GSC Gives Layoff Notices To 22 Employees
Citing a downturn in local construction, GSC has confirmed that 22 workers have been given notice of layoffs, 10 of whom are Bermudian.
A spokesperson said that there are really only two major projects currently under way in Bermuda — the new hospital and Waterloo House — and GSC is only involved in the former.
GSC said that layoffs across the whole industry should come “as no surprise,” with no new development plans confirmed for the next 12 months, and hundreds of local construction workers currently out of work.
The company also said that hoteliers don’t seem to have many plans for expansion that would require the services of local companies involved in the building trades.
“Why would someone either borrow, or lend for that matter $200m-$500m here, when the tourism product is weak compared to alternative destinations and we make it so hard for developers to get approval on anything new?” said a spokesperson.
He said hoteliers are being actively sought by other destinations who are rolling out the red carpet for them, with incentives being given to build, while Bermuda has not been as competitive and “we are feeling the effects from it now.”
What’s the tally now for the OBA to create 2,000 jobs? Hmm somewhere around 2,150. Bermuda is sinking like the Titanic and no changes are being made. We voted for change where is it!!!???? And if anyone is going to reply to my thread do not give me it has only been 7 months excuse.
You think this is a result of something that has happened since Dec. 17th? Think again. The OBA had nothing to do with the downturn in tourism. This is a result of mis-management over the years…say the last 14 years. Don’t blame the OBA.
You know who to blame for this. And there’s more to come.
So your response is simply a recollection of past events which in some instances are not even entirely accurate. Earth to Brad!! We don’t need another news report, we need change, we need solutions. We as an island need to move in a forward direction and stop the Titanic from sinking. Last time I checked pointing blame wasn’t a solution.
Lol you must be slow. Change doesn’t happen overnight bra. It’s going to take sometime. There going as fast as they possibly can, lots of stuff to fix and correct. You’re pointing the blame too! You’re whole first statement is blaming the OBA! FOH! Ya hypocritical dummy!
@bun out – I laughed at that statement also from “truthful”. He obviously did not read his OWN comment about blame.
Some peoples children….. WOW
Although many of the problems were there before the OBA and will take time to correct, I do agree. However,there is one problem that can be corrected in an expedient time frame. That is the snotty, arrogant, rude attitude with our front line ambassadors, known as H.M. Customs. That entire department needs to be revamped with persons of good customers sense and respect. Bermuda is by no means an economical place to visit. To come here and your first inmpression is to be treated as though you are criminal, and talked down to as if you are a gutter rat is most, disgusting and embarrassing to everyone who resides on this island and calls Bermuda it’s home. Why would anyone continue to visit a place to spend their hard earned money in these economical hard times,to be treated with such contempt for let’s say, just trying to enjoy the island whilst vacationing. A lot needs to done to fix that first bad impression the tourists receive when they come here. It is unprofessional,ancient and barbaric the way that visitors are profiled when they enter our country. We have a lot to correct if we expect to see the tourism industry start to flourish again. The Gestapo in the uniforms, need a big attitude adjustment. If you disbelieve me, take some time to have a friendly chat with one out of four visitors, your curlies will turn straight! OBA I beg of you to help them fix their behaviour. If not the other lovely islands will continue to take our bread and butter. These perons represent all of us! That uniform does not belong to them, it belongs to the taxpayers. They are welcome to do their job, but please remind them to do it more professionally and respectfully. Those who do not need to move on and choose a different behind the scenes (out of sight)career.
Ditto for the way they treat their fellow Bermudians who are returning home. Come on H.M. Customs – perhaps if you say to yourself EVERYTIME you are dealing with someone – “would I like someone to treat my Mother, Father, family or friend like this?” I bet there would be an entirely different atmosphere in the HM Customs…. and a welcome one at that….
I agree, Karma! Yes, they have a job to do as there are criminals out there who will try and bring illegal contraband into Bermuda but what are the numbers for the criminal element? Very small, I’m sure. However, the mistake with Customs seems to be that they treat EVERY visitor like a criminal until proven otherwise as opposed to treating everyone as innocent until proven otherwise! They act like most of the visitors are up to no good until they realize that they’re cleared by Customs’ interrogations and bad treatment. They need to treat everyone well until a red flag shows up that the person IS up to no good and THEN act accordingly.
The same for locals. It pisses me off the way they suspect everyone of trying to rip off Customs-they seem to just focus on revenue collection as opposed to border protection! While they’re grilling one girl on her receipts, a guy is smuggling in gun parts that they miss!
Customs is responsible for securing our borders yet lots of guns came in under THEIR watch! Why did heads not roll for that? Bermuda has got to get its priorities together. That’s why we’re having the problems we have now-due to the blatant greed of some at the expense of others. All we focus on is money, money, money and not treating people right. Maybe the big guy up top is trying to teach us a lesson with this current state we’re in.
It’s going to take two to three years to turn it around, such was the damage done
More like 20 to 30 years!
Before you finish your tally, remember that they have 5 years before the next election to forful their promises
Truthfully….Its only been seven months..I’m just sayin’
I Will be voting PLP next election you should 2, this gov is not spending, except on “consultants” 105,000$ a year im not even making 40.
