Opposition: “Keep Safeguards In Place In Act”
In advance of today’s [Sept 27] second reading of Government’s Incentives for Job Makers Act 2013, the Opposition — via an email blast — rallied their members to contact their relevant OBA MP to “keep safeguards in place in the Act to promote opportunities for all Bermudians.”
“The OBA’s ‘Incentives for Job Makers Amendment Bill’ will see hundreds of work permit holders, their wives, and their children granted Permanent Residency Status [PRC], with no guarantee that they will create additional jobs for the Bermudians,” the PLP said.
ABIC also released a statement yesterday about with Act, with Chairman George Hutchings saying: “ABIC welcomes and supports the Bill to amend the Incentives for Job Makers Act. Implementation of the important changes to facilitate exemption from work permits and PRC must be a national priority in order to retain and grow Bermudian jobs and support our economic recovery.
“International business and support services provide the majority of external revenue into Bermuda. More than 85% of our foreign exchange earnings come from this sector. Almost 1 in 3 people work in jobs that support this sector and no matter where we work on the Island we benefit directly or indirectly from it.
“People working in restaurants, hotels, retail shops, real estate, building construction, home and grounds maintenance, taxis and transport and Government services all derive a significant portion of their annual personal income from expenditures made by international businesses and their employees.”
The full text of the PLP email blast sent out last night is below:
Tomorrow, the OBA plans to change legislation that will put another obstacle in the path of you, your children, and your grandchildren, as you seek the opportunity to earn employment in our own country.
The OBA’s “Incentives for Job Makers Amendment Bill” will see hundreds of work permit holders, their wives, and their children granted Permanent Residency Status (PRC), with no guarantee that they will create additional jobs for the Bermudians.
The PLP put in place the Incentives for Job Makers Act 2012 to support, and reward those who have contributed to Bermuda by employing Bermudians. We set a high bar on the number of Bermudians that needed to be employed by a company, and set limits on the number of expatriates that could be exempt from work permits (no need to advertise the position).
The OBA’s plan is to water down or remove these safeguards.
- Before, a company had to employ 25 Bermudians to be eligible for exemptions – the OBA plans to slash that number to 10.
- Before, only 5 expatriates per company could be eligible for work permit exemptions – the OBA plans to remove this limit.
With the OBA plan, many more persons will be able to stay in Bermuda indefinitely, purchase houses, and their children will compete with your children for jobs. The OBA’s PRC holders will be drawn from the connected and well-heeled. This flood of new PRC holders will cause housing prices and rents to sky rocket again. That’s great for persons wanting to sell their homes, or compensate for year of real estate speculation, but what about those hard working Bermudian men and women who are still saving to buy their own piece of the rock?
There are some proposed changes that the PLP can support. We strongly believe that those who invest in Bermuda and Bermudian jobs should be rewarded – Incentive for Job Makers was born under the PLP. However, we must have adequate safeguards to ensure that there are opportunities for Bermudians, as our position is that all relationships should be based on mutually-beneficial interest The OBA’s plan removes those safeguards.
Call your Member of Parliament! Tell [Area MP's name listed] that you want her to provide opportunities for Bermudians, our children, and our grandchildren. Tomorrow, the PLP will ask the OBA to leave the original safeguards in place. With your MPs support, we can keep those safeguards in place to promote opportunities for all Bermudians.
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- ABIC Welcomes & Supports Job Makers Act | Bernews.com | September 27, 2013
Predictable from the PLP..have they learned anything? From the previous article about the ratings:
““Bermuda’s economy has weakened in recent years, partly as a result of the departure of a few thousand expatriates, increased unemployment levels, and a sharp slowdown in the real estate market. Moreover, we assess the trend for economic risks to be negative largely based on our projections for unemployment and economic growth.
It is not merely expats who have departed Bermuda – many, many Bermudian families have left the Island as well, because they can no longer afford to live in their own home country. Many young Bermudian graduates opt not to return to the Island because they see a lack of opportunity here – leading to a drain of intellectual capital of those who are already eligible to work here. We seem to overlook the ramifications of losing Bermudian workers who contribute to the economy as well.
