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How easy would it be for me to find a job in Belize?

Virginia Krohn - Villa Cayo Belize

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Peace Corp volunteer, Belize – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

It is not easy for expats of any age to get a job and the pay is not what you might be used to getting. You cannot work or donate your time until you get a work permit and you will need to prove a source of income over $2,000 US to even stay here.

(Peace Corp volunteer, Belize, pictured.)

Posted August 21, 2016

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Phil Hahn - Carmelita Gardens

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Carmelita Gardens creates and markets a new community in Belize – Best Places In The World To Retire – International Living

It would be difficult. Belize is a small country with a small economy and there are extremely limited jobs for foreigners. The largest economic sector is agriculture and with a minimum wage of BZ$3.30/hr. (US$1.65/hour), few people from developed countries move to Belize for agriculture jobs. The second largest industry in Belize is tourism, which does attract foreign investment and job opportunities, but the vast majority of those positions are filled by Belizeans. Generally speaking, there are a scant number of non-resident, white collar, high paying jobs in Belize. The majority of non-resident jobs are ones that entrepreneurs have created for themselves. There are plenty of good reasons to move to Belize, a job is rarely one of them.

(Carmelita Gardens creates and markets a new community in Belize, pictured.)

Posted March 29, 2016

Christian Burn - Grand Baymen

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As a foreigner, you can get a job in Belize, if you first can beat out other Belizeans going for the job. Some expats are over- qualified for a job, and then they expect a paycheck that reflects their qualifications, and it just does not come. This is why I think it is best for expats in Belize to start their own business or by being creative and juggling between several jobs.

If you have a nice government job in Canada and you come to Belize expecting to get the same government job, you might end up getting frustrated. A company cannot hire you if they are able to find other Belizeans who qualify for the job you are looking to fill. A prospective employer has to be able to prove that he or she advertised a particular job opening for four weeks to the local Belizean community and was unable to find a qualified Belizean to do the job before that employer is allowed to hire someone who is not a Belizean.

Posted December 02, 2014

Frik De Meyere - Boris Mannsfeld & Associates

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There are no jobs in Belize for foreigners; you won’t find one. There are no jobs because there is no economy, except if you want to pick bananas for $1 Belize per hour or a few weeks a year.

The private businesses may need some people, but that’s the tricky thing right now. We cannot find an IT manager or a marketing manager because that education doesn’t exist here in the country, but Belize is very protective of its own people to see that they get any job they can, before a foreigner.

For example, if I want to hire a foreign bartender who knows how to manage my hotel, the government in Belize is going to say, “No, we refuse to allow you to hire this foreigner, because there are many people here in Belize who can run a hotel.” However, if you present it to them in a different way, you may get a different result. For example, you may say, “We are going to hire a manager. The guy has to have a particular degree and he has this 15 cocktail shaking degree, a cappuccino-making specialty course, and he is going to train 60 people here in Belize. He will have local staff and teach them about cappuccino making and cocktail shaking.” If you do this, then the government will welcome your proposal. In order to get a job in Belize, you have to prove that you couldn’t find any Belizean who could do that job. You have to prove that no Belizean responded and you can’t find anyone for the job.

Yes there is a lot of opportunity for work in Belize, but not if you are not going to contribute to a certain niche that is already filled. For example, if you are going to come here and teach, they are going to kick you out because teaching is the only job here that is paid. However, if you come here and say that you want to open an engineering company, you have five degrees and you are going to train local engineers, they will say, “Welcome.”

In short, if you come to take a job in Belize, they don’t like it, but if you come to give job opportunities, you are welcome.

Posted December 01, 2014

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