@truthfuilly,,,The titanic took years to build and only a few hours to sink! The PLP sank the SS Bermuda slowly over 14 years and you expect the OBA or any government to “fix” things in a few months! Wow, I see why you are so frustrated. You had more hope and expected more from the OBA than OBA supporters themselves! LOL.
Don’t worry Craig’s in charge of the OBA he will make everything better once he is finish taking his trips and photos.
I feel sorry for all the people that voted for the OBA/UBP…What a pitty…smh
Why is that? Why exactly do you feel sorry for them?
I feel sorry for all the people who thought the PLP would make Bermuda a better place………….
LOL
Despite the economic downturn which has affected peoples’s jobs and Bermuda’s wealth, from 1998 to 2006 Bermuda had unprecedented growth and many people made lots of money, on both sides of the political spectrum. So let’s not try and act like the entire PLP reign was terrible and that nothing positive ever was accomplished.
The OBA ran on a campaign that once elected they would hit the ground running and things would change immediately. This hasn’t happened. Our Premier says nothing and does nothing but take photos and trips. He is clueless to the tasks at hand and needs to be relieved of his duties if there is to be any progress.
The PLP overheated a growing economy… Economic FAIL. this is why we are in this mess, with negative resources.
Not aure I agree with this…there’s been steady progress, HR legisltiion, term limits, ownership of property for SOB’s etc. quiet, steady progress, review of BHB..you know I’m quite pleased we have adults running the show. All creates a good environment to do business, but it doesn’t happen overnight.
They do need to ease up on property ownership rules to get some inflow of cash to create some movement in the real estate market, which will create liquidity in hte local economy and stimulate growth and jobs. But it doesn’t happen overnight.
What happened in 2006? Oh yeah… Ewart Brown
Some people still haven’t figured it out , so let’s try again.
The PLP inherited a well maintained economic train that was running at full speed. That train was the envy of many countries overseas. It ran so well that even when the PLP started putting water in the fuel , sand in the oil and hammering perfectly good parts off it took a long time to slow down.
The economy grew in spite of the PLP , not because of it !
That train is coming to a standstill now and is going to require a complete rebuild. It’s going to take a while , but rest assured , there’s no mechanics in the PLP who know how to fix it . In fact , they’ll probably finish destroying it if they ever get a chance.
As for the GSC employees , welcome to the club . I lost my job over a year ago.
What the hell this has to do with politics?!?! LOL?!?!?!?!
What the hell this has to do with politics?!?! LOL?!?!?!?!
There will be more casualties in this global war but some were convinced by the one Bermuda alliance’s pre election rhetoric.
We have more unemployed Bermudians and a steady influx of foreigners fulfilling various jobs that Bermudians are qualified to do.
Change has certainly taken place in which Bermudians are now secondary in their country.
Maybe you should pray harder?
@god1st
Provide examples of the “steady influx of foreigners fulfilling various jobs that Bermudians are qualified to do”. If this is the case then make it known to the proper regulatory authorities. It is too easy to make statements like this as if they were fact without supporting them with actual fact. What you “feel” is the case may not be the case. The only why to be certain is to provide facts the clearly demonstrate the case.
Oh, and responding with “Trust me, I know” or “I can’t be specific” or any other such vagarity is not factual demonstration of your case.
Ride
If they (WE) do not apply for those jobs, come to work on time, every day, without complaining and without this selfish sense of entitlement, then what do you expect! We do it to ourselves and complain about it afterwards! Instead of changing and stepping up, we want employers and others to lower their expectations and be tolerant of those that do not make time or work consistently.
I personally know many, many Bermudians that are gainfully employed and have been for a very long time and I believe have little risk of losing their jobs because they are reliable, honest and hard working. I also personally know four that are without employment. Three of those four have been without a job for a long time and have never held a steady job, EVER. Like many young males, they worked at a construction company for a few weeks, decided one day they didn’t feel like going to work and then just never went back, knowing they would be fired. They just moved from place to place to place thinking there would always be work.
Now that there is not much work on, you would think they would try to retrain or educate themselves or change their lifestyle. Nope! They have no desire to volunteer someplace and occupy their time, network, while giving back to the community that has given so much to them! Mommies take care of everything, while they play PS3 all day, do nothing to improve themselves – because it is easier to BLAME everyone else instead of looking in the mirror. My other friend is stepping up, volunteering with unemployed, and taking college courses to train for a new career.
We do not like to hear it – but we have ourselves to blame!
On an island of a mere 21-square miles how long do you expect the construction industry to be a pillar of the economy?
You cannot develop every scrap of land on every bit of rock the pokes out of the sea. You need parks, reserves, and other green space. It should be expected that the construction industry will have cycles of expansion and contraction as major projects come in cycles. There is only so much residential renovations and additions can support so we can’t expect to always have a large number of big construction firms and small construction businesses. This is a period of contraction.
