BIU, Department Team Up To Help Job Seekers
On November 27th the Department of Workforce Development will base staff members at the BIU headquarters on Union Square from 9am until 1pm to register any interested Bermudian with the Bermuda Job Board website.
A spokesperson said, “The Bermuda Job Board is a national employment database operated by the Department of Workforce Development. It is an online platform available to Bermudians seeking employment opportunities with the main objective of consolidating and centralizing jobs available in the Bermuda market.
“The Workforce Development staff will also train some of the BIU staff on how to operate the Job Board to ensure that they will have the continued resources needed in order to assist all Bermudians in finding work.”
“The Department of Immigration has received several applications from employers looking to fill certain posts and we want to ensure that by broadening our search for suitable candidates we have performed due diligence in the quest to get Bermudians back to work,” said the Director of the Department of Workforce Development George Outerbridge.
“It has been reported to us by the BIU that that there are several Bermudians who have been made redundant recently and others that are underemployed who would greatly benefit from registering with the Bermuda Job Board and also on our internal database. This is a perfect opportunity to widen the scope of registered qualified candidates.”
Immediately-available positions are in the fields of landscaping and masonry, which is a direct result of the damage caused to properties across the island by recent storms. However, the Department of Workforce Development staff will sign up individuals interested in any category of employment.
The Minister of Home Affairs Michael Fahy explained: “The current Work Permit Policy requires that employers filling vacant posts for ‘Restricted Job Categories’ must check with the Department of Workforce Development for a suitable candidate before applying for a work permit application.”
“We therefore encourage all individuals looking for work in these categories to register directly at the department in order to be referred for available job opportunities. It should be noted that applying on the Bermuda Job Board does not replace this requirement to actually register on our internal database – they are two separate processes.”
The Minister added: “This partnership between the Department of Workforce Development and the BIU is yet another example of the collaborative spirit that exists between the Unions and the Government.”
BIU President, Chris Furbert said: “The BIU and the Government were involved in a similar partnership some years ago and unemployed Bermudians were encouraged to come to the BIU to complete application forms which we shared with the Department of Labour and the Department of Immigration.”
“We determined that some Bermudians were more comfortable at our offices then at the Department of Labour [now Workforce Development]”.
The Department would like to request that all candidates bring with them a resume, working email address and any relevant professional/job references. For more information on the Bermuda Jobs Board or registering at the Department, please contact the Department of Workforce Development at: 297-7714.
Great to see all these departments working together!
I just think its disgusting that many of these jobs ask for 3 -5 years experience for landscaping and masonary work..what bout training someone how to do it!
I completely agree that it’s sad how the government has these jobs listed and people need to have experienced for the simplest jobs such as washers n waitressing we as people wash wash pots n clean all the time you should be trained however for the health and safety but it should be learned on the job people shouldn’t need five years or any years to take on these low income jobs because at the end of the day people are still struggling to feed their families.Every job wants you to have experience but for getting how expensive it is to go to school n still come back and make a honest living you have people in bermuda right now with degrees and can’t find jobs this island needs to stop turning a blind eye to everything and help their people to succeed and survive are people are suffering The kids have nothing to look fwd to right now especially if there parents have been made redundant after working at a job for years what do you want there kids to think and have a positive outlook there are no jobs for the average hard working individuals.
Great idea. Now if the Department of Workforce Development would help every person do a proper resume i am sure more people would have a better chance of getting jobs. Most do not have resumes attached to applications.
“what bout training someone how to do it!”
If you’re willing to be trained without being paid.
why should I train you and pay you? No one paid me to go to school.
Why do so many in Bermuda feel entitled to handouts?
Many jobs offer training/apprentenships etc. before you actually start or continuous training while on the job. If you want the job done right and to keep current, training your staff is a good idea.
My job gives in-house training/specialized training and yes we did get paid whilst training, as do many other countries/companies who care about providing word-class service and investing in their employees who in turn are making them a fortune anyway…
I believe there is a high risk for the companies hiring for lower-wage positions that they get stuck (thinking of the Union effect) with a poor performer that they cannot shed without an island-wide bus and ferry strike. I believe this is why they advertise for experienced candidates. It removes some of the risk that the candidate is a dud as they have proven they can learn and apply training.
One possible solution could be to hire trainees on contract. Say you have a landscaping or restaurant or some other position that needs a few months training. Instead of hiring outright, hire on a training contract for the training period plus one month. Need 3 months training advertise a training contract for 4 months, 6 months then a 7 month training contract. This removes the company’s risk that the untrained new hire is a dud that they can’t remove. It lowers the experience needed for the job and gets more people in the door.
Of course there is potential for some abuse (nothing is perfect) so some means of monitoring training contract terminations and contracts ending without hiring the trainee should be looked into.
Ride
There is only one person you can blame if you do not have a job.
It started from your first day in school.