Guyana's economy has grown so quickly in recent years that employers across several industries are now struggling to find enough workers to fill available jobs. According to Timothy Tucker, an executive member of the Private Sector Commission, the shortage is no longer confined to the oil and gas sector that has driven much of the country's expansion. It has spread into construction, transport, mining and agriculture, creating what he described plainly as a labour shortage that businesses are finding difficult to manage.

Speaking on the Starting Point podcast on Sunday, Tucker said demand had become particularly acute for certain trades. Truck drivers, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, health and safety officers and quality-control specialists are among the roles businesses are struggling to recruit for. Truck driving in particular has become a striking example of how the labour market has shifted. A job once regarded as low-skilled now commands high wages, reflecting the volume of freight and logistics work generated by expanding construction and industrial activity.

Construction itself has added further pressure. Tucker said the scale of building projects, both public and private, had produced a marked rise in demand for general labourers, a category of work that had previously drawn comparatively little competition for staff.

Some of the shortfall has been addressed through foreign labour. Tucker acknowledged that workers from abroad have entered the country to help meet demand in sectors where local recruitment has fallen short. He was careful, however, to frame this as a supplement rather than a substitute for domestic opportunity. Guyanese workers, he argued, still have considerable scope to enter these industries directly or to build businesses that serve them.

In 2015, the APNU-AFC administration abolished the legislation and replaced it with more stringent regulations. Government-led development projects continue alongside an oil and gas industry that is, in his words, forcing local manufacturers to raise their standards to meet international requirements. He pointed to mining, forestry and agriculture as areas generating additional commercial opportunity, with rising demand for produce, transport services and other forms of business support.

This diversification, in Tucker's view, has opened space for entrepreneurship alongside conventional employment. He encouraged Guyanese to look for gaps in the market and build businesses around them, rather than relying solely on wage employment. Notably, he said that this didn't have to include quitting one's current position. Workers could retain their primary income while developing a business on the side, a strategy he summed up by urging people to keep their day job and work a side venture until it grows.

He was careful to temper this encouragement with a warning about preparation. Success, he said, depends on proper market research and an understanding of customer needs before a business is launched, particularly given how quickly conditions in Guyana's economy are changing. Entering a market without that groundwork, he implied, carries real risk even amid genuine opportunity.

Tucker described the current period as one of the most favourable in decades for those willing to develop new skills, start businesses or move into industries facing high demand. His comments come as the government continues to expand technical and vocational training programmes, alongside efforts to widen access to tertiary education. These measures are intended to build a workforce capable of meeting the demands of an economy that, by most measures, is growing faster than its labour supply.

Whether these interventions will close the gap in the near term remains uncertain. For now, the shortage Tucker described appears to be a structural feature of Guyana's growth, rather than a temporary imbalance likely to correct itself without sustained policy attention.