By The Star Staff
Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia, along with Labor and Human Resources (DTRH) Secretary Gabriel Maldonado González, announced on Tuesday the allocation of over $25 million to promote the creation and retention of jobs in the public, private and municipal sectors under the Job Opportunities Promotion Fund for fiscal year 2024-2025.
In addition, the new phase of the Employment and Recruitment Portal to Facilitate Labor Integration (PERFIL) was presented, which will allow employers to register on the platform, publish their job vacancies on the page and recruit the most qualified personnel for their company.
“The combined effect of the talent of our workforce, government investment in our infrastructure, and support for the private sector has fostered a renewed interest from local and foreign companies to expand and invest in Puerto Rico,” the governor said in a written statement. “Likewise, the increase in the minimum wage twice, our training programs for our human capital and the multimillion-dollar investment we have made to provide the Work Tax Credit, which has impacted more than 700,000 of our workers, have been key pieces to increase our labor participation and to encourage our people to be part of our workforce.”
“Today we announce that, for this next fiscal year, we have allocated over $25 million in funds aimed at continuing to support the creation and retention of jobs throughout Puerto Rico, for the benefit of our working people,” Pieriuisi continued. “From fiscal year 2021 to the present, the Department of Labor and Human Resources has allocated over $68 million from the Fund to private employers, including nonprofits, municipalities, and agencies, to incentivize the creation and retention of more than 3,500 jobs.”
In the private sector, more than $23 million has already been allocated to support the creation and retention of 1,600 jobs distributed among hundreds of employers, including small and midsize enterprises, and nonprofit organizations that provide essential services to citizens. In addition, through the allocation of more than $45 million, more than 2,200 jobs have been created and retained in the municipalities, many of which are first responders, such as caregivers, housekeepers and government agencies.
The Job Opportunities Promotion Fund, created by Act No. 52-1991, is funded by a special contribution paid by employers covered by the Employment Security Act, equivalent to 1% of the taxable wages paid by the employer.
“The primary purpose of this Law is to efficiently channel funds to help reduce unemployment, so the Fund is primarily aimed at Unemployment Insurance beneficiaries and applicants registered with the DTRH Employment Service,” Maldonado González noted. “Meanwhile, it serves to support private and public employers in their efforts to recruit and retain talent while promoting employment opportunities for young people, the elderly, people with criminal records, the population with functional diversity and other groups and activities established by law.”
Law 52 provides that the funds must be used to promote job opportunities in occupations with a future and to promote employment with demand in the current market. In addition, it promotes the creation of high-productivity job opportunities, maintaining existing jobs in special cases and modifying compensation as a temporary remedial measure in situations that may lead to the possible loss of jobs, among other provisions.
The island has been experiencing economic growth and it is estimated that it will continue to do so for the next 10 years. Some 129,000 additional jobs have been created in the past few years, and currently the unemployment rate is the lowest in history at 5.7 percent.
Also during the event it was reported that the second phase of the PERFIL is now available. With the support of artificial intelligence, employers will find recommendations of applicants who meet the skills and experience they are looking for, while also allowing them to contact the applicants directly to begin the evaluation of the potential candidate, regardless of whether they have not applied for the particular position.
“In addition to providing funds for job creation and retention, at DTRH we continue to develop different tools that help companies in the recruitment process, while simplifying and increasing opportunities for people who are looking for a job” the labor chief said. “PERFIL is a free platform [accessed through the DTRH homepage, trabajo.pr.gov] through which we seek to transform how our agency supports the recruitment and placement of employees in the private sector, while supporting diversity, equity and inclusion in the world of work.”