Training staff and taking on interns

In Suriname you increasingly cannot hire ready-made skilled staff: you train them yourself. For tradespeople you can turn to SAO, NATIN and PTC, for quality and food safety to the Suriname Standards Bureau (SSB), and for management to FHR and the Anton de Kom University. An intern is a low-cost way to get to know talent, but once they simply do productive work for pay, the rules for an employee apply.

On this page (13)

• Why training your own staff pays
• Where can you have staff trained?
• On-the-job learning and apprenticeships
• Scholarships: what large companies do
• Recruiting through job platforms
• Taking on an intern
• Foreign interns, for example from the Netherlands
• Costs and tax
• Writing a training plan
• Intern checklist
• What if...
• Sources
• Frequently asked questions

Why training your own staff pays

In July 2026 the World Bank published the report Suriname Jobs and Skills Radar 2030. The key message: by 2030 more than 15,000 new or upgraded jobs will be created in oil and gas, tourism and agribusiness. According to the report, the GranMorgu project alone will create over 6,000 jobs, about 2,000 of them direct. At the same time there is already a shortage of engineers, welders, electricians, industrial technicians, safety specialists, logistics staff, hospitality managers and skilled farm workers.

Employers in the report also name gaps that have nothing to do with technology: English, customer service, communication, work readiness, food safety and quality assurance. Many companies first have to teach basic numeracy, language and workplace behaviour before technical training can start. The World Bank recommends, among other things, structured apprenticeships, sector skills councils and shared training centres run by government and business together.

For you as a business owner this means: do not wait for the labour market to deliver the people. If you invest in training now, you keep your staff when oil and gas companies start recruiting with higher pay. More on the sector: Oil and gas and Oil and gas jobs. On wages and costs: Employer costs.

Where can you have staff trained?

The overview below is not complete, but covers the institutions most companies work with. Programmes and dates change each year; always ask for the current calendar and price. Contact details are in our Business resources.

Institution	What	Useful for
SAO (Labour Mobilisation and Development Foundation)	Entry-level trade courses: construction, painting, welding and steel construction, refrigeration, plumbing and gas, domestic electrical installation, circuit board repair. Also four-month evening courses for workers	Construction, installation, workshops; upskilling your own staff. Employers often pay for the course
NATIN (Natural Technical Institute)	Secondary vocational education in science, engineering and agriculture (including chemical and medical lab analysts), with 21 programmes at three sites: Leysweg, Lelydorp and Lachmonstraat; also an oil and gas programme for graduates	Interns and young technicians, laboratories, industry
PTC (Polytechnic College, University of Applied Sciences)	Bachelor's and master's programmes in engineering and ICT (including mechanical engineering, data science), plus courses, master classes and oil and gas courses with partners	Higher-level interns, graduation projects, upskilling technical staff
MBO Para (IMEAO) and other secondary vocational schools	Economic and administrative vocational education; lower (LBO) and secondary (MBO) vocational schools fall under the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (OWC)	Administration, sales, office work; interns
FHR (Institute for Higher Education)	Bachelor's and master's in business, including Small & Medium Enterprise Management, HRM, accounting, marketing, law; MBA	Managers, accountants, HR
AdeKUS (Anton de Kom University)	University bachelor's and master's programmes, research	Graduation students, research, specialists
SHTTC (Suriname Hospitality and Tourism Training Centre)	Cooks, bread and pastry, housekeeping, front office, kitchen assistant, tour operating, customer service	Hotels, restaurants, tour operators
SSB (Suriname Standards Bureau)	Practical quality manager course, food safety, HACCP, ISO 9001, ISO 22000, FSSC 22000, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, labelling; mostly online, also in-company	Food businesses, exporters, anyone seeking certification

What is running now

• SSB course calendar, late 2026: practical quality manager (food and non-food) from 9 November 2026 to 22 January 2027; food safety on 13 and 16 November; HACCP on 30 November and 4 December; ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 in November and December 2026. Prices exclude the standards themselves.
• SAO: in April 2026 the government and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) looked at how to modernise its outdated classrooms and machines. Ask which trades are running and when a new group starts.
• SHTTC: ran free courses for job seekers in late 2024 and early 2025, paid from an IDB loan through the ministry responsible for Labour. Such rounds recur; keep an eye on Grants and support programmes.
• Safety: for basic occupational safety there are ISO 45001 courses at the SSB and the ILO course EOSH (Essentials of Occupational Safety and Health), which is run in Suriname from time to time in groups. What you must arrange by law is in Workplace safety.

