Report: Island Has Lost 6,726 Jobs Since 2008
According to the recently released National Economic Report of Bermuda, the island has lost 6,726 jobs since 2008, which is a reduction of 16.7%, with 790 of those positions lost last year.
The report — which was released on Friday [Feb 20] — said, “Preliminary data from the 2014 Employment Survey indicates that the total number of jobs in Bermuda decreased by 790 posts from 34,277 in 2013 to 33,487 in 2014, which equates to a 2.3 per cent decline.
“2014 marks the sixth year that the number of jobs in the economy has declined which corresponds with the reduction in the level of GDP or economic growth in the economy. Overall the island has lost 6,726 jobs since 2008, a reduction of 16.7 per cent
“Growth in the number of jobs began to moderate in 2007 when the increase was 0.4 per cent. The number of jobs peaked in 2008 at 40,213 reflecting year-over-year growth of 0.9 per cent.
“Since that time, the number of jobs in Bermuda has declined in six consecutive years; 1.7 per cent in 2009; 3.6 per cent in 2010; 1.8 per cent in 2011, 5.2 per cent in 2012, 2.6 per cent in 2013 and 2.3 per cent in 2014.”
Chart extracted from the report:
Speaking on international business, the report said, “In 2014 the international business sector provided 3,929 jobs in the economy reflecting an increase of 4.3 per cent year over-year, or an extra of 161 posts.
“Over the first nine months of 2014, foreign exchange earnings of the international companies increased by $35.2 million to $1.35 billion representing growth of 2.7 per cent.
The report also touched on tourism, saying: “The total number of air arrivals during 2014 fell from 236,343 in 2013 to 224,329 in 2014, a decrease of 5.1 per cent.
“Cruise passenger arrivals increased in 2014, rising from 340,030 in 2013 to 355,880, which represents an increase of 4.7 per cent. Total visitor arrivals in 2014 increased by 3,836 or 0.7 per cent year-over-year
The 35-page National Economic Report of Bermuda follows below [PDF here]
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I’m sure glad that the OBA has removed the red tape and rolled out the red carpet . Trouble is , they haven’t told anyone !
Col. Burch smiled when he saw all the for sale signs. Evidence of all those expats leaving.
Getting them back is a lot harder than making them leave.
Hah! Still blaming the PLP despite the blatant truth playing out right before your eyes. Would have figured the last of the daft and delusional amongst the OBA mouthpieces would have died out by now….
Ian, the biggest hindrance to long term investment is the fear (and fear is probably too weak a word) that the likes of Burch and his pals will return. Short term, four year business cycle Return On Investment is a business reality everywhere; in Bermuda the threat of a PLP return is so omninous to investors that even that is too long.
Interesting comments considering the island experienced the peak of its prosperity under he PLP. Big business is less concerned about the things that scare certain LOCALS because the island will always provide the essentials they need under either government. The bells and whistles the OBA tends to promote are more a reflection of the whispers they get from the interests they represent that want more than the terms they originally agreed to in being here.
Ian, everytime you post, it only proves how bad our education system really is??? Thank you for the reminder!!!!
Yes Ian it took the PLP several years to ruin Bermuda – it will take even more to fix it – if at all possible.
If PLP is voted back in at the next election, Bermuda is as good as finished. People will leave by the thousand, there will be mass unemployment. Our dollar will be devalued and there will be mass poverty.
This is because the PLP has proven to us without a doubt that they don’t have a clue. They are beyond pathetic.
Unfortunately, half the voting public are below average intelligence – and they are your demographic.
I will call you… Angry Ed. Nice ring to it.
Do you honestly believe the success the island felt in that first half of the PLP administration had anything to do with what the PLP built. They rode on the success that had built from decades before there was even a PLP, then they tried to exploit it as they spent more then they were taking in, and finally they failed to reacted when the decline was clearly evident. If we are so essential to them, then why did so many leave… We are only essential if we can provide them with the competitive environment they need. Your beloved PLP had either no idea or no will to think beyond local policies to maintain/create/provide such an environment and as such, Bermuda lost its edge. Your mentality that Bermuda is that IB will always come to us, is the exact mentality of the PLP administration that put us here today. We cannot afford these shortsighted policies that the current PLP leadership still promote, anymore than we could 7 years ago.
