Youth unemployment at 38%
(CNS): While the country’s overall unemployment rate is currently estimated to be around 6%, for young people aged between 18 and 24 the rate is now at 38%, the minister with responsibility for labour said this morning. Speaking at the opening of the Chamber’s Careers Expo, Rolston Anglin said that these were challenging times for everyone but particularly so for Cayman’s young people. As a result, he said, the first new initiatives in the ministry would focus on youth unemployment and helping young people gain the soft skills which he said were deeply lacking but were essential to securing a job.
“It is not surprising during a recession that we would see a spike in youngsters being unemployed and we recognise that this is the time to focus on young people,” Anglin, the Minister for Education, Labour and Training, said as he explained that the ministry would be rolling out the first phase of the ‘National Employment Passport’ initiative, which would be focusing heavily on youth training.
He noted that Cayman’s unemployment rate among young people was similar to that in the CARICOM region. Anglin also acknowledged that during times of severe unemployment, governments everywhere had a tendency to come up with plans and programmes in an attempt to keep people in work. However, he said that tackling unemployment was not about systems and programmes but about employability. Engaging in feel-good initiatives that leave people no more employable at the end than at the beginning are pointless, he observed, and said he was keen to ensure that the young people in Cayman gained the skills they needed to make them employable through proper training.
Speaking in broader terms about dealing with the employment challenges facing the jurisdiction, the minister said that the Labour Department had to integrate its information with the business community. He spoke of a real need for his ministry to understand the needs of the labour market and that without a more integrated system between the needs of the private sector and government programmes we would not solve Cayman’s employment challenges.
Given the economic situation, it was not the best time to be in government, Anglin told the audience at the short opening ceremony, and it certainly was not the best time to be the minister responsible for labour, but, he added, it was the responsibility he had asked for and wanted because he believed the challenges could be met. He emphasised the need to keep employment and education together in the same ministry as the training needs of the workforce had to be integrated with the recruitment needs of the business community.
“Until we have a truly integrated system that works for both our citizens and business we won’t be successful,” he said, adding that the system needed to be transparent to the business community. Anglin explained the private sector needed to know who was available for work and the DER needed to know what skills employers wanted. “As we execute the reforms to the DER we need to know what business wants,” he said.
The Chamber of Commerce Careers, Education, Training & Jobs Expo opened at the Family Life Centre in George Town on Friday morning and will be open until Saturday evening. Around a dozen employers, as well as a number of government departments, industry associations and both the UCCI and the ICCI were promoting their industries, training and scholarships along with career opportunities. Although the expo is open to anyone interested in finding work or changing careers, students from Grand Cayman who will be leaving school this year were given the first opportunity to meet with exhibitors this morning as the expo opened its doors at 10:00 am.
Category: Headline News
The comment from Rita Myles "I say to solve this problem is to get rid of some of these expats and give our young Caymanian out of work menjobs!" is part of the problem here. That kind of attitude reeks of superiority and is the reason you don’t see Caymanians flipping burgers.
I have worked in all parts of the world and Caymanians are some of the laziest workers I have ever seen. The amount of sick leave taken is atrocious and the general attitude to work is one of contempt. I don’t blame the employers of this country for attracting expats as generally speaking they are far more reliable, hard working employees.
The fact is that all employers have to prove before hiring an expat that there isn’t a suitably qualifed Caymanian. In the case of the car washers you don’t have to be Einstein to work out that Caymanians simply aren’t applying.
I agree some Caymanians have attitudes that reek of superiority and yes some might be even down right lazy and there is no excuse for this. However, let me remind you that they are in their own country. When our forefathers had to leave home as teenagers some as young as 13 years old to brave 20′ and 30′ seas where were you? looking for greener pastures I guess.
Some of these young men didn’t even make it back to these shores in an attempt to make a better living and to enhance the quality of life for ALL Caymanians. This is the foundation that my the lazy Caymanians of that era built for us and not you and may I suggest if you don’t like it here you know what to do?
Don’t worry very soon lazy Caymanians will be doing the blue collars jobs and loving it as we once did because there is only about 20,000 of us and we won’t starve or become homeless. Caymanians stayed and rebuilt this island after Interbank crash in the 70s and again after hurricane Ivan. So believe me we are prepared to stay and rebuild after the next crash , but rest assured that you and many like you won’t be here to see it. Caymanians don’t like to migrate and so you don’t have to worry about us coming to your country to take over.
"I have worked in all parts of the world and Caymanians are some of the laziest workers I have ever seen".
