Non-Agricultural Private Sector Labour Losses and Practices in Samoa_A Pacific Island Qualitative Study

Abstract

The Samoan economy is largely agriculture based with a high dependence on external personal remittances and external development aid. In Samoa, as in many developing countries, the main employer of labour in the formal sector of the economy is the government. However Samoa’s private sector economy has continuing to diversify and grow over time. This article explores the main characteristics of the nonagricultural private sector industry and its workforce in Samoa. It also reviews the impact of the seasonal worker’s scheme on the nonagricultural private businesses and the associated responses to them. It is based on detailed interviews with 31 private business operators in Apia who have experienced losses of skilled and trained workers leaving their employment to take up the opportunity to work under the seasonal worker’s scheme currently running in New Zealand and Australia. The focus of the article is the characteristics of the workforce, the labour market losses, the various views on the loss of skilled critical workforce to overseas competitors and the associated subsequent disruption these have on the non-agricultural private businesses.