19 Mar 2007

American Samoa to conduct study of available workforce

10:38 am on 19 March 2007

American Samoa plans to conduct a study on the current available workforce in the territory to address the needs of proposed companies wishing to do business in Pago Pago.

Governor Togiola said on his weekend radio program that this proposed study was based on a request from companies that are looking to establish call centers in American Samoa once the territory is hooked up to the undersea fiber optic cable.

According to the governor, the study will provide solid statistics on the available workforce, which includes the number of unemployed individuals.

He says one company wants to establish a call center initially hiring 200 individuals for each of the three shifts a day with numbers increasing to a 1,000.

The companies wants to know if American Samoa is able to fill this need.

Togiola says American Samoa will be requesting funding with the U.S Department of Interior to conduct the study.

It will include visits to American Samoan communities in Hawaii and California, to see if Samoans in the two states are willing to relocate back to the territory if call centers are established .