The St. Lucia Chamber of Commerce’s Business Performance Survey (BPS Take11) for 2024 offers insights into workforce trends, recruitment challenges, sales performance and economic outlook. The survey highlights optimism with 60% of respondents expecting their workforce to remain stable or grow and 40% increasing investment in technology and plant replacement.
Survey respondents primarily operate in Castries (48%) Gros Islet (36%) and various sectors like tourism (32%) distribution (24%) and IT services (12%). Key findings indicate mixed sales performance 52% of businesses seeing increased sales compared to 2023. Yet 48% failed to meet their forecasts. Recruitment challenges persist especially for skilled workers.
Despite this 56% of respondents expect turnover to improve and 48% forecast profitability growth over the next year. Rising input costs driven by higher utility prices goods prices and the Health & Security Levy are a concern.
Additionally, crime and infrastructure quality emerged as pressing issues. However, the impacts of the Health and Security Levy and the minimum wage adjustments are key concerns particularly in terms of rising operational costs. It is clear that, while firms remain optimistic about growth continued urgent decisive government action is essential to address crime, infrastructure and business environment challenges.