Gee… Thanks for educating me on my mentality.
Despite or because of?
You don’t have to be an OBA mouthpiece to suspect that the PLP, or at the very least its financial mavens, were mistaken and possibly negligent in their handling of the public purse, and that the island is still suffering because of that failure.
Whether the current government is up to the task of ameliorating the island’s general financial woes is another question.
More miss information from you coffee??? Can you please read the article before you spread you lies?? I do realize lies are a normal part of your/ plp lives ( you calling yourself a white woman, comes to mind as one of your many??) if you actually read the article, you can plainly see that the VAST MAJORITY of the job lay offs happened under your plp reign of terror!!! I will never let you spread your miss information without stating the real facts!!!!
Hey genius. Notice how the rate of job loss between 2013 and 2014 isn’t THAT much less than the rate of job losses between 2008 and 2013. What does that tell you about the lack of relevance in your comments and the reality regarding the big picture. A child could see this just might go beyond our silly little small town politics…
Average job rate loss from the PLP years is 3.075%.
From the last two years it is 2.45%.
Also, as the total number of employed decrease, each % will be a smaller number. Slowing down rates of job losses can be seen as a positive.
The PLP figures include inflating CS employment levels, the huge numbers of people working on the hospital and the islands new hotel (Grand Atlantic). Imagine what the employment figures would have looked like.
Don’t get me wrong, the airport proposal is on a similar basis to the hospital and the OBA will use that to go on about job creation. That’s why I distrust both parties. I just happen to distrust the PLP more and in a two party system that’s pretty much all that counts.
Ian, try reading the last paragraph before and the first TWO paragraphs around the chart!!! Your usual plp/racial tendencies are obviously hindering you from being honest once again!!! I suggest you read those paragraphs over and over until you allow it to sink into your shallow head!!!!
Last paragraph before and the first TWO paragraphs after the chart, I meant to type!!
Being unbiased and having no political allegiance; I think I should point out to you that your interpretation of “isn’t THAT much less” is a bit misleading.
A trend is a hard thing to break, let alone reverse. Poor governing started the ball rolling in job losses that were actually a fall-out of poor decisions by the PLP Government. We ALL know this. The OBA supporters blaming the PLP for this is expected because of the PLP’s reluctance (and PLP followers constant denial) to take responsibility for it.
Trying to deflect and manipulate statistic DOES NOT help.
WE need to support the current governments attempts to getting it fixed.
But we waste time on things like black vs white, poor vs rich, unionized workers vs non-unionized workers. Bermuda will NEVER fix any real issues that we face as a society, until we fix our thinking and attitude towards our fellow Bermudians.
This Island is too divided for any issues to be fixed, and sadly; I truly believe this is EXACTLY what certain individuals in Bermuda want. I just hope my fellow Bermudians are smart enough to see through these attempts of division, because ALL Bermuda needs to come together to turn around our current situation.
IMO
They OBA only opened the door as Government in Jan 2013. So you need to compare the 2013 with 2014. And use the same base year in the denominator. You’ll quickly see that your post has no foundation.
What make me laugh is the people that say look things, really hit the fan in 2012 not 2008.. and I them I am reminded of Jesus…. saying when you was at your weakest point, the foot prints you saw were minds, I was carring you….. the PLP keep the ecompmy from plunging… and the OBA is borrowing to do the same……
The Private sector created the recession…not public workers…
Than you must laugh a lot if you believe what you just wrote.Quoting Jesus also does not make your comments any less false.
How often did our Ex Premier/Finance Minister tell us everything is good and improving? These numbers don’t reflect that; and I’m not talking about the last couple of years because the slide started way before that.
The unemployment rate has been going up and up for some time from figure above, and that’s FACTS!
The poor policies put in place at a critical time did NOT aid in addressing the slide.
