Hundreds Show Up at Landscaping Job Fair
Not as many showed up for the Landscaping Job Fair as showed up for the Hospitality Industry Job Fair held in February, however by 2:00pm today [Mar.10], when the Landscaping Job Fair ended, organizers told us that just over 200 people had shown or presented themselves to the 30 plus landscaping and light maintenance firms that had set up stands at today’s job fair at the Bermuda College.
When announcing it, Minister of the Economy, Trade & Industry Kim Wilson said, “Here in Bermuda landscape gardening is an area of industry that is dominated by non-Bermudian workers. You will recall Madam President that it was one of the categories included in the recently announced moratorium on work permits. Following the moratorium announcement a group of landscape gardening companies formed a loose knit Landscape Gardener Association. The budding association was represented at the meeting by representatives from Almeida’s Landscaping, Greenway Landscaping and Crown Landscaping. I was pleased to meet with the group to learn about the sector and of their challenges and experiences.”
Today’s process asked that people register their names as attendees and as persons who were seeking jobs or work. The Hustle Truck, actually trucks, did show up and all the Hustle Truck workers who had been transported to the College came in and registered.
Bernews enquired about general pay rates in the industry. The answer, given by more than three landscape firm owners or operators was that across the whole industry, the lowest entry level pay rate was generally $14 – $15 an hour, with rates rising until topping out at $23 – $25 for foremen and supervisors. All made the point that after start out, pay was determined by a worker’s productivity within the team.
In some cases, where firms did work involving small building or renovation works, pay rates for individuals within the team might rise to a higher $28 – $30 an hour for those individual workers who had masonry, tiling, and other skills.
Employers also indicated that they paid or considered paying a higher hourly rate to a Bermudian worker in order to attempt to hold that Bermudian.
Business representatives also indicated that their ability to raise their pay rates was affected by the reality of wide and free competition amongst all firms in the industry. They said this was compounded by the fact that the services provided by any one firm was not definitively or markedly different from the services offered by another firm. Competition in the industry was strong and competition was price competitive; with today’s client base far more price conscious than in the past.
Eh num dahn nathar…..
good 1 wtf?
…and just what the hell is anybody supposed to do with $15 an hour. That’s $600 a week minus say $150 in deductions. So that’s $450 net/wk. That’s about $1800/month, which won’t even pay the rent. Let alone pay the light bill, phone, groceries, etc…And what about a savings for some kind of future.
These landscaping companies need to be for real and pay their laborers something they can work with.
These companies are screaming that they can’t find dependable Bermudians. I bet if they paid a little more they’d find plenty of dependable Bermudians.
Umm…hello…$15 is just the entry level. If you read the article clearly, pay raises are given when a member proves himself on the team. Ahhhh…and this is where Bermudians fail!!! You see, in order to prove oneself on the team, one must actually SHOW UP FOR WORK, not be stoned or drunk, and not have an attitude of entitlement.
Keep employing those that WANT TO WORK —-> the foreigners that have proven themselves as reliable, dependable and eager to show up every day.
Just a bit of info for you. Yes pay raises will come but that pay raise is only an additional 2-3 per hour after a 3-6 month probation(this info coming from a business owner in Bermuda) which is about 720 per week. Minus dedcutions of about 150-200 hundred per week and the employee is left with something of about 500 – 570 per week which will add up to 2000-2280 per month. Now out of that one must pay RENT ELECTRICITY buy GROCERIES and any other necessities, i,e transportations (public or private) Tithes (where applicable) and for single parents with children its only worse because they are not only feeding, clothing and housing themselves. So JUST ME you are absolutely right with ur statement. These articles dont always give you all the information. They have a way of twisting words to make it sound good without giving you all the info.
Very true, and its too bad the PLP didn’t set a minimum wage for Bermuda during “the good times”. Also, ministers should consider payroll tax exemptions on Bermudian EMPLOYEES making under $20/hour during 2011.
$1800 may not pay the rent, but it gets u more than $0 gets you.
In addition, remember that with employment comes health insurance and social insurance benefits etc. So you are not just working simply for a salary, it is a whole package.
there are some jobs that will not be able to sustain someone however isn’t a half a loaf better than no loaf at all?