What’s Keeping Belizeans Out of the Workforce?

Belize’s unemployment rate is just one-point-nine percent, but there’s another workforce trend raising concern: fewer Belizeans are working or looking for work than a year ago. So, what’s keeping people out of the labor force, and what is government doing about it? Those questions are now shaping Belize’s next National Employment Policy, which will guide the country’s employment strategy from 2027 to 2031. At a three-day consultation held from November 3rd to 5th, the Labor Department, with support from the International Labor Organization and the European Union, brought stakeholders together to examine the challenges and discuss upcoming labor law reforms. Chief Executive Officers Tanya Santos and Valentino Shal outlined what needs to change and what lies ahead for Belize’s workforce.

 

Tanya Santos, CEO, Ministry of Governance and Labour

“Employment touches every household and every community in Belize. It provides income, supports families, and enables people to contribute to national development. For business, access to a skilled and productive workforce supports growth, investment, and the creation of new opportunities. Our task is to help shape a policy that responds to these connected needs. The SIB’s April 2026 labor force survey estimated that approximately 167,000 people were employed with a national employment rate of 1.9%. However, the same survey showed that labor force participation declined from 59.1% in April 2025 to 53.6% in April 2026.”

 

Valentino Shal, CEO, Ministry of Rural Transformation

“Our economy now is driven by tourism and BPO services, followed by agri-processing and agriculture. It needs a different legal framework to manage the labor market. And so we started that process too. And I think it’s still going on, right, Elsie? So pretty soon we will have a new labor law for Belize. But as part of that process, we said, well, we need to have a national employment policy because every direction we go and every corner we go, meeting and talking to people, we always hear this complaint being repeated, which is we don’t have the workers with the skills that we need. We have workers, but the private sector will tell you, but they don’t have the requisite skill that we require.”

 

Officials confirm that stakeholder feedback will shape both the National Employment Policy 2027–2031 and a modernized labor law tailored to key growth drivers like tourism and BPOs.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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