Now we have a new Government, and all the same Party who put us in this mess repeats is, “the current Government can’t fix it?” Hilarious when you put it that way right?
You sound like the wife who spent and spent the family money when times where hard, pretending all is well, and now has to realize the family is BROKE; but can’t face up to the fact she should have handled finances better.
But hey; the husband took over the family finances so now its his mess?
“The Private sector created the recession; the PLP kept the economy from plunging?” Do you seriously believe thing would be different if the PLP won the last election? Hell, they passed on close to a 2 Billion dollars in debt to the new Government.
So really are you saying that the Private Sector should be burdened with the recovery? Last I remembered, the Private Sector (by the way is WHERE the job losses took place),has been suffering for some time now; is ALSO a major contributor to paying the Public Sector.
Please stop trying to divide the two; we ALL need to fix the position we are in together. It’s not on the Private Sector.
And to add to this,; the constant blame game by the PLP and the comments to the Press IMMEDIATELY after the Budget Release is childish in nature.
Sorry Rhonda, once again you have to be corrected??? When it comes to OUR recession, your plp can take all the credit!!!!!
So There is no debt or oversized civil service? Rhonda get a grip on reality please for you own sake.
Take a look at the third slide on the Deloitte report, Rhonda. It shows clearly what an utter mess the mess PLP were making of our economy, while other economies had returned to full blown growth.
The PLP created the recession, Rhonda, and we will never get out of it while we waste hundreds of millions of dollars employing thousands of people we don’t need and who, frankly, don’t appreciate it in the first place.
Its not that the OBA hasnt told anyone. The PLP and the Unions are trying their damndest best to convince people it does not matter what the OBA is trying to do, they will try to undo it with all their might. Latest strike just one of many examples.
Pretty dumb statement that only emphasizes the disconnect between you and the larger segment of the community (namely “real” grassroots Bermudians). Why the heck would the want to see THEIR country fail?
Because more important than seeing their country fail ie the bigger picture is Furburt’s belief that public administration is an island. Look at how few those jobs have fallen.
That’s a clue Bob Richards. Cull them.
One question. Why would anyone want to come here when the island is constantly being disrupted by strikes, emergency meetings, and the like while there is a continual threat of more in the future.
“Constantly”… Thats your assessment of this kind of activity in Bermuda? Get real! And in those instances it does happen, what makes you think, in reality, civil servants are going to (or should) tailor their reactions (whether fully warranted or not) to what extent it may potentially affect some random foreigner’s decision to visit?
And the worst part is we advertise the information on our social media websites for the world to see!!
Name one developed jurisdiction where there isn’t in your words ‘a constant threat of work life being disrupted by strikes, emergency meetings, and the like while there is a continual threat of more in the future.
More to it , Bermuda maybe quite a mild and pleasant environment to live , work and play . I’m privileged to live and work here where the only constant is perpetual boredom .
Switzerland, Singapore, Japan, immediately come to mind.
Another myth. The “constant threat” to daily worklife isn’t there in most developed countries. They don’t have the impediment. Here, it’s become the norm. In other places the laws against wildcat strikes are observed. Here, the unions only want laws enforced that benefit them. They ignore the ones that place responsibilities on them, like filing accounts, giving notice of strikes, etc.
“Larger segment”….untrue.
“Real grassroots Bermudians.”….divisive.
I will reserve judgement on OBA ‘success’ until their has been sufficient time for change to take effect. Claiming things are better or worse or the same at this stage is premature.
Maybe the govt workers should look at these stats and see how much the private sector has given…. That one day a month don’t look so bad huh?
What exactly does this have to do with an apparent lack of appreciation for private sector contributions??? Do you actually have any thoughts on the management decisions in private sector that will likely result in more job losses and how Bermuda should mitigate the implications?
Becase they’re always whining about how “shared sacrifce”. They have guaranteed jobs, gold plated pensions, 14 weeks sick, 6 weeks vacation, and think they did their bit by have a temporary furlough day.
In you’re loosing the battle. Give it a rest.
Anyone wondering why it took so long for us to see these stats. Was it not available in 2009 ad other years? Or were they hiding the info back then?
