Summer Jobs: 373 Placed, $2 Million Funding
Speaking in the Senate today, Colonel David Burch said that due to the economic downturn the Department of Labour and Training has had to employ fewer college and high school students, but that a total of 373 summer students have been placed. Saying that “it is no longer business as usual”, he pointed out the private sector is cutting costs and jobs.
The Colonel went on to explain that 293 college students have been placed at a cost of over $2 milion for a 14 week period, with an additional 80 high school students employed via the programme at an additional cost of $225,000. He pointed out the programme budget of $1,250,000 has “not only been exhausted but exceeded.”
Colonel Burch’s full statement from the Senate today is below:
Madam President, I wish to advise that in this climate the Department of Labour and Training’s Summer Employment Programme will not be able to accommodate all those students interested in participating. For a number of years, the Department has been the entity in Government tasked with the responsibility of administering the Summer Employment Programme for students.
Madam President, registration occurs each year in December, this year that registration resulted in over 632 registrants by 31 December, 2009. The deadline was extended to try to accommodate students who for whatever reasons were not able to register online. At this juncture I wish to acknowledge that there have been challenges with the electronic registration process and administration of the Programme. Let me also apologize to those students and parents who have experienced difficulty with registration, processing, getting an appointment or indeed getting a job. Madam President, we are constantly looking at ways to improve the programme and the standard of service provided and this programme has not been without its challenges.
Madam President, before electronic registration many parents and students may remember the days when the end of the line for registration extended onto Front Street. Persons were at the door as early as 5:00 am. and you either arrived to work late or missed classes for the day. The paper version of registration lasted for the better part of the day consisting of over 400 registrants on the first day alone, and involved the entire staff of the Department.
Madam President, given the task of improving the registration process, in 2006 persons were able to download the form prior to registration and in 2007 the Department piloted an on-line registration process which was not designed to handle the volume of applications. In 2009 we embarked on an updated electronic version, expanded to ensure that only Bermudian students could register electronically. This also meant that all registrants had to be verified as being Bermudian. It is a work in progress that requires further effort.
Madam President, it should come as no surprise to anyone that due to the economic downturn, there are fewer jobs in both Government and the Private Sector and limited funding available this year. As a result, the Department of Labour and Training has had to employ fewer college students and even fewer high school students. It is fair to say that, not every student who registered for the programme will get a job with the Summer Employment Programme this year.
Madam President, the reality is that it is no longer business as usual, we must, as a community, make do with less; so must the Government! Whilst the private sector is cutting costs and jobs, the Government cannot be expected to simply pick up the slack.
At this point it is imperative that I acknowledge those private sector employers who are continuing to employ summer students completely independent of the Government’s programme and I encourage others to do so.
Madam President, currently 293 college students have been placed at a cost of $2,051,000.00 for a period of 14 weeks. An additional 80 high school students will also be employed via the programme at an additional cost of $225,000.
Madam President, you will readily see that the programme budget of $1,250,000 has not only been exhausted but exceeded. While authorizing this increase – which must be found from Ministry wide resources – I have similarly ordered a complete review of the programme going forward.
Clearly there will be some disappointments as the funds do not exist to employ every student who wishes to work this summer but I encourage students to gain valuable voluntary work experience that will hold them in good stead when they join the workforce.
Madam President, not an ideal situation but these are challenging times that must be faced head on and as I indicated earlier – I have directed the Department of Labour and Training to seek suitable alternatives to what has become an unsustainable programme.
Madam President, we must explore the entire concept of this programme so that the focus may be redirected on work experience and exposure to good work ethic for young people through this prgramme rather than seeking gainful employment.
Thank you, Madam President.
