The Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC) marked its 70th anniversary on Monday by signing a formal “Barbados Declaration,” pledging to champion social dialogue and sustainable economic growth through a period of rapid technological change, according to Barbados Today.
The declaration commits the BEC to four pillars: advocacy for enterprise growth, active leadership on AI, digitalisation and skills frameworks, protection of the Barbadian industrial-relations model of mutual respect and negotiation, and contribution to national sustainability and decent-work goals. Labour Minister Colin Jordan signed alongside BEC Executive Director Sheena Mayers-Granville and President Gail-Ann King.
For the diaspora: the AI/skills-framework language is the clause to watch. It signals what Barbados expects employers to retrain workers for over the next decade — directly relevant to anyone with family considering returning, or sending children back for tertiary education.
Source: Barbados Today (May 11, 2026).