Fair point
The PLP have no clue how Bermuda’s economy works. May god save our souls if they get back in power.
The size of new companies starting up with potential to hire aren’t in the 25+ people they are more like 5+ with support overseas. So setting it to 10 seems like a more attainable goal in encouraging the company to have the support in Bermuda instead!
If that is the case, then why can’t Government arrange a tiered system instead? They can make it so that a small or mid-sized company need only meet the 10 Bermudian worker requirement, but for the larger companies, keep it to 25. That seems a fairer solution that what Government is proposing.
The PLP should be asking themselves how effective the the Job Makers Act has been in making jobs since introduced. The answer would obviously be – not effective enough. In other words the requirements need to be changed to make it more attractive to the very people who will be creating jobs for Bermudians. The PLP are just never willing to accept, officially at least, what drives this economy. I will not be calling my MP to complain, as the changes seem fair and urgently needed at this time.
The Job Makers Act came into effect on January 1, 2012. So, it has been in effect for a little over a year and a half now. Is that sufficient time to make a difference? I’m not sure, to be honest. We do know, that several companies have applied for concessions under the Act, although they have not been named. But clearly, it has generated interest and support from IB.
Many people have been saying “It takes time to turn things around, you won’t see things change over night.” If that is true, then shouldn’t we wait more than 20 months before branding the original legislation a failure? And, in addition, if Fahy’s scrapping of term limits fails to lift the economy in 20 months (by say, September/ October of next year) then can we brand that as a failure too? By the lastest downgrade from S&P yesterday, and the numerous job losses so far this year, I don’t see 2014 as a turn around year anyway.
BTW, I didn’t vote PLP the last election, but I do think it’s incorrect to say they are unwilling to accept what drives the economy. I think they obviously DO understand what drives the economy – the Job Makers Act was THEIR idea to begin with – but I think their position has always been to try and find a balance between protecting Bermudian workers in a place with scarce resources and scarce land, and giving concessions to I.B. The OBA seems to take the opposite approach – they see no need for balance, hence, the reason why they are proceeding in this manner.
Portia, granted the PLP legislated the Job Makers Act, AFTER the I.B. sector complained to Premier Cox that this Act was precisely what they had been looking for and needed…..after years of the PLPbiu telling their Kool-aid followers that foreigners were the UBP/OBA-voting enemies. Remember, they denied that more than six thousand foreigners LEFT THE ISLAND, until the Statistical Dept put it on paper. They denied the number of people that were unemployed. From 6% — PLP 12-17-2012 (Reality Check) risen to 12% — Standards & Poors 9-27-2013).
Sandgrownan!! Are you serious!! I’m a young professional making more than 80K a year and unless I get a handout, there is no possible way that I can’t purchase a home in my own country. But we are going to make it possible for foreginers to do so without limitations? If we had significant land mass I can understand the issue, but we are limited in size, infrastructure and resources. Our middle class is shrinking and it seems the OBA wants us to simply say FML! I voted for them and they are pissing on me and the rest of the have nots. PLP this type of stuff needs to come out earlier so I can at least call my MP!!!
Question, when these limitations were in place were you able to buy a home? No.
So one has to ask if these limitations really help us in the first place.
It is difficult for an individual to buy a house on their own (without help) in most places, hence why couples tend to buy their first home together.
When the PLP was in power and there were restrictions, Bdians still complained that foreigners were taking all the jobs and making the prices of homes high.
Home prices have dropped signicantly in recent years, so homes are a bit more affordable, issue is… Can you come up with that 15-20% down payment?
The more foreclosures and the more stagnant the property market, the higher the price of lending from Banks will be. So by things staying the way they are, the chances of this youngster buying a house remain the same. If banks and people are able to actually sell houses then capital will free up for banks to lend. – He needs to understand that this act is not going to drive the price of housing up, but actually stimulate economic growth and enable further purchasing.