Nobody likes to hear bad news, but at least I appreciate the fact that I am finally being told the truth,
Ain’t the PLP just wonderful!!! Go ahead…. Vote them in again and NO one will have a job except fishermen and farmers!!!
Mind you they have already “bankrupted” the Island !!!
As usual your shortsightedness is evident. It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, and an instant to destroy it. The unprecedented success that Bermuda enjoyed from about the mid-nineties to the middle of the first decade of this new millennium, didn’t come about in from those years, but from work that had begun as far back as the 1920′s/1930′s. And it was the global economic downturn that destroyed it, it was the failure of foresight to react to the downturn, the failure to keep us competitive, a failure to keep us attractive as juristiction. Policies were put in place even before the downturn that were viewed as hostile for international business and those that captain it, policies that were put in place that had no real function but to try and shortsightedly exploit the IB success we were feeling. Only the shortsighted still think that nothing was wrong even before the downturn and it is the shortsighted that think that there is some quick fix, get rich quick scheme that will build us back up again. It is true that the current government has adopted policies to make it easier for business to come back and work here, but we have to still rebuild our reputation for them to feel sure that coming back is the right thing to do, and an opposition that still fails to see and acknowledge just how much of a failure they and their IB policies were for the people of this country doesn’t help.
Sorry, 4th line down should read ‘it wasn’t the economic downturn that destroyed it’
I concur with you Build A Better Bermuda. Strong good quality building processes are usually very long and tedious but the converse is true for destruction. Reputation and trust are critical for investments and everyone in this country must understand this.
I am by no means Xenophobic, show every person I meet with respect and dignity, and currently hold a good job. However, I’m baffled to see such drastic job losses, yet notice a growing number of non Bermudians, one group in particular, currently living and working on the island. How can Bermudians be struggling for employment, yet virtually every non Bermudian I see, is employed? Hundreds of locals constantly show up at job fairs in search of work without success. Can anyone who is familiar with the immigration policy provide some clarity on this issue, because something seems unusual to me. I understand that you can pay them less, but there seems to be something anti-Bermudian about our current immigration policy. Am I wrong in thinking this way?
Remember, every non Bermudian working in Bermuda is here on a permit and a contract which requires them to work while they are here on the island. That is why every non Bermudian has a job. If there is no job or contract then there is no permit and that person leaves the island.
The immigration policy works.
Ok, thank you, that makes sense. My point though was why is the need to grant these non-Bermudians work permits if there are locals who need work as well? I would think someone actually from the island should have preference over someone coming halfway around the world.
Because Bermudians lack the specialized skills required to do certain jobs. If a Bermudian is qualified and has the right attitude, they get the job. Period. Pick a job, go get properly trained for it (just like the foreigners have gotten themselves trained), and apply.
Like waiting tables, washing pots, driving trucks??? Forgot those require a Phd these days.
They require a Bermudian willing to apply though.
Ian, I’d agree with you if Bermudians were applying for these jobs and, if hired, if they make time and so forth.
The only way an expat can get a work permit is if there are no Bermudians that CAN or WILL do the job in question.
So clearly there are jobs for Bermudians, it’s just that Bermudians don’t want them.
To be fair, these jobs don’t really pay a living wage.
Bermuda is a very expensive place to merely exist (health insurance, rent, BELCO, food etc.).
There are people willing to come here and do these jobs and live very basically for a few years to make a better life for themselves.
Good luck to them, but it is also understandable that Bermudians are not applying. It is not unique issue. If you go to places like New York and London where the cost of living is high you also see a similar situation.
I think education needs to be fixed and it’s about time that Ministry stopped getting passed around. The PLP were guilty of this and at the current rate the OBA are worse. Students need to be encouraged to gain qualifications that are comparable to their international peers and there needs to be more technical programs for the less academic students.
I am sorry but I do not agree with your assessment, I do not think it is understandable. For those who have been out of work for many months now it should not be about what job will pay the best. I know the face of debt because unlike most young Bermudians I do not feel entitled to education or work. I am over 40,000 dollars in debt due to student loans to pay for Undergraduate school, now I am in Law school so that debt will also increase.
