A business organisation is offering opportunities to the unemployed by creating a database for an islandwide delivery service to reduce the need for people to leave their homes to get groceries and other items.
The Tobago Business Network said it created the initiative after meeting with businesses to assess the socio-economic impact of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
To get the business up and running, it posted an advertisement on its Facebook page, the company’s chief executive officer Krystal Manswell told Tobago Today. The response was tremendous, she said.
“In the first 24 hours of putting up the registration link, over 600 people signed up to work,” Manswell told Tobago Today.
She said the applicants indicated they had a car, were unemployed and needed to feed their families.
Manswell stressed that applicants will go through a screening process from the individual business before they are allowed to do deliveries.
Explaining how the database works, she said when businesses sign up for the programme, an applicant is sent to the business. The business owners then interview the applicant.
“If businesses like the potential employee they keep them. If not we send another,” Manswell said.
She said she was excited about the prospect of providing a link between businesses and the unemployed.
“It’s a win-win. Businesses can now find a way to keep their doors open and produce, while many will now find an opportunity to earn an income.”
In 2019, the Tobago Network pioneered the 100 per cent green army network certification.
To get the certification, employers and members of the public signed a to pledge showing their support to the nation’s sustainable development.
All assemblymen in the Tobago House of Assembly signed the pledge.