Some of the construction workers will need to retool. An obvious choice is to refocus on the tourism industry and which took a bit of a beating due to the rise of international business; which in turn is what fueled the construction boom. The problem most find is that the positions that they can take in tourism don’t pay as well as the position they had in construction. Therefore they keep trying to find hustles at their construction rate of pay. However, they don’t always find a hustle and in the end (I’m speculating here) probably end up earning, on average, as much as they would have earn in full-time tourism employment.
There also is sometimes the issue that some feel that providing good service is subjecting oneself to servitude which stops them considering tourism opportunities. Also, cost of living doesn’t remain steady but disposable income decreases so lifestyle has to change. It just the nature of the economic beast. When construction is king again these people will be living it large once again. Don’t know when that is going to happen.
Ride
said well
I agree. Hustles are great…until they run out and you need to put together a resume. Or if unfortunately, you get seriously ill or injured in an accident and find out how important health insurance is.
22 less payroll tax slips to add to the shrinking govt pot.
10 expatriates heading off Island, adding 10 unrented apartments to the hundreds of others.
Its time to welcome outsiders in, revenue is drying up and everyone here just took on a bigger chunk of the debt.
If you are a civil servant, your job and your pension is in serious jeopardy as things stand.
Lets change it up and put all options on the table.
What I would like to know is how many Bermudians v.s. permit workers are still employed by gsc.
I bet my left boulder the permit workers laid off will be given a new job before the Bermudians do. That is unless the permit workers are European than they will be sent back faster than minister fahy can make an empty promise.
As a person in the same field as GSC
- the construction boom has ended
- poor management –
- poor accounting practices….
It’s too bad, but this is exactly what happens during a recession – the weak are pushed to the side. GSC was a boom company, nothing more.
Now is not the time to hire expats – it is time to pick the best of the best. Expats cost money most companies no longer have.
Hey all of you PLP losers, this isn’t about the OBA or Govt. This is about a company with rude staff. There is the problem.
Funny how all of a sudden it’s not about the party in charge because the last party in charge got the blame for everything. You can’t have it both ways…..
The last party in charge were in charge for 14 years! Before the PLP, we were doing quite well thank you! The PLP may have been blamed for more than they deserved, but they are responsible or most of todays problems! Why would you even throw that stone!
@Time Shall Tell, please take a look in the Blue Pages and look at every Gov department in there and reply honestly as to which areas in Bermuda are better post PLP? Education, Tourism, Employment, Economy, Crime, Transportation, Roads, Company Register, Immigration?
Who exactly is to blame then?
Ahhhh Infrastructure. The long word that BOTH parties from UBP, PLP and OBA do NOT understand and continue to NOT understand. They have wowed us with fantastic beautiful looking projects but none of them have explained the ever eroding infrastructural elements surrounding us. I’m not talking just what you see such as roads etc. I’m talking about the hidden infrastructural belly of the beast, from sewage,to electrical,to water, to telecommunications and the list goes on. A design renaissance on this island is indeed needed but without the supporting infrastructure you can forget about it. Don’t let me get started on Bridges and the Airport!!
Nuff said.
You make very valid points, ones I myself have bought up numerous times as well….
The OBA has done nothing in 7mths, they dont care about the average Bermudian their all entrenched at the top anyway. All you black fools who voted for them, how many of the OBA mp’s come from old money? They are just going to fatten their already crazy wealth and squeeze the poor, they better do somthing quick or they will lose alot of their population, but maybe thats the point… It would achieve two favorable outcomes less blacks to vote for the PLP and more slaves form 3rd world countries to exploit economically. GJ black swing voters you put the nail in your own coffin.
Preach brother.
NOTHING to do with politics here! All piss poor management!!
As tuff as times are, we still use a/c! Biting off more than he can chew!
As long as Bermuda allows these mega ships coming in more and more, the island will make money but the hotel and restaurant business will die along with everything attached to them.
Well,
It’s supply and demand……the us base was built like 50 plus years ago.Once it was built the people who built it left.Bermuda has finished building so we no longer need a huge construction labour force.
There is so much over capacity right now.The washington mall alone has 15,000 square feet of empty space. That is huge.We will enter a new mode of renovation and upkeep for probably the next 20 years only then we may see an up tick if there is any demand.Unused office space dosen’t wear out.
On mega cruise ships, there plain and simple a destination on to themselves.We will see less revenue from them then the much smaller vessels. All Bermuda is is a parking spot with a really big free dock as the passengers pay the port fees.Saves them fuel.Tourist income only comes from air arrivals everyone knows that.
i forgot to include that you can now gamble on a cruise ship in port.there not coming off now for sure.
They can only game after a certain time in the evening, a time when most if not all tourist returned to the ship anyway?
The allowance of gambling was introduced by the former government and I for one applaud them for making this change as many cruise ships left to go to destinations that did allow them to gamble in port or to destinations where they are out at sea in the evening where they could operate the casinos.
yes but the point being there holding on to there holiday cash to spend when it does open.time is kinda irrelevant.its like waiting for the mall to open.have a drink relax it opens at 10.
@ truthfully I must applaud you in regards to the comment you made “the titanic is sinking”…..lol so true.