On-the-job learning and apprenticeships

Suriname has no national apprenticeship system that routinely combines work and study, like the Dutch BBL track. Structured apprenticeships are still scarce; the World Bank recommends expanding them. You can organise it yourself:

• Combine work with an evening course, for example at SAO or an evening technical school (AMTO). Agree who pays the fees, how many class hours fall in working time and what happens if the employee leaves.
• Pair a new worker with an experienced colleague (master and apprentice). Write down which tasks they must do on their own after 1, 3 and 6 months, and sign it off.
• Use your suppliers. Suppliers of machinery, refrigeration, software and vehicles often provide training with a purchase. Ask for it in your quote, see Become an oil and gas supplier.
• Make certificates count. A welder with a recognised certificate, a cook with HACCP or a driver with a safety course is worth more to you and to customers such as oil and mining companies, which require certificates from subcontractors.

If you agree that an employee repays training costs when leaving within a set period, put it in writing beforehand: amount, period and how it reduces over time. Have such a clause checked against the new Civil Code; see New Civil Code and Labour law basics.

Scholarships: what large companies do

Large companies invest in future staff through scholarships. Two recent examples show what such a programme looks like:

• TotalEnergies (run by BPP Energy Solutions): every year 30 full scholarships for a bachelor's programme at a NOVA-recognised institution in Suriname, covering registration and tuition fees, allowances for books, a laptop, transport and housing, plus mentoring. In return: work in Suriname for at least 2 years after graduating. Applications for cohort 3 closed on 12 August 2026.
• Kersten: launched a scholarship worth USD 50,000 in total with the Anton de Kom University in July 2026, for talented students who could not otherwise afford their studies.

As a small or medium-sized business you can do the same on a smaller scale: pay part of the fees of a promising intern in exchange for an agreed period with you after graduation. Or offer a school one fixed internship place a year; that gives you a yearly chance to get to know talent.

Recruiting through job platforms

Training and recruiting go together. EnergyJobs.sr, launched in late November 2025 by TotalEnergies with Airswift, is a job platform for the energy sector where Staatsolie and international service companies, among others, post vacancies. It targets Surinamese professionals, students in technical programmes and the diaspora. For other sectors you can post a vacancy for free at Post a job; all vacancies are on Jobs. How to hire someone correctly: Hiring staff.

Taking on an intern

Schools such as NATIN, PTC, MBO Para, FHR and the Anton de Kom University look for internship places every year. There is often a short orientation placement of a few weeks early in the programme and a longer graduation internship at the end. The school usually provides its own internship agreement, signed by you, the student and the school.

Internship or job: where is the line?

The Minimum Wage Act (S.B. 2019 no. 101) applies to work under an employment contract. A genuine learning internship, where the student mainly learns, carries out a school assignment and is supervised, is usually not an employment contract. You then need not pay wages; an internship allowance is allowed. But if the intern simply works as a full member of staff, under your direction and for pay, it can be an employment contract. Then the minimum wage, wage tax, AOV, pension, basic health insurance and accident insurance apply as for any employee. See Minimum wage and Employer costs.

If you pay a fixed internship allowance, ask the Tax Authority whether you must withhold wage tax and AOV on it. We found no separate rule for internship allowances. Use a normal payslip if you withhold: Payslip generator.

Young interns

Under the Child and Youth Labour Act (2018), light work as an internship or vocational training is allowed from age 14, up to 7 hours a day and 35 a week, class time included. Young people of 16 and 17 do no night work (19:00 to 06:00) and no hazardous work. You keep the names and ages of all employees and interns. The full table is in Labour law basics; for machinery and chemicals see Workplace safety.

Insurance

Ask your insurer in writing whether interns are covered by your accident and liability insurance, and have them added if not. If an intern drives a company car, check the motor policy too. See Business insurance.

Foreign interns, for example from the Netherlands

Dutch and Belgian universities of applied sciences send students to Suriname every year. As the host company you deal with three layers:

1. Entry. The student pays the entry fee or applies for an e-visa, and fills in the ICF form. Details in Work and residence permits and Business trip to Suriname.
2. Stay. If the intern stays more than three months and needs a visa, they apply for an MKV (authorisation for temporary stay) at the Surinamese embassy or consulate before departure, and for a residence permit at the Aliens Department after arrival. The internship agreement serves as supporting evidence; sometimes a guarantee statement from the host company is also requested. Students of Surinamese origin are exempt from the MKV.
3. Work. The Foreign Work Permits Act forbids an employer to have a foreigner work without a permit, and defines the employer through the employment contract. We found no official rule for unpaid study internships. If you pay a salary or the intern does ordinary work, apply for a work permit. If in doubt, ask the Foreign Work Permits department of the ministry responsible for Labour in writing beforehand.

