The Bureau of Statistics has resumed the Guyana Labor Force Survey (GLFS), a quarterly household survey that provides key insights into the country’s labor market, including employment, unemployment and underemployment.

According to a press release, this sample survey is conducted in all regions of Guyana among persons aged 15 years and above, regardless of employment status.

Areas covered by the survey include household composition and demographic characteristics, internal migration, education, vocational and vocational training, job search and availability for work, income from main job/business, and hours of work.

The bureau said enumerators equipped with an official badge from the Bureau of Statistics, as well as a tablet, will visit households to record data using questionnaires on the device.

The release says there are two types of questionnaires that will be used: household and individual. The household questionnaire will be administered to a single person to capture data at the household level, while the individual questionnaire will be administered to each individual aged 15 and over in the household. Each individual’s interview will last approximately 20-30 minutes.

The household questionnaire applies to all persons, regardless of age, and questions include: “What country were you born in?”, “How many years have you lived in Guyana continuously?”, “What is your highest level of education . that you touched?” and “Are you currently enrolled in a school or educational institution?”

Questions that will be asked of each person over 15 include: “In the past seven days, have you worked for a wage, salary, tip, or any other payment, even if only for one hour?”, “What steps did you mainly take to have you been looking for work in the last 30 days?” and “If an opportunity to work for pay or start a business was available, would you be able to start or start working?”

According to the office, this survey will provide country-wide labor force indicators that will be used by the government to identify challenges facing Guyana in promoting employment and to develop, manage and evaluate market policies and programs work that supports economic growth, training opportunities and job creation.

“The Bureau of Statistics urges all selected households to participate, as their input is crucial to developing a comprehensive understanding of work-related trends and challenges. Please cooperate with our enumerators and answer each question honestly and to the best of your ability.

“We also take this opportunity to remind the public that Bureau of Statistics staff are bound by the Statistics Act to ensure the confidentiality of all information collected and severe penalties apply for breaches of confidentiality. No information identifying you, your household or your individual responses will be made public or provided to any other agency. All data collected and analyzed will be provided to the public in aggregate/summary format,” the statement added.