The PLP is attempting to feed the sheep it’s propaganda. But in reality they have no idea what they are talking about. The largest employer on the island is the civil service, but the civil service is going under if the Government goes bankrupt. The tax revenues and other income the government earns from IB and work permit holders is the largest contributor to paying civil service wages. To put it plainly, if IB continues to contract in the next 2-3 years, our debt becomes unsustainable and we go bankrupt. Our currency and our land become worthless. This would result in anyone with wealth leaving the island and everyone else left like crabs in a bucket to fend for themselves as poverty and devastation take over. This is the road the PLP have lead us down, this is the reality we face unless we keep the only thing putting capital into our economy here. Why would you even consider listening to the PLP? they have no clue, they are the ones who have taken us to the verge of bankruptcy!
I would agree Bermyman in regards to the argument of freeing up capital for banks to len, but as Portia rightfully said, watering down this act takes the balance out of it. The economic growth will happen however we as Bermudians will not be able to manage it, and that is what got our country in trouble in the first place.
This act looks out for the best interst of those with money and not for the majority. This party is showing that they are elitest in their thinking. It’s a sad day in Bermuda because the individuals whom this hurts the most are so busy trying to put food on tables or looking for a job that they are missing this discussion.
BTW is there a place where we can read legislation as its being dicussed?
Are you suggesting communism as the alternative? This ask impacts probably 0.1% of the population if that of the expatriate workers that live here, are high up on the executive scale and run businesses and seek outside investment which in turns generates jobs in IB. Are you going to buy a 2 million dollar house on your 80k per annum income? I doubt it. But people who can afford it are the ones grated PRC status.
Interesting argument. When the Act goes into place, we will soon see whether you are correct.
As a young professional, you soon won’t have a job and the land you would have purchased will be worthless along with the currency you earn. The price of property is not going to come down enough for you to buy unless it falls off a cliff. And if it does fall off a cliff it will most likely be the result of economic collapse. The reason why you cannot buy a house is that under the PLP, property prices inflated and so did the cost of living. During that time, there should have been rent control, property tax and inflation limiting economic regulation to keep the cost down for Bermudians.
What you have today is people not buying property, not able to sell, banks are not lending and mortgages are foreclosing. If you think, that in the present climate that not only your job is safe, but you have any chance of purchasing a property then forget it. This act will stimulate the economy by prompting real estate sales, trickle down economic effects and also create more permanent human capital in companies that may otherwise look to leave the Island. I hope as a young professional you should definitely be aware of where your 80k a year income comes from in the first place and that it is soon going to leave the Island if not for Acts like the one that needs to be passed by the OBA.
Youngster: You are wrong – you can buy a home with your income. You will just have to start with a low end home – like many of us always did. If you are upset that you can’t start will a million dollar home – then too bad. It always was so. You can sit and moan or do something about it.
You must be living in some alternate universe if you believe what you typed. Most of the low end homes cost half a mil & up. Unless someone has the full amount in the bank & enough to spare for living expenses they will have to make a deal with their bank which will inevitably see them paying a million or more in the long run for their supposedly low end home. Have you ever been on a real estate site to see what’s sold under a mil. These places are in shambles & need extensive electrical & other renovations done.
Tommy: Once again you’re smoking the green stuff. I never said is was easy, I said it was possible. Yes most places are morethan half a mill. But guess what? He couldn’t buy most places – and that’s the point – you have to start at the bottom. It was the same 25 years ago when I started – at the bottom.Its astruggle but it can be done. Bermuda has NO low cost housing – never did and that is the issue. Now go back to your doobie.
You must be smoking something but it’s more likely its the beige stuff not the green if you believe house prices in 1988 were anywhere close to what they are now. What hasn’t change much is the amount employers pay their employees while electricity, rent, groceries & insurance prices jump year after year. It was far easier back in the 80s to be a homeowner in a low income profession & a simple cakewalk as a professional. You can talk all you want about, “back in my day” but I made it just like you back in the day because it was so much easier & I would never wish to be in the position the young adults are in today. The only ones who make it to be homeowners now are either having a leg up from old money or ones who have taking loans out the ting yang that they will end up passing on to their children. So you can take your, “back in my” along with the beige stuff & put it in your glass pipe & hit it till your teeth fall out.
