Where are the Jobs? - HRD Profile of the Pacific

United Nations ESCAP
HRD Section

Where are the Jobs?

HRD Profile of the Pacific

FROM ESCAP HRD NEWSLETTER NO 7

The Pacific subregion consists of 21 ESCAP members and associate members. Compared to the rest of the region, the countries and territories of the Pacific, with a few striking exceptions, stand out by their small land size and population size. Excluding Australia and New Zealand, the total population of the Pacific does not exceed six million people. The vast majority lives in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Fiji, with populations of 3.8 million and 770,000, respectively. For the Pacific as a whole, population growth is relatively high, at 2.2 per cent. Some countries have made remarkable progress in reducing the very high rates of the 1980s, which in some cases exceeded 3.5 per cent. The current rates are at levels comparable with South Asia.

Annual income per capita, with the exception of Fiji at US$ 5,500, is in most cases in the range of US$ 1,800 to US$ 2,500, and thus higher than South Asia but considerably lower than the region's more advanced economies. Most of this income is generated from only a few export-oriented industries, such as fisheries, tourism, offshore services, as well as, in some cases, foreign exchange remittances from overseas workers, and foreign assistance. It is with reference to the latter two income sources that some of the Pacific economies have been referred to as living in "subsistence affluence". That term has been used in ironic opposition to the original meaning of "subsistence affluence", used to describe the Pacific island economies prior to the Western incursion.

When compared to some Asian countries, the developing countries and territories of the Pacific have a generally satisfactory educational record. Adult literacy rates are in most cases over 90 per cent. Exceptions are found in certain countries of Melanesia, particularly PNG and Solomon Islands. The high birth rates of past years are currently exerting growing pressure on the educational systems in some Pacific island countries, with potential adverse effects on the quality of the subregion's human resources base.

With a growing and relatively well-educated work force, many of the Pacific island countries face the challenge of generating sufficient economic growth to provide adequate employment opportunities. Economic growth has not exceeded 4-5 per cent in the 1990s, and a substantial improvement on the performance of recent years is seen as a key to employment expansion. In an effort to absorb the surplus labour force, the public sector is already providing up to 40 per cent of all jobs. Furthermore, many thousands of workers have sought overseas employment, mostly in New Zealand and Australia. Within the domestic economy, migration of job-seekers to urban centres has led to growing problems of overcrowding and related distress in some of the subregion's capitals.

PNG, though in some respects a unique case, provides a useful illustration (see chart). The official baseline population projections show rapidly declining fertility, declining labour force participation rates in age group 15-19 (as a result of rising enrolment), and constant labour force participation rates in the age group 20-54. Despite these very favourable official projected rates, the national labour force is set to grow in absolute numbers to more than two million by 2010. This means that some 700,000 new jobs, formal and non-formal, will need to be created in a slow-growing economy. As out-migration is a negligible factor in PNG, as distinct from the rest of the Pacific, it can be foreseen that urbanization will become a major feature of PNG's future development. Without the rapid generation of equivalent employment opportunities, urban unemployment and associated social problems are bound to intensify to critical proportions.

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