‘Getting Back to A Viable Economy’
[Written by Sir John Swan and Larry Burchall]
As stated in previous articles, in order to have a viable economy our National Workforce (NWF) needs to be at minimum 40,000.
Below is a chart comparing the years 2008 when our NWF was over 40,000 and 2010 when it fell below 40,000 and the impact it has had on our economy.
*The total NWF figure is arrived at for: 2008 = 27,180 Bermudians + 10, 367 Permit Holders + 2,666 Spouses of Bermudians & PRCs. 2010 = 26,247 Bermudians + 9,065 Permit Holders + 2,785 Spouses of Bermudians & PRCs
Spouses of Bermudians and PRCs do not fall into the permit holders or Bermudian category but they are still included in the total NWF figure.
The following is a comment posted on Bernews in response to our article “Why We Need the Foreign Workforce and Its Effect on GDP” which illustrates how the foreign workforce contributes to Bermuda. March Hare says:
I am a guest worker. I have a spouse and one child. Our family spends around 85-90% of our income in Bermuda.
Here is a list of some of the people I contribute to the salary of: The teachers and staff of the private school I send my child to (they do a great job); The drivers and staff of the buses and ferries (They are, despite bad press, a hugely friendly and welcoming group); Taxi Drivers; Supermarket staff; Belco staff; Digicel Staff; BTC staff; Cablevision staff; HSBC staff; Gas station employees; Restaurant staff; Clothing stores staff; the staff of the gymnasium I am a member of; the doctors and nurses and dentists and hygienists my health insurance helps pay for; the staff of BF&M and Colonial through whom I insure my car and home contents; the guys that crew the container ships that bring everything here; Police Officers, Fire Officers, the guys that fix the walls and the roads, and all other public servants my taxes help to provide wages for. Oh – and my landlord’s mortgage, sailboat, house in the US, SUV, vacations and general affluent lifestyle.
I also work around 30 hours per month voluntarily in the community, for which I receive no pay. I have no criminal record; I pay my bills on time, give to charity and abide by the laws and conventions of Bermuda.
I work hard and make money for my employer. I am very easy to get rid, as all my employer has to do is not re-apply for my work permit. No severance pay, no union issues, just an airplane ticket.
I am not special, there are thousands like me. If I leave, that’s around $150k plus 360 hours community work per annum no longer in the Bermudian economy. If thousands of us leave….well, you do the math.
The preceding, both chart and comment, gives us just a small glimpse into the effects that contributions from the foreign workforce have not only on Bermuda’s economy but also directly on the Bermudian.
The retail sector will suffer as there will not be the additional need for services mentioned in the comment. This is a gap that tourism cannot fill as they do not have a need for these services. In August 2011 retail sales had been in decline for 41 consecutive months. The funds that were previously paid to the retail sector for the various services are no longer available and businesses have lost that revenue.
The Bermudian also suffers as there is no longer a foreigner who is willing to rent the large home and pay the matching rent. The Bermudian now has to deal with an empty home and a mortgage payment that they may not be able to afford. Just as in the retail sector, the foreigner leaves and takes his money with him leaving the Bermudian with lost revenue.
The charitable sector also suffers as they have now lost the services of volunteers that they desperately need. It is not only that charity that suffers but Bermuda as a whole. These foreigners volunteer their time to charities who offer services to Bermudians who need them.
We need to stop vilifying the foreigner as someone who uses Bermuda and then moves on. We must make the foreign workforce feel welcome and comfortable in Bermuda as they contribute to Bermuda in many ways. If we do not make them feel welcome they will go where they feel welcome and take their capital, ideas and contacts with them. With the Bermudian population growth being static and only 27,000 Bermudians in the NWF, there are not enough Bermudians available to fill all of the positions necessary to keep the economy moving. We need the foreign workforce to fill the gap. Until Bermudians understand this vital point, our economy will continue to decline and so will Bermudian’s standard of living.
Thank you for your support. This continues to be a collective effort by all Bermudians and we need your continued support, comments and ideas. For further information or to express your comments email us at economy@challengerbanks.bm or visit us on Regeneration of Bermuda’s Economy.
- Sir John Swan & Larry Burchall
What they said!
Nailed it.. Those in IB know many people who have left with little or no fanfare and were not replaced. Some due to the education of their children,others for the safety of their children and family. It would be difficult to find anyone who has lived in Bermuda for some time who has not been robbed however the main reason was the shift in attitude towards them during the Ewart Brown and David Burch reign. Government can continue to play musical chairs with their ministries but unless their is a change in Bermuda back to the days when people felt safe and secure(permit term limits) it will all be for naught. If and when people become fully aware of the tenuous financial position this island is in you may see some shift but for now there is no one at the helm and we are going no where.
2008 was the greater year ever for ever country around the world Bermuda is no excepting…..What happen by year end, the bubble burst, and a great thinkers want us to go back to that, that caused so much destruction.
Money clouds people’s judgement and in some cases the thrill of the high, of making more money regardless of the outcome or who it hurts in the end. Just give me the HIGH.
I think to really make the point, one should try and extrapolate the figures for 30 Sept 2011 – the percentage declines across the board would be more significantly higher !
One point I’d like to bring up is the blanket reference to needing 40,000 jobs. I don’t have the the stats but from news articles what has happened is a reduction in high paying jobs but a fairly consistent number of lower paying. Bermuda needs more of the high paying jobs back. Filling the gap with 3,000 low paying jobs with probably staff from abroad won’t make much difference. Rather like Tourism, numbers alone are not the solution. Quality over quantity.
