The President of the Federation of Workers of Aruba (FTA), Hose (Jomar) Figaroa, provided a thorough and detailed explanation of the current situation of Aruba’s labor market. Figaroa clarified that measures to legalize individuals living illegally in the country do not solve the labor shortage, as this simply transforms positions that were already occupied.
According to Figaroa, this legalization has a marginal effect on the labor market because it does not fill vacant spots. “You are not filling vacant positions; you are legalizing positions that were already occupied, turning an illegal job into a legal one,” the union leader explained. Therefore, the structural shortage of labor remains a primary issue.
Over time, the union has been in talks with various governments to establish a much more structured admission policy. Figaroa emphasizes that the number of local workers at this moment is not enough to cover the current demand, let alone future demand. For this reason, he considers it imperative to implement an organized policy for importing labor.
This demand is set to increase due to two key factors:
- Hotel Growth: There is a large number of hotel rooms that already have approved permits or are currently under construction. Once these projects are completed, many more people will be needed to fill those new positions.
- Aging Population: Aruba is facing an accelerated aging of its population. In the next 10 to 20 years, a significant number of workers will reach retirement age and exit the active labor market.
One of the most concerning pieces of data shared by the FTA president, based on international figures, is the so-called replacement value (the replacement rate needed to keep the population stable). For a country to maintain its population level, the rate must be at 2.1 children per woman. Currently, Aruba registers a much lower figure of just 1.4 children per woman, meaning the population is shrinking.
Given this demographic reality where the group going into retirement is larger than the number of young people entering the job market the only real alternative to sustain the economy is importing labor. “The only way you can meet the demand of your labor market is through the importation of workers, because we don’t have any other system to do it,” Figaroa concluded, calling for proactive action before the situation worsens once again.