CNMI Governor Benigno R. Fitial's vision is for the CNMI to become a globally recognized workforce that is educated, trained, and skilled with the character and work ethics needed to foster and sustain a demand driven and robust economy. The Sixth Western Micronesian Chief Executives Summit continued the adoption of the framework of the Power of E3 + 1 (Ethics).
The Governor reiterated that same sentiment in his State of the Commonwealth address in 2007 and he mentioned that one of his administration's goal is to generate work opportunities for our citizen workforce. Here's an excerpt from his speech.
A high priority objective is to provide work for our local resident workforce. It is necessary to expand our emphasis on job training and employment of Commonwealth citizens in the private sector. I am looking at government-private sector partnerships aimed at maximizing meaningful opportunities for our citizen workforce in the private sector.
With this objective in mind, I recognize that the laws implementing the 20% requirement for local resident employees and effective skills training programs have not been rigorously enforced in the past decade. I have directed the Secretary of Labor not to grant any waivers of the advertising requirements with respect to job vacancies so that citizens will know of all job vacancies. Similarly, there will be no waivers of the 20% requirement. The Department of Labor will also be instituting a new enforcement program to implement the 20% rule including publication of the names of non-complying companies and persons who appear to be holding full-time jobs at more than one company, and possible other sanctions.
I have asked our private sector employers to expand their training and recruitment efforts aimed at our local residents. In this area, I wish to commend WIA, PSS and NMC. I would also like to acknowledge the funding from the Office of Insular Affairs to support an NMC Tourism Training Curriculum and Tourism staff certification project. Within the past year, WIA has provided funding for a wide variety of projects advancing the skills and training of our local residents.
The Legislature is working on a new omnibus labor bill. Such a bill should reflect our experience under the existing laws extending back to 1983, Public Law 3-66, and the new demands of our changing economy. It is time to schedule hearings and to work together to produce legislation that meets our current needs. Such legislation must continue to provide the basic safeguards of our current guest worker program. At the same time, however, it must bring renewed emphasis on the opportunities and incentives aimed at increasing the participation of local residents in the private sector workforce.
Welcome and thank you for visiting our website. I hope you are as excited as we are at WIA for finally taking our place within the world of information technology.
As the Executive Director of the CNMI State Workforce Investment Agency, the development of this website was a project of passion, dedication and commitment towards the CNMI's workforce development. It is a project that envisioned a comprehensive one-stop website for information and services regarding education, employment and economic development (Power of E3) for the CNMI region for individuals and businesses alike.
Job vacancy postings and individuals being able to upload their resumés are some of the features of the site. On-line applications, linkages to other partner agency services, educational institutions, and many more are available right here and are also continuously being updated to ensure that you are receiving the most accurate and current information regarding education, employment and economic development.
I hope our site have provided you the information and services that you are looking for and are more than happy to have you visit us again soon.
Edith DeLeon Guerrero
WIA Executive Director