For many they should be grateful to have any job. At this point even the slightest bit of money coming in is more than nothing at all. I wait tables in order to pay off student loans, its not a glamorous job nor a high paying job. I am currently in the USA where minimum wage for waitstaff is under $4.
If you want something bad enough you will have the drive to go out and get it. You do not make excuses for not having enough money or other complaints; you go out there and do everything in your power to make a successful life for yourself.
Thank you ” young Bermudian ” I notice all we hear is tree frogs and crickets concerning your post??? Sadly far to many bermudians have this self entitlement mentality and they can’t even begin to understand what you said!!! I will tell you to keep preservering and you will achieve your goals, good luck!!!
It is a bit naive to think that, even in this day, employers have not perfected the art of hiring practices tailored to a desired result. I have seen first hand foreigners go from one food&bev job to another with more ease than a local, who was searching over the course of that period, managed to find something. And its not just food&bev. I have seen preferential hiring in IB as well, including nepotism where foreign managers are securing jobs for their already-priveleged children. And trust me I do not need advice to engage immigration on these matters. You people are delusional taking the position the system’s integrity is airtight and incorruptible. Bermuda has quickly become fertile ground for foreigners to thrive in on new policies (and tolerances) that were well-intended but have guaranteed too much for future generations of non-Bermudians (with little sign of tangible foreseeable expected benefit for the island) and very little for future generations of Bermudians.
Ian, everytime I see your name, the first thing that comes into my mind is, zenophobe!!!!!
When I see yours I think kangaroo….
I take it your not a Bermudian have you looked at some of these places that hire these guest worker that come here with no formal training and have to be trained by a local open your eyes.
NONSENSE!!!!
And herein lies Bermuda’s problem. And also that of the Western World in General. The service/tourism industry is/will/and always has been reliant on the cheapest source of human labour available. Look at who crews the Cruise Ships, look at who nannies the executive’s children, look at who cleans people’s homes. The answer is: hardworking people who are prepared to go all out to provide for their families back home. BACK HOME is the key. Globally speaking, the service industry has become an internationally competitive space.
The BIG question for Bermuda is where does that leave the Bermudian worker in today’s World? Well, if you want to be in the service industry, then you’d better be prepared to work hard here and then retire somewhere cheaper. because the model simply doesn’t work for a full generation of employment and subsequent retirement here on the island any more. In fact, it barely even works for the professional level jobs anymore.
It’s crazy.
If you are fortunate enough to own your home at retirement you can kiss goodbye to $1000 per month in tax and maintenance. Another $1000 in healthcare (not including co-pay). For a retired couple that’s $3000 per month before food and utilities.
I think Bermuda is in big danger of losing a lot of pensioners to overseas retirement because as EU citizens there are a lot of options and your money goes much further allowing you to live rather than merely exist.
There need to be Bermudians qualified and capable (and willing ) to do the job…… I am Bermudian and put in a minimum of 70 hours a week, just like my expat counterparts… If Bermudians are not willing to go the extra mile then there will be expats filling jobs…. We (Bermudians) have to stop thinking that the jobs are ours…. They are NOT…. We need to earn the position just like everyone else…. We need to compete globally just as our businesses do!!!
In an ideal world, yes, but how many here are willing to work for the wages that these posts pay? How many view them as employment to how many view them as a quick hustle? It costs businesses to hire and train people, in time and money through lost or decreased productivity every time they have to hire someone. It isn’t that there aren’t Bermudians who are willing to start at the bottom and have the patience to work their way up, it is that there aren’t enough of us. So it becomes nessecary to contract someone in who will, for whom they are willing to do this because they can make the money so support their families back home.
It is basic economics that ones job pay is fairly typically proportionate to the investment/education required to attain the skills, so those jobs that don’t require much education, don’t pay much. There isn’t anywhere in this world where the lowest skilled jobs pay a decent wage, if they did then those wages would quickly become insufficient because the cost of those goods/services would have to increase to cover the wages and thus the vicous cycle of inflation spirals ever up.
