By Tony Yayo
Over three hundred Sierra Leoneans may soon become jobless in the next few months as businesses are expected to take a hit from the fallout from the outbreak of the COVID-19.
This information was made known to this press by the Public Relations Officer at the Ministry of Labour, Lansana Bayoh Sesay, following the spread of fake news on the labour industry.
According to him, the 300 job losses will be in the airline and hospitality sectors, adding that other businesses in the service sector will also suffer from the negative impact of the COVID 19.
Although the country is yet to record a case of the virus, the Labour Ministry’s PRO noted that the precautionary measures put in place by the government are already hitting the private and public sectors. He continued that, among the sectors that will suffer high job loss are those in hotel and restaurant businesses, the entertainment sector and the airlines sector, among others.
Already, he said, there are thousands of empty rooms in most of the big hotels. He therefore urged the affected businesses to exercise patience and wait for some time before starting to lay off workers.
Mr. Sesay further said that the transportation and retailing sectors will also suffer as most of the importers are unable to bring in their goods. He added that other sectors have initiated flexible job measures to keep some of their expert workers during the epidemic.
Meanwhile, labour activists are calling on the government to help provide resources to some of the companies that are affected by the epidemic.