Bajan Chamber warns: Layoffs looming for 2013

(Barbados Nation) As Barbadians prepare to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s holidays, they have been put on notice that private sector layoffs are looming for 2013.

The warning has come from president of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) Lalu Vaswani who yesterday outlined a litany of problems facing the private sector.

They included delayed value added tax (VAT) and corporate tax refunds to companies, as well as increased operational costs linked to new labour legislation.

What’s more, Vaswani said, this all came against a backdrop of another year of economic challenges and reduced consumer spending.

The BCCI president revealed that at least one of its members would send workers in the new year, though he declined to name the business.