This school year, PSS was able to hire 15 from abroad compared to 40 last year and over 30 two years ago.
“It’s definitely declining and this is contributed mainly by the negative press [on the Internet] regarding the CNMI and life in the CNMI,” Diaz told Variety on Friday.
He said potential candidates backed out after knowing the “life” that awaits them here.
“Our economy is depressed…our daily needs like water and electricity cannot be met. Just last week, our schools were shut down due to water concerns,” Diaz said.
But despite these challenges, he said they are “intensifying” recruitment efforts by visiting universities and colleges, participating in job fairs and announcing vacancies on the Internet.
PSS is still prioritizing local hires but majority of the qualified local candidates have already been hired by the school system, he added.
Diaz noted that not a lot of local students who graduated in the U.S. are coming back to the islands.
“Sending people off-island (through scholarships) is another means to bring back talents here…but in many cases, they don’t come back and opted to work abroad,” he said. “In our recruitment efforts, we see very few from off-island scholars coming back and joining the [school] system.”
