyst, Employment, Ms Susan Morel, Director General for Employment Promotion, Mrs Letimie Dookley, CEO of Agency for Social Protection, Mr Marcus Simeon.