Agree that the student has their own health and travel insurance for the whole period, and arrange housing and transport well in advance. A foreign intern who handles your customers' personal data signs a confidentiality statement.

Costs and tax

• Deductible as business expenses. Profit is calculated according to sound business practice (article 7, Income Tax Act 1922). Course fees, exams, travel and the hours of an internal trainer are therefore ordinary costs. We found no extra deduction or bonus specifically for training. See Business taxes.
• VAT. Education by recognised institutions supervised by the Ministry of Education is VAT-exempt. A commercial course or consultant usually charges 10% VAT, which you can deduct if you are VAT-registered yourself. See VAT in Suriname.
• Subsidies and free rounds. Programmes of the IDB, the ILO and the government sometimes pay for training for job seekers or for employers in growth sectors. See Grants and support programmes.
• Budget for it. Put training in your budget as a fixed line, for example an amount per employee per year, and include it in your business plan: Writing a business plan.

Writing a training plan

A training plan need not be complicated. One page a year is enough for most small businesses. Here is how to go about it:

1. Start from your goals. What do you want to achieve next year: a new machine, a HACCP certificate, exports, a second branch? Which skills do you need for that?
2. Map what your people can do now. Per role: which tasks, which certificates, what goes well and what does not. Ask the staff themselves too.
3. Identify the gaps and set priorities. First what is required by law or by customers (safety, food hygiene, driving licences), then what brings the most revenue or the fewest mistakes.
4. Choose the format per gap. Internal instruction, a course at SAO or the SSB, supplier training, online learning, or a programme with a diploma.
5. Cost it and plan it. Costs, hours, who covers for the trainee, and what repayment terms apply.
6. Record and review. Keep certificates and attendance lists in the personnel file. Discuss afterwards what the training delivered.

Employee or role	What needs improving	How and when	Cost and evidence
Cook (2 people)	Food safety, required by hotel customer	SSB HACCP course, November	SSB quote; certificate on file
Mechanic	Refrigeration, new installations	SAO evening course, 4 months	Fees; 12-month repayment agreement
Sales staff	Customer service in English	Internal training, 1 hour every Friday	Own hours; attendance list
All staff	Fire extinguishing and first aid	Yearly drill	Drill report

The examples in the table are illustrations, not prices or obligations. Always ask for a quote.

Intern checklist

• Internship agreement signed by school, student and company, with start and end date, working hours and assignment
• Age checked; for minors, hours and tasks under the youth rules, parents co-sign
• Name and age recorded in your staff register
• Supervisor appointed with time for weekly check-ins
• Accident and liability insurance covers interns (written confirmation)
• Safety briefing given and personal protective equipment provided
• Agreement on the internship allowance, and checked whether wage tax and AOV apply
• Confidentiality statement if the intern handles customer data
• Foreign intern: MKV and residence permit arranged; work permit if it is paid work
• Evaluation completed and returned to the school

What if...

• ...an employee leaves right after an expensive course? Without a written repayment agreement you usually cannot claim anything back. So agree it beforehand, with an amount that reduces each month.
• ...an intern gets injured at work? Give first aid, report the accident and contact your insurer. How to report an accident is in Workplace safety.
• ...I have no time to supervise an intern? Then do not take one. An unsupervised intern learns nothing and costs you time and your reputation with the school.
• ...the intern wants to stay on after the internship? Then it becomes an ordinary employment contract with all employer obligations. See Hiring staff.
• ...I want foreign specialists to come and train my staff? A short visit for training is different from working; for longer or paid work you need a work permit. See Work and residence permits.

Sources

• Devdiscourse on the World Bank report Suriname Jobs and Skills Radar 2030 (23 July 2026)
• Suriname Standards Bureau: courses and calendar
• Suriname Herald: IDB asks for a concrete plan to modernise SAO (17 April 2026)
• Key News: SAO starts evening courses for workers (October 2024)
• Key News: SAO trade courses (January 2025)
• Key News: free SHTTC courses (December 2024)
• NATIN, Polytechnic College, FHR, Anton de Kom Universiteit
• BPP Energy Solutions: TotalEnergies Scholarship Program, cohort 3 (2026)
• Kersten: USD 50,000 scholarship (28 July 2026)
• EnergyJobs.sr
• Minimum Wage Act (S.B. 2019 no. 101)
• Child and Youth Labour Act (S.B. 2018 no. 76)
• Foreign Work Permits Act (S.B. 1981 no. 162)
• Ministry of Justice and Police: residence permits
• Income Tax Act 1922 (DNA)

Checked on 26 October 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice. Course offerings and dates change; ask the institution for the current calendar.