Govt sats TG ‘misses mark’ in row on employment

The Gibraltar Government on Wednesday said Together Gibraltar have “missed the mark” with their comments on employment, and “failed to understand” the Government’s position that stated there are two jobs for every person in active employment.

This is the latest in an exchange after Together Gibraltar on Tuesday said Gibraltar suffers from “underemployment” except for in a few sectors.

It stems from comments by Sir Joe Bossano, Minister for Employment, who said the Government has launched a study after nearly half of Gibraltar’s university graduates are not returning to the Rock after completing their degrees.

“At no point has the Government made reference to unemployment, which, for the record, has been at historic lows for the duration of this GSLP/Liberal administration thanks to its positive and progressive employment policies,” the Gibraltar Government said on Wednesday.

“The Government’s position on its exercise to identify areas of graduate employment in Gibraltar was clearly explained by Sir Joe Bossano on Tuesday night’s GBC News.”

“Its purpose is precisely to understand the reasons why graduates may or may not return to Gibraltar for work in the years following their University studies in the UK, paid for by this Government’s revolutionary core policy of mandatory scholarships, in order to advise current and future students on the prospects of the local job market.”

The Government said that Together Gibraltar is “failing to come up with anything new and are attempting in vain to pass off initiatives and policies that the Government are already implementing as their own idea”.

“Whilst Together Gibraltar rely on anecdotes and amateur soundbites, the Government is doing the real work of collecting reliable, accurate empirical data that will inform strategies and policies,” the Government statement read.

“It is also interesting that the same Party that only a few days ago said that there should be more public services now criticise the work of the public service in providing the public with corrections to the misinformation that they try to spread.”

“On Together Gibraltar’s snarl on Equality issues, the Government’s ground-breaking record speaks for itself.”

“By contrast, Together Gibraltar’s only record is to jump on a bandwagon and see where it takes them, which is exactly what they are doing again here.”

“As always with Together Gibraltar, it’s a case of little bark, no bite.”