He could always work and save for 20 years, which is what I did. It isn’t impossible, it just takes work and determination. Quit complaining.
I’m sorry Kind,
I cannot I’m paying back school loans and supporting a sickly parent. 25% down(HSBC) and 30%(Cap G) for 400K 1 bedroom condo is at least 100K.
I’ve been home 3 years and have been able to save about 25K. I’ll be elible in another 6.5 years if the housing market stays the same and there are no other expense variables. By that time, I’ll take my money and put it in someone else’s country because I don’t feel that my country is looking out for MY best interest. I’ve racked up countless community service of the years, attended Bermuda College with good grades, but still saw very small scholarship reward and I believe its because I graduated from a public school.
People on this thread may say that I’m wrong, but if you visit BePro, toastmasters, you will hear similar stories from other young professionals who have walked my shoes. We may be wrong, but the perception to the majority of us ordinary folk is that this country is not geared for the majortiy. And that’s why so many of the talented under 35s are leaving. #imjustbeingreal
Now we see the problem Youngster – you have other debts not mentioned above. best of luck my friend. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders.
I appreciate the words @Kind. I’m not a singular thinking and I simply want the public to know that there are many professionals like myself. Up and coming youngsters will have even more loans with the inflating price of university, especially if they are going into the medial or legal field.
Population projections show that seniors will be a quarter of the population in less than 10 years so I’m sure more people will be caretaking too.
I think you will find that the total number of people that qualify as job makers will be a fairly small number, not in the hundreds. Remember they are the one creating more jobs. These are the people that will be drving our economy forward. All the OBA is doing is taking the old PLP Act and making it more attractive. It simply wasn’t enough in it’s original form. The ecomony is still dangerously close to the edge and without this kind of gesture to IB and more, Bermuda will continue to slip further and further down, which none of us want.
Owning a home isn’t a right..you have to earn it and start at the bottom
Being able to have a secure position in a job without the risk of being made redundant & then replaced is a right. How is a local supposed to work their way up to being a homeowner when nothing is being done to protect this right?
If you think that is a right – then you an Blind Melon Chitlin bin smokin too much.
Lol – only government employees think that’s a “right”.
You have a job only as long as your skills are of benefit to your employer. That’s life. Keep improving your skills, keeping making yourself of value.
@ My Kind & Family Man
According to the Bermuda Employment Act Sections 18, 30 & 32 it is a right. When someone is made redundant the employer agrees the position they held is no longer needed & it’s illegal for them to bring in someone else for the same position. The problem is that immigration never checks if the position a permit is applied for was first filled by a local & if they were laid off & also that employers will make up some new BS position to get around the law. There are far & few between job positions on this island that have technically advanced to the point their employees job is no longer relevant & the ones that do didn’t happen overnight so the employee has ample time IF they kept up with their businesses advances to give their employee a chance to seek courses to advance their skill sets.
Tommy: Your concern is valid but comnpletely irrelevent to your original claim.
That hole in the process needs to be filled and immigration needs to be aware of this.
But having a job and not being made redundant is not a right. People who think so are simply setting themselves up for failure.
…gone down town gonna see my gal….gonna singa a song….gonna..
It isn’t a “right”. Most of us work our asses off to try to make sure we keep our jobs. But it isn’t guaranteed. Unless you work for government, of course.
“keep safeguards in place in the Act to promote opportunities for all Bermudians.”
You too have the opportunity to be unemployed.
We have to create demand. Currently we have infrastructure that is not being utilized. We need less government interference generally. Quo Fata Ferunt.
This will create more Bermudian jobs and secure more Bermudian jobs. Anyone who understands how Bermuda’s economics will realize this.
The PLP must think money falls like mana from the sky, no wonder they put us BILLIONS IN DEBT!