If you want to be successful, you do not work to better yourself, you work to better your children, and teach them that success comes when they work to better their children. No society has ever been successful with the shortsighted belief that they should be given a job, when that belief is allowed to become the social mentality, that is when those societies fall.
@ Raw Onion; not sure why all the dislikes? Your comment is 100% correct. It’s like the argument of, (and these are NOT real figures)a population being 80% black and people questioning why the prison population is more blacks than any other races?
I do however see N/A’s point in the numbers. Immigration is responsible for permits being granted I believe.
Why is it not a joint response from them and other Government departments addressing these numbers. Bermudians at this time may not have the numbers qualified to hold the higher end business jobs; but there are WAY too many Foreign Workers holding down jobs that Bermudians have done in the past.
Maybe Bermudians no longer wish to work those jobs? Who knows; but it is far too many people bought in to hold down those job positions, and NO I’m not Xenophobic either; just thoughtful for my fellow Bermudian.
Most non Bermudians have to leave the island usually within a month, if they are not employed, so you won’t see un-employed ex-pats walking around.
actually I’ve seen ex-pat unemployed walking around, and some of them have applied for other jobs..Also seen expats come and go over many years and always seem to get employment..
Actually, Zario is right. If an expat is unemployed they cannot remain in the island – I believe they are granted a short window in which to find other employment (month or two) and if they do they have to go thru the work permit approval process. Otherwise they have to leave.
And I have seen expats that have been here for YEARS actually escorted to the airport once their permit was not renewed!!! Stop your verbal nonsense already!!!
Perhaps their spouse has a permit. Perhaps their spouse is Bermudian. Perhaps they are staying home ro look after young kids. Perhaps they are actually Bermudian.
N/A. I think the immigration policy is not the problem. As I see it, it is us who have caused a reputation of problem employees. Our bad attitude and lack of self discipline have tarnished all or us. The employer does not want to hire a Bermudian for risk of nothing but trouble. Calling in sick [when it is obvious there is nothing medically wrong], arriving late for work, no drive ect.ect.
I feel this behavior is by a minority of Bermudians, however we have all been painted with the same brush [as seen with the last BIU strike].
I do not own a business, BUT if I did, I’d rather pay for a work permit than hire a problem worker. We allowed it and continue to allow the tail to wag the dog. A good work ethic is hard to achieve and ever so easy to trash.
So we’ve all been painted with the same Brush including yourself. But if you owned a business you would Hire someone on a work permit… Do you know how silly that sounds?
Every non-Bermudian is required to have a job – with a valid work permit – or they have to leave the island.
Thats because every Nonbermudian that looses his/her job is required to leave the island, duuh!!!
There is one dynamic you miss in critiquing the employment to fill low end jobs, it isn’t as much that they can pay them less, it is more that it is difficult to find Bermudians who will work for that pay, and even more difficult to find any that will work for that for any meaningful period of time. Most of these positioned filled by foreigners, are done so because they will work for that wage, they show up for work and they will stay on in that position. These jobs are very low skilled jobs, thus the reason they are low wage, thus the reason it is difficult to find someone to fill it for any meaningful period of time. They could easily be filled by Bermudians, but it becomes an expensive problem to the employer when you have to re-advertise the position every month or couple of weeks, because the Bermudian you hired saw it less as employment and more as a quick hustle. An expense not so much in the advertising, but in the lost productivity. There is a percentage of Bermudians who have entered various fields of employment through these low end positions, and stick with it as a means to advance within the businesses, but the ratio of those that are willing to stay and those that hustle is problematically low. Some have always labelled businesses who hire on foriegners in low end jobs as being greedy, but if a business is losing money, how can it keep anybody employed. The standard belief by socialist/union mentalities is that it is the position of a business is to work for the employees, but this is impossible unless all employees are working for the business.
Have to wonder why anyone would feel compelled to dislike your comments. Doesn’t make it any less surprising who they tend to be though as there is a segment of the community that does fantasize of a Bermuda without “real” Bermudians.
