By: Our Today
November 28, 2023
A comprehensive regional survey report has named Barbados as the highest-paying Caribbean country.
The Caribbean Society for Human Resource Professionals (CSHRP) has launched its second annual Caribbean salary report, PayPulse 2023. The report was compiled to address the data desert in the region on salary information and provide valuable insight for businesses and professionals by creating the most comprehensive and current resource available about the region.
According to the report, in Barbados 53.3 per cent of jobs pay above the market value. Antigua and Barbuda placed second with 16.7 per cent, and Jamaica placed third with 13.3 per cent.
Speaking at the PayPulse 2023 launch event on Wednesday, November 22, at the National Export-Import Bank of Jamaica (EXIM Bank), Rochelle James, CEO of CSHRP, said: “In the region, when officials speak, they often tell us about surveys conducted in the US or the UK, which has very little relevance to us; we need our own data to tell our stories effectively.”
“We are not just saying that we did a survey; we are also committing to conducting one every year during the January to October period and releasing it every November. Historically, surveys about the region use no more than 12-13 companies; for this year, we worked with 117 companies in 26 industries across 15 countries,” she continued.
Kim Isava, general manager of CaribbeanJobs.com, a partner with CSHRP, said: “The data that this survey can give us is sure to impact both employers as well as job seekers alike. None can argue the importance of salary surveys in the recruitment industry, especially in the Caribbean where data are often a scarce commodity.”
She added that requests for salary information about jobs to be displayed are a daily request from users of the website and clear communication about salary information makes it more likely for companies to attract and retain top talent.
Kimberly Largie, client experience manager at CSHRP and research team leader for the PayPulse 2023 report, said that the research found St Vincent and the Grenadines to be the lowest-paying country, where 73.3 per cent of salaries were below the average market value across the region. She added that the job roles in the region that employers find most challenging to fill outside of the C-suite are financial analysts and middle-management positions.