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In economic news, for months we've been hearing anecdotes from business owners that they can't find entry level employees, like store clerks, and they also can't find manual labour.
A big part of the problem is call centers, which now pay 8 dollars an hour and above - those are sponging up much of the available labour.
And then there's migration to the US - many would-be workers have gone through the back to find jobs in the US - many of them with success because they are English speaking.
So, even with the revised minimum wage, finding people to work is a challenge right now. We visited one business where it's limiting their output of a much needed item: cement blocks:
This is the block making production line at Toucans Manufacturers limited. The factory is right here at mile 12 on the George Price Highway and right out front a permanent sign says job vacancy. Now I see you have a vacancy out there. How how is it in finding new guys to work here?
Joshua Santos, Production Manager, Tu'Kan Manufacturers Limited
"Oh, well, to me. That's the that's the. That's the hardest stuff to do, to find right now workers."
A crew of six manual laborers can output as many as 3000 bricks per day. But finding workers to man these machines has been difficult.
Joshua Santos, Production Manager, Tu'Kan Manufacturers Limited
"We sometimes we do get the workers and they just basically come for maybe a half day after lunch they don't appear back again and some maybe two days, one week and so forth."
That's why even though they have to block making lines, one of them is dormant. There's no labor to work it.
Jules Vasquez:
"Because I see you have two machines her but only one is operational. Why is that?"
Joshua Santos, Production Manager, Tu'Kan Manufacturers Limited
"Due to the same fact of lack of workers."
It's affecting how many bricks this factory can output. Just as much as it affects. Johnny Zabaneh's citrus farm in the Stann Creek district where he can't find orange pickers.
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"Nobody wants to even come to Belize anymore."
Jules Vasquez:
"You mean the labor?"
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"They don't want to come to Belize."
Jules Vasquez:
"Why is this?"
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"Why is this? Because the US is there with the doors flung wide open. In the past I used to have at this time 80 people."
Jules Vasquez:
"80 people picking oranges?"
John Zabaneh, Citrus Farmer
"Picking oranges. When people leave their country now, to go looking for jobs, they go to the states. Why come to Belize? Now the few people that do come through here. They come for work for a little while, make a little money and hightail it."
The Minister of Education concedes that he also sees it in his working class Freetown constituency.
Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Quite a few, even in my own constituency in Belama, I have noticed a number of families have gone. Right, right, exactly, exactly. A number of families have gone to try their luck, as you said. And I haven't seen them again."
Scarce labour that will slow the country's economic output - as this block operation struggles to meet the demand of its customers - even when salaries are higher than they were before:
Joshua Santos, Production Manager, Tu'Kan Manufacturers Limited
"Right now due to the minimum wage went up. I mean, you know it's like a problem for to get workers, so I don't really know what's the problem."
Jules Vasquez:
"So wait when minimum wage was 3 dollars and 30 cents you could have found workers but now that it is $5 and I think you all pay a little more than $5. You are having a problem finding workers."
Joshua Santos, Production Manager, Tu'Kan Manufacturers Limited
"Yeah, we do. Because, I mean, like, it's about a year or a year and a half since we have these kind of issues. We don't have workers."
And the work, while not easy is certainly not backbreaking - but in a changing work landscape - where we see ads like this for 1,400 vacancies - it's proof that it's hard to find workers in all sectors.
We'll keep following up on this story as we look for what the solutions might be to this labour shortage.