“March Hare” is a regular blogger on Bermuda is Another World. I’m willing to bet my bottom dollar that those comments above are as far from the truth as one can get.
Leverne, Now that you’re not a senator any more can you please stop wasting time on the internet and get back to working on those 2000-2002 BIU accounts?
Those comments make basic economic sense! so how are they far from the truth? Anyone who has half a brain can see that. I have spoken to many expats that I work with and in short their general feeling is that the Government does not want them on this Island and they have felt very un-welcome. The ones I have talked to about politics are hoping the PLP are voted out in the next election so that Bermuda can become a more stable working environment for International Business. Speaks volumes, but these people are afraid to give honest opinions to most Bermudian because Ewart and Burch operated Immigration like the Gestapo.
In answer to Ms. Furbert:
To the first sentence – I have never blogged on that site
To the second sentence – They are true. In fact, on reflection I left some of my domestic spending out.
To dismiss in two sentences my accurate personal circumstances as lies is hardly worth the effort of further comment, but to associate me with someone else who may go under the same pseudonym in an attempt to discredit me is not helpful. (By the way, it comes from my favorite childhood book by Lewis Carroll).
The anonymity that a pseudonym affords will always raise the suspicion in some quarters that the claims made are inaccurate or exaggerated. I can only reiterate that they are true, whilst I concede that I have not produced evidence.
However, what exactly do you doubt? That I pay rent to a landlord? That I pay for my food at supermarkets and restaurants in Bermuda, that I pay my child’s school fees? That I use Taxis operated by Bermudians? That I pay my utilities bills to Bermudian companies? That my salary is paid into HSBC? That I buy my car fuel from gas stations here? That I pay health insurance? Or car insurance? That I pay my taxes and duties? That I volunteer in the community? Please let me know exactly what you doubt, and what you find difficult to believe.
My original contribution to this debate as quoted above was meant to be a helpful example of what my presence (and the presence of many like me) in Bermuda adds to the economy. I have no axe to grind; by definition I have no political agenda (I cannot vote). I am a professional person who has internationally recognized qualifications and experience, experience I am passing on to Bermudian trainees every working day. I want Bermuda to succeed not because I have a vested interest, but because I have a fondness for Bermuda and the Bermudian friends I have made over the last few years. When I leave Bermuda I want to be able to talk with these friends in years to come and hear them say ‘life is good here’.
Perhaps, Ms. Furbert, you could take that bottom dollar you mention and give it to a charity – I think they could use it.
Fabulous post March Hare!
I believe every word as I am in the same position as you. In fact, when I came to work here I found that the head of department done everything possible NOT to hire Bermudians as (his words not mine) “they are lazy and you can’t get rid” – he is Bermudian too! Disgraceful behaviour. Now I’m his boss and I’ve just taken on 5 young Bermudian trainees and sacked him!
So as well as all the spending etc which echo’s your own position, and I also volunteer with a childrens group, I am CREATING jobs for Bermudians.
Still some would want us to go home – but what happens then?
You must be lying. We all know nobody gets sacked from the civil service.
I guess there is more than one “March Hare”.
It is the type of mindset exhibited by LaVerne Furbert that has resulted in Bermuda being in the mess it’s in. Totally out of touch with realty, doesn’t understand the Bermuda economy and because of who she mixes with thinks that all people lie.
8 votes that should say it all.
LOL
Um, which part? About volunteering and not having a criminal record? Schooling his children?
Using electricity?
So you’re back, @ LaVerne. And trying to spin things again.
Even if March Hare’s comments aren’t relevant entirely to her/him personally, they reflect the truth of all those who are impacted by the mass exodus of upper level foreign workers. I know if my 4-bed tenant leaves, I will be hard-pressed to find another who can afford to pay the rent, which pays my mortgage – and my rent is at the low end of the scale and hasn’t been raised in nearly 8 years. The real estate market, which you used to know something about, is very depressed, with more units coming available almost daily. People are defaulting on their mortgages with a frightening frequency. I pray daily that I don’t become another of those statistics. If you can’t see the implications if this and the truth of March Hare’s comments, I will have to think you are either wilfully blind or in denial (and the definition of denial is what the brain does when the truth is too painful or terrifying to look at or acknowledge)
Another spot on posting Pastor Syl – the voice of reason.
Dont bet your bottom dollar Laverne just give back the Senate pay that was wasted on you as a favor to your cousin….just sayin….now back to the verkers woice vit chew
Gets sacked by the Cog and unsuccessfully tries to take it out on March Hare. Bad week for Laverne. Hope you saved some pennies from that senate gift!
If Sir John and Larry repeat that same thing over and over, does that make it true? 40,000 jobs does not neccesarily mean a successful Bermuda economy. People creating value does. This oversimplified and unjustified commentary posing as analysis cannot lead to anything but more of what we have already experienced. There was but ONE year where Bermuda had 40,0000 workers but MANY years of economic success. Please don’t fall for this Bermuda. Bermudians are simply consumers of the value generated by foreigners is the theme. Meanwhile, big money to be made building condos for record numbers of foreigners by…you know who.
The Future: “40,000 jobs does not neccesarily mean a successful Bermuda economy. People creating value does.”
I agree. The problem is the PLP Government has so massively increased Government spending that a critical GDP mass is now required to maintain their “irrational exuberance” with the public purse. The PLP appear unwilling and unable to decrease expenditures (they won’t even introduce a haircut to Ministerial salaries a or reduced work week for the civil service) and the taxpayers are left holding the bag for their incompetent (lack of) leadership.
Does Bermudians contribute to any or all of the same thing March Hare contribute fo…Why is his $ more valuable then my $.