Both these parties are bullocks…
The ABIC and similarly the OBA have already defeated the PLP’s “concerns”. There will be no denial of opportunity because the people who will benefit from the JMA will not be looking at the same homes and jobs that “hard working Bermudians” do.
“hard working Bermudians” are those who are:
“..working in restaurants, hotels, retail shops, real estate, building construction, home and grounds maintenance, taxis and transport and Government services…”
If you accept this profiling opposing the JMA makes no sense…..
So if you fall outside of that classifications of work then you’re not “hard working”?
see below
Well, that clarifies things. Just as I suspected, there are no Bermudian accountants, underwriters, managers, IT professionals, lawyers, etc.
But there are already “two Bermudas” in existence – letting the Government rubber stamp it makes perfect sense.
Interestingly it seems the PLP are interested in playing on the “two Bermudas” and to reinfornce the notion that we don’t have Bermudian accountants etc.
We have one party seeking to further divide us -namely that a bigger income disparaity is in our interests.
And the other party seeking to exploit division for politican gain.
Amazing
And this is the limit of jobs for hard working Bermudians? What about hard working Bermudians in IB?
we need a lot of $$$$$ to support our tax base. can’t have it both ways, either generate more revs or cut the size of Govt which had quadrupled since 2007
Keeping the safeguards in place simply will not work in our economic model. We need outside investment and it is as simple as that.
We all understand the sentiment of ‘Bermuda for Bermudians’ but taken too far we will become a few thousand starving fishermen. WE HAVE NO EXPORT!
The only people who believe this PLP rubbish will be those to ignorant to know nay better. But then that’s the reason they were elected isn’t it?
Youngster, I am a young Bermudian, I saved since I was 18 years old, and bought my house when I was 24. It’s a million dollar house, I was on an apprentice wage of $30,000 until I was 21 and saved every penny I could. Perhaps Youngster, you should save rather than spend……….
Robert see my response above. My passion couldn’t be started at 18years. I wanted to help educate children and knew I needed to get a Masters before I returned home so that I could make a difference. I don’t spend much on myself, but I do spend quite a bit on children, it may be on a child of someone who’s reading this thread. BTW, do you know how much money I was given to spend on school supplies to set up the classroom…zero! I see the same hole in the shirt over several days, I hear the rumbling tummies, I smell the smoke that is on the uniform, I find raincoats and umbrellas so they don’t get drenched when it’s raining outside. My point is don’t judge me and take a moment to think about your neighbour. I believe that the government is not considering the community impact and it’s all for a dollar. Watering down this act proves it. If it’s done there should be a number limit or time parameters.
Robert,
I don’t mean to pry, but as my husband and I are also looking to buy a home someday, may I ask your advice on the following:
1) Did you live at home or rent a place until your bought your home at 24?
2) When you bought your home, how much did you pay down? Was it 20% or did you buy when the banks were offering 100% financing?
3) If you did make a down payment, did a relative or friend contribute something toward the down payment or other closing costs?
4)I see below that you state your salary is no where near $80,000. Are you married and if so, does your spouse contribute toward the mortgage costs?
Thanks
Btw, I am earning nowhere near $80,000 a year yet.
Why have we not aggressivly tried to diversify the economy, haven’t we already been down this road? Don’t we already know what many negative effects opening the doors to a bunch of High Paid ‘Execs” did with the cost of living on this small island? How about finding a way for a diverse influx of middle class workers to benifit from this legislation? They still spend but will blend well with the middle class majority and not take Bermuda over the top (costs wise).
Any reasonable analysis of the PLP statement clearly demonstrates that they do not have an appreciation of how the market works and the positive impact these amendments can have. If things had remained the same under the PLP the Country would continue to flounder and the people they refer to as “hard working Bermudian” would only have been worse off!
@ youngster – keep the faith!
@ Bermyman – give it a break.
