Guests and NTPC staff members who attended the 2021 ICDF Report Launch through Zoom.

The Fiji National University’s (FNU) National Training and Productivity Centre (NTPC) released its 2021 Industry Community Discussion Forum (ICDF) Report today. The report contains a review of existing and forecasted skills gaps in the workforce in Fiji, as well as planned remedial actions to address these gaps by the institution.

The NTPC, which is also the National Productivity Organisation of Fiji, conducts this annual study by identifying workforce upskilling and re-skilling areas. This assists the Centre in strengthening and ensuring the relevance of its training courses for organisations in Fiji.

Director NTPC, Dr Isimeli Tagicakiverata, said that the study also considered the impact of Covid-19 on businesses and employees. It was conducted earlier this year in major parts of Fiji – Sigatoka, Nadi, Lautoka, Ba, Tavua, Rakiraki, Labasa, Savusavu, Levuka and Suva.

“The 2021 Industry Community Discussion Forum Report contains feedback from more than 200 organisations from various sectors in Fiji. We collected feedback through industry visits and an online survey from the public and private sector employers and employees from various occupational fields and different employment ranks. The study also includes community groups, Non-Government Organisations, and Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” Dr Tagicakiverata said.

“It was encouraging to note the positive contributions of Fiji’s industry leaders and employers to get the economy back on track.”

NTPC’s ICDF team members Manasa Bainivatu (second from left) and Amrish Narayan (second from right) with firefighters in Levuka earlier this year.

According to the 2021 ICDF Report, the industries and sectors that have indicated the greatest need for upskilling included the public sector, tourism and hotel industry, construction sector, food and beverage industry.

In addition, the skill-sets most commonly demanded by various industries in upskilling their workforces included Occupational Health and Safety, Human Resources, Information Technology, Trade Testing, Leadership skills and Productivity improvement.

“As Fiji slowly tries to get back on its feet, NTPC is playing its part to upskill people in their respective fields of work. We have mapped out plans to educate and re-skill our national workforce so they can take the country forward on the path to prosperity. In this small way we are contributing to the Fijian Governments’ efforts,” Dr Tagicakiverata said.

The ICDF 2021 Report was launched by Dr Tagicakiverata and witnessed by the heads of the various organisations, senior leaders of FNU, and industry representatives.