Guyana's Attorney General has issued a stark warning to the country's domestic workforce: obtain formal qualifications or risk being overlooked for new jobs as skilled foreign workers arrive in growing numbers to serve the nation's booming economy.

The remarks were delivered by Attorney General Mohabir Anil Nandlall, SC, during a graduation ceremony for 288 students who completed vocational programmes through the Board of Industrial Training. The event, intended to mark the students' achievements, became a platform for a broader message about the pressures facing Guyanese workers as the country's economic transformation accelerates.

Guyana has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years, driven largely by oil revenues and a surge in foreign investment. That expansion has drawn an increasing number of migrants from across the region and beyond, many of whom arrive with formal qualifications and established professional experience. Nandlall told graduates that this influx represents direct competition for the jobs being created by new businesses and investment projects entering the country. Employers, he said, are seeking workers who can demonstrate certified skills, and foreign applicants are frequently able to meet that requirement more readily than local candidates without formal training.

The Attorney General addressed the tension this creates between national sentiment and commercial reality. He affirmed that Guyanese citizens hold what he described as a birthright claim to employment opportunities within their own country. At the same time, he acknowledged that investors and employers cannot be compelled to overlook qualifications in favour of nationality alone. Where a foreign applicant possesses certified skills that a Guyanese candidate lacks, he said, that worker cannot simply be excluded from the labour market. The government's position, as he framed it, is not one of blocking outside labour but of ensuring that citizens are equipped to compete on equal terms.

To that end, Nandlall pointed to two areas of government action. The first is the continued development of a statutory framework intended to protect the interests of local workers as the number of expatriate employees rises. Details of the framework's provisions were not fully outlined during the address, though the Attorney General indicated that work on it is ongoing. The second is a series of investments in national training capacity, including the removal of tuition fees for higher education and an expansion of upskilling and reskilling programmes aimed at making qualifications accessible regardless of a citizen's financial means.

Nandlall cited the BIT graduation itself as evidence of that investment in action, noting that the 288 students completing the programme now hold credentials that should improve their standing in a labour market growing more competitive by the year. He suggested that similar programmes across the country represent a genuine opportunity for citizens to close the gap between themselves and incoming foreign labour, provided they choose to take it.

The Attorney General closed his address with a direct appeal to the graduates and to the wider public. He stated plainly that the government has removed the financial barriers to education and made training programmes widely available, but that the responsibility to pursue certification ultimately rests with the individual. Free access to education, he said, counts for little if citizens do not act on it. His message to the graduates was that their achievement should be regarded not as an endpoint but as a minimum standard now expected of anyone seeking to compete for the jobs being generated by Guyana's economic growth.

The address reflects a wider debate playing out in Guyana as the country manages the social effects of rapid economic change. With oil-driven investment continuing to reshape the labour market, the balance between protecting local employment and meeting the demands of an increasingly international workforce is likely to remain a recurring theme in government messaging in the months ahead.

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