Riya Bhagwan 
[File Photo]
More than one-third of Fiji’s youth remain unemployed, with concerns raised that the country’s growing reliance on overseas remittances is discouraging young people from joining the local workforce.
Fiji National University Pro Vice-Chancellor Isimeli Tagicakiverata says the trend is becoming a serious national concern, as many families depend heavily on money sent from relatives abroad instead of seeking employment opportunities at home.
He says this pattern is now affecting productivity and contributing to the demand for foreign workers.
“Some of our people in the villages and communities are not really being encouraged to go to work because they are enjoying the remittances from their cousins and their aunties overseas. That is a problem that we are facing.”
Youth Minister Jese Saukuru has also raised an alarm, warning that unemployed and unengaged youth could pose long-term risks to the country.
Saukuru says failure to properly invest in youth development may lead to serious national consequences, including increased crime and social instability.
“If we underinvest in youth development, we risk creating a lost generation. A generation disconnected from education, from employment, from society. A generation that will not drive our economy forward, but may instead become a burden on our justice system, our health system, and our communities.”
The concerns were highlighted during the National TVET Forum in Nadi today, where stakeholders discussed strengthening technical and vocational pathways to better integrate young people into the workforce.
Stream the best of Fiji on VITI+. Anytime. Anywhere.