Please explain what a
“Bermudian” is,
what a “Grass-root Bermudian is”?
You’re either Bermudian or not!
When is all this Racial non-sense going to Stop.
Racism should have been Outlawed years ago!
You are 60,000odd living within 21sq. miles.
God help the next generation.
For starters a real bermudians with roots here can be black or white….
Grow up Ian, i bet there are a few loonies at either end of any spectrum… Those folks are loonies.
What is a real Bermudian, because you seem hell bent on destroying Bermuda by ignoring the failed PLP and spreading divisive hatered. I guess you are not a real Bermudian.
And that ladies and gentlemen is why we are in the s##t that we are in.
lost my job in 2013
I find it telling that the smallest reduction is in the public administration sector.
the plp are 100% responsible for this!
Care to elaborate as the regular OBA cheerleaders don’t even back that position these days.
Business is try to make ends meet.
Higher cheap labor and still profit and or stay afloat.
I get your point ‘N/A’.
Sad.
The immigration policy doesn’t work well that’s kind of not true it works beautifully for non-Bermudians and against Bermudians even if their work permit is not renewed they’re allowed to seek work on the island I believe for 6 months after being fired oh yes they get fired and often for not doing a good job this happens often but it’s not talked about it’s kept on the low if you listen and read the blogs you would never know what is really happening in this really screwed up island that hates the Bermudian and loves the non-Bermudian no matter how they perform wake up Bermuda SMDH this is some bull
thanks plp….. or is is qlq – i can never remember…..
The removal of term limits for expatriate workers is a brilliant policy that is yielding a boom in the influx of high value foreign personal . As the saying goes ,’ if you build it , they will come .” The OBA government is doing a sterling job in attracting and retaining some quality folk to Bermuda by the thousands . Keep up the good works and may the airlift continue to aim for the clouds where dreams are suspended .
When you look at the figures, IB are the one industry that can show the largest with triple figure growth in the last year, and is actual at a level higher than the Pre-OBA administration year. This year will be a pivotal year whether that stat grows, indicating a trend or is just a blip, but then none of that matters as you believe that it is such a simple thing turn around a runaway train crash that was our economy and our IB reputation. Surely with your economic brilliance you could put forward a brilliant idea that isn’t just a regurgitation of a PLP fantasy sound bite.
Do Brass plates count ? If not then your reasoning is severely flawed . Also , the anti PLP rhetoric is dated , I’m a Bermudian with relations who sit on both sides of the isle .
A quick scan of the statistics shows a couple of interesting trends:
- International business employment has fallen
by about 8%
- Public sector employment has fallen by about 4%
- Overall employment has fallen by about 16%
If anybody is wondering why it’s important to bring back foreign international business employees, then this should be the indicator: 2 jobs in the rest of the economy for each IB job lost/created.
If anybody is wondering why we have a hugely compelling need to reduce public expenditure, consider the 400% difference in the employment changes in the public sector compared to the wider economy: which is paying for which, I wonder!
if u don’t have a job it’s YOUR fault no one else’s. there’s a difference between “needing” a job and “wanting” a job…i’ve hired those that need a job and those who want a job…guess who’s still on the job…no one, OWES you anything.
I worked in the service industry for many years in what some might say is a “low skilled position”. Being a server is not a low skilled position-it takes a lot of skill and mental fortitude and yes, the hourly pay is terrible but I made great money because of the tips, in a bar that didn’t have a mandatory gratuity added on. So there is definitely money to be made-you have to work hard for it and yes, work nights and weekends but I managed to pay rent here, pay a mortgage overseas and live comfortably. A lot of people are unwilling to to work anything other than 9-5 M-F and I get that but if you are really needing a job-they’re out there.
WOW!!! That’s a lot of jobless people!!! I think its time for me to save more and take less trips abroad.. I maybe next.. -_-
So many PLP-tards still don’t get it. They think if they get in they can somehow fix it.
Instead they would only finish off the job they did of completely ruining Bermuda.
Thank you PLP