Bermuda’s housing prices were fuelled by sudden demand between the early 1990s and probably 2005 or so. The demand arose from an influx of primarily International Business employees. The IB employees could not buy houses but their higher salaries (often coupled with housing allowances) allowed them to pay higher rents. The higher rents caused an increase housing prices because people were naturally willing to pay more for a house (when buying or renovating) if they could get a higher rent.
With more people and a greater demand for houses, more houses were built which meant contractors were very busy. Contractors then increased their prices, realtors gave higher appraisals and the banks ‘jumped on the money train’. With more money ‘slushihg around’, everything became more expensive since we wanted more, more, more. We collectively took our eye off the ball.
Then the bottom fell out of the world economy and IB realised that they had to cut costs and started to outsource lots of their tasks to lower cost jurisdictions. The result? A sudden drop in hosing demand, lower rents, lower house prices, less jobs, less mortgage money and more defaults.
We can all blame the PLP and anyone else. But look at the number of commercial buildings that are empty and ask yourself how many are owned by the PLP!!! Did the PLP force private owners to build or were tehy equally caught off guard!
The main message – stop the blame game. It is time for all of to ‘get on board – we will either sink or swim together’.
@ youngster – keep your head down, accept any opportunity for development and experience. Then shop wisely for your house – buy within your means and do not take the maximum loan that the bank offers – they will not have your back if you can not pay later.
“The IB employees could not buy houses but their higher salaries (often coupled with housing allowances) allowed them to pay higher rents. The higher rents caused an increase housing prices because people were naturally willing to pay more for a house (when buying or renovating) if they could get a higher rent.”
What happened is limited rental property (acceptable to IB) was on the market and the Bermudian landlord overpriced the rental value of their properties to take advantage of this influx in demand. At the time the Government should have imposed rental caps and higher land taxes on those that rented above their ARV, in order to control inflation. But this would require some economic sense. Expats did not pay higher housing allowances for the hell of it, the market drove it and the market was Bermudian property owners. That is why now, someone who bought a condo for 1.2m in 2006 that is now worth 800k in 2013 and relied solely on rental income to pay a mortgage, foreclosed. And this asset which is now owned by the bank, who relies on capital not fixed assets to do business, will not lend at a low enough rate which a young working professional can afford. Because the generation of Bermudians before tore the rear out of it. If you think that 0.1% of the population become permanent residents is going to drive up the overall housing market then you are wong. We are living in the PLP promised utopia, streets paved in platinum. We reap what was sowed.
If this is for attracting IB it should have only been allowed for IB not all businesses as it has. Anyone who thinks that all of the non IB businesses abide by the laws previously in place have their head in the sand. Whats worse is government lets many of these business who don’t abide by the law do so by blindly approving work permits. We need to have separate permit & immigration laws for IB & non IB.
As for PLP they are hypocrites because they gave many foreign workers status during their election campaigns in order to secure votes & most weren’t PRC. These people they gave status to wen’t on to sponsor the rest of their family to live in Bermuda & got many of their friends & family jobs here that Bermudians could have filled.
You’re out of date. The PLP allowed any party faithful to pull anything they wanted. During their 14 years the whole landscape changed. Previously protected jobs weren’t protected any more. And when they left power, they left thousands of Bermudians unemployed and an economy that was, and still is, shrinking.
It’s only now that Work Permit infractions are being taken seriously. Grotto Bay, and recently passed legislation increasing fines for having employees without permits.
And no foreign workers got status, even under the PLP. That’s just false. These proposals take what the PLP put in place and make them more reasonable, so that jobs for Bermudians can be preserved and created.
I think the point that is being overlooked here is that this is retroactive which means that if the guest worker came here prior to 2002 he or she will immediately be eligible to become PRC holders (key position holder & family & the nanny that came with them). Here is the problem with removing the guarantee for creation of jobs for Bermudians requirement – jobs can be created for more guest workers – unless of course the plan is the trickle down effect (translation: lower paying jobs). This will create a greater class divide. As the saying goes, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
You’re not only going to see a class divide. I’m pretty sure you’re going to see a racial divide as well.