Bermuda: Work Permits On The Rise

Matthew Taylor, Royal Gazette

08 February 2001

This story is reproduced by kind permission of The Royal Gazette at http://www.accessbda.bm

Work permits are on the rise, according to the latest Immigration Department figures. Chief Immigration Officer Dr. Martin Brewer said there were 7,412 at the end of 1999.

Figures show a fairly steady increase since 1992 when Bermuda was in the midst of a recession and there were just 5,402 work permit holders at the end of that year. But they are still substantially below the 1989 figure of 10,114 recorded just before the slump hit.

David Ezekiel, head of the Chamber of Commerce's International Division, said the rise in permits had not matched the rise in international business which indicated there was no cause for alarm. He said: "Obviously the growth of the international sector has had a direct and indirect affect. We need people with diverse skills. Also what's happening is the international sector is attracting people who might have gone into the retail or hospitality sector."

"Then those posts need to be filled. Put that alongside the fact that you have had a substantial growth in the offshore sector. But the figures show it's still being contained pretty well. I think we have said time and again that in the international business sector there is every opportunity for Bermudians to make great careers. All of us from both the community point of view and plain economics would much prefer to hire someone local than someone from overseas."

He said there had been improvements in the speed work permits were handled but there were still problems in consistency. He said: "I think that will come with time. But to gauge from anecdotal evidence there is a greater level of satisfaction with response time." Mr. Ezekiel said he hoped a plan to process work permits via the Internet would also cut red tape. I think we are going in the right direction."

He added: "We are still awaiting the draft proposal of the new work permit regulations. We were encouraged with the dialogue with the minister."

Shadow Home Affairs spokesman Michael Dunkley said the flexibility of the work permit policy had benefited Bermuda. He said: "From 1990 to 1993 the US had a recession and work permits went down. Since 1993 the economy has thrived and work permits have increased. That shows you the policy is working. When we had a recession the jobs lost were people with work permits. Twenty three percent of the work force is now from abroad. Clearly we are now in a position if we didn't have that work force we would not have been as successful. We would not have had the fruits of what we have without that. That's not to say there are no problems. I don't know any place in the world that doesn't have problems. We need to discuss this more. This issue of work permits has been beneficial for us. We have created so many jobs that people don't want to take them."

He noted that pot washing jobs were now being advertised to foreigners. A flourishing economy had seen locals raising their sights and progressing up the job ladder, said Mr. Dunkley. "Bermudians have progressed up from doing those jobs because there is a shortage in the work force. That's great - it shows a flourishing economy is working for most people if they are advertising for those jobs."

Repeated calls to Home Affairs Minister Paula Cox for a statement about the trend were left unreturned. But a discussion paper given by Ms Cox at a seminar on Bermuda at St. Antony's College, Oxford last month had noted that small, economically successful countries often relied on a high percentage of foreign labour. The document said: "Small countries have small populations. With a small population a country cannot hope to have all the specialists needed."

The paper also noted that Luxembourg's work force was 33 percent foreign while Liechtenstein's was 60 percent foreign - though many could commute from neighbouring countries.

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