Chamber to examine the state of business
(CNS): Businesses across Grand Cayman will be receiving a Chamber of Commerce survey today, Friday 19 March which it hopes will offer its members an opportunity to reveal the current issues of concern to the country’s private sector. The Chamber said it had dispatched around 700 24 question surveys, electronically, asking business owners to provide information that can be used at a forthcoming business forum. Focusing on a range of topics the survey seeks to gather opinions regarding the major constraints to business growth, plans for hiring or firing, the quality of the civil service and what people currently see as the main driving forces behind the economy.
The feedback from the survey will help to inform the first Future of Cayman Forum which the Chamber said it will be hosting later this year.
“The information gathered will help us better understand the “on the ground” challenges of our membership,” said Wil Pineau, Chief Executive Officer. “let’s name the problems we’re facing and look at how we can apply the four ‘I’s Innovation, investment , Integration and involvement in developing solutions.” Although Cayman has much to be thankful for the CEO said “success is no long a default setting for the economy.”
Encouraging all membersto take a few minutes to fill out the survey Pineau said he hope they would register their thoughts and concerns about the current state of business.
“It doesn’t matter how big or small your business – everybody’s opinions are valuable and absolutely vital as we look at the way forward,” he added.
The survey is the Chamber said confidential, it can be completed quickly on line and as an incentive member businesses that complete the survey will be entered into a prize-draw.
Category: Business
What exactly is a fair labour rate in your opinion and what percentage of the workforce(local and permit holders) do you think falls below that rate? Almost certainly, most of the "domestic helpers and labouor force" will form the largest part of that so let’s boost them from $150 a week to $500 a week and sit back and watch the Caymanians no longer afford helpers. Lets see security guards go from $3 an hour to $8? Cashiers go from $5/hour to $10? Bartenders and waitresss go from $4 to $9? Would there not be a knock on effect to the consumers of restaurant, supermarket and service related products??
I remain confused as to whether a minimum wage is to help Caymanians or boost the remuneration of the lower end labour force to entice Caymanians to do hard labour and long hours? We introduce a minmum wage and attract the 1,000+ unemplyed caymanians but still need another 10,000 people to fill the labour roles. What do we do then???????????????????????????????????????????????????
What baffles me is that as you state current labor rates that are clearly far below a living wage it didn’t seem to concern you at all for those people, rather the concern was for how your personal bottom line would be impacted.
Perhaps more actual parenting and less helper neglect would help to raise young people who are a greater credit to the country.
Bringing in 3rd world people for substandard wages doesn’t seem to have worked does it?
I’ll sign up to a minimum wage law if the workers sign up to a minimum productivity rate . . . .
The only question to the Chamber of Commerce is this…"Do you support a minimum wage for the Cayman Islands?"
Many problems with cheap foreign labor would be solved with a fair minimum wage.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for either an answer or any positive action.
A minimum wage is just that…a minimum wage. Only those at the bottom of the scale will notice any difference in take-home pay. The result is that the cost to business will go up and that will be passed onto to everyone, leaving the same ratio of pay-to-purchasing power.
The fundamental difference with the Cayman Islands is that we do not have sufficient resident labour in the first place. So what it will mean is that the minimum wage will have one main effect, higher local costs and more money going off island from that imported workforce that hold those positions. That will also mean that more foreign workers will want to come here.
Most people see this as a solution but it does not help in reality. Cayman’s economy is unique and cannot easily be compared to other economies which have large resident based employment pools. In those countries, an minimum wage would and does make a local difference.
Most businesses would not vote for a minimum wage only from a cash flow basis. The actual cost is passed on to the consumer, meaning you and I. It also means that those businesses will further reduce sponsorships, donations, Christmas parties, etc to cover the extra cash flow.
The minimum wage in the Cayman context does not work, it only aids the foreign worker who is directly engaged at that level and it adds costs to goods and services.
Anyway, why would you want a Caymanian to only make minimum wage?? We need to empower our people.
It sounds like a double talk argument to keep the cheap foreign work permits coming.
Like it or not every society has blue collar laborers and local labor cannot compete with the foreign labor.
If the local labor does not work productively then fire them but a fair labor rate is only right.