These sorts of insulting generalizations really not help the expat/Caymanian divide but serve only to create animosity. Have you considered that there might be agreement if you did not come across as an obnoxious, contemptuous expat?
"The fact is that all employers have to prove before hiring an expat that there isn’t a suitably qualifed Caymanian".
That is the legal requirement, but we all know that this is breached more often than observed. There are employers who routinely abuse the system from ‘losing’ a qualified Caymanian’s application, to tailoring the job descriptions to suit the expat incumbent who came on a six-month temporary permit which did not have to be advertised. In one particularly ridiculous case having advertised the position and interviewed a qualified Caymanian the prospective employer suddenly discovered that the ad really did not correctly state the experience required for the job (which the expat incumbent holds only due to their experience with that particular employer on a work permit) and needed to be re-advertised with the ‘correct’ requirements (so as to exclude the qualified Caymanian). Those are the facts. You could notify the Board but would you really want to fight to work for an employer who would be disgruntled that they had been forced to take you on? Of course the employer could also appeal and spin the matter out over couple years meanwhile the expat employee can continue to work and you either remain out of work or you move on. Those are the realities for many Caymanians in the workplace. Perhaps it is fostered by the prejudice that all Caymanians are lazy which you are keen to perpetuate.
The Chamber of Commerce held their Career, Education, Training and Jobs Expo this past Friday and Saturday. 26 companies were represented and were taking applications. Free courses were given in resume writing, presenting yourself in a job interview and standing out in a tough job market.
Of the people who showed up, most were already employed people just checking out the Expo. If there were 100 young Caymanians present looking for jobs and interested in improving their skills, we did not see them. When asked why it seemed there was such a low turnout, one young person stated that "there was too much going on that day, didn’t we all know there was a vollyball tournament going on?"
This speaks volumes.
Thanks, understood. What will be the end result with respect to youth unemployment though?
That’s only looking at the issue from one side (kinda like the Miller/Shaw/Jefferson report…not suggesting any new revenue measures). Increasing the retirement age to 65 will also keep younger people from being able to get a job…as the job market can only absorb so many numbers of people.
If one looks at this objectively, one will most likey conclude that to keep most people in their 60’s working (and usually drawing larger salaries, and often not in the best of health…while they would rather be retired) while also effectively keeping our younger generation NOT working (when they would rather be working, and are in the prime of their health) is NOT a good fiscal nor good social policy.
It is a short and one sided view.
I think there are two points you are missing:
1. We need to reduce the size of the civil service. Over the longer term this can be achieved by attrition so that someone who retires may not necessarily be replaced by anyone even a young person. In that sense they are not being kept out of a job. The corollary of this is that those young person will haveto seek jobs in the private sector. There are many jobs which are presently held by expats which Caymanians do not have for the simple reason that they feel it is beneath them. I think we are going to have to get to grips with the fact that there are going to be less jobs available.
2. This would only raise of the normal retirement age and would not prevent retirement on medical grounds if that was indicated. At some point there is a trade off between being in your prime and not having the substantial experience that is needed in some areas.
Now that’s a crying shame and yet they wonder why? These young kids are doing alot of breakins,drugs and getting into serious trouble. The answer is there in front of your faces already? Man has got to eat and if a man cannot get a job to provide for his family what else do we expect him to do? I don’t mean to sound too harsh but the truth is the truth. I say to solve this problem is to get rid of some of these expats and give our young Caymanian out of work men jobs!
There are plenty of jobs. KFC, Burger King, Pool Cleaners, Yard Cutters, and Hotel workers. I dont see any of these bright young kids even applying for these jobs. WHY NOT
I have a company here and have hired many young locals more then not they just stop coming in don’t call in sick just stop showing up. We had one kid working for us for 10 days picked up his check never came back again, but wait 2 weeks later he came in asking for his holiday pay.
The problem is they expect everything handed to them dont want to work they want fancy rims, stereos and stay out all night.
One more thing, how exactly is increasing the retirement age to 65 expected to help this problem? Just curious.
It will help with pension obligations. So long as you continue to work you are contributing to pensions. Once you retire you are simply drawing on pensions and not contributing.
It will also clog up the system (so to speak). In that younger people will have to wait longer for a job to become available as older people willbe holding their jobs longer (affecting all jobs in the chain)…while they wait to retire… or die (whichever comes first. Maybe that’s part of the plan too…the closer one is to death, the less will have to be paid out for pension.
More $$$for the rich and powerful…less for the middle class and poor!
Ridiculous. There is no legitimate unemployment problem in Cayman. Our many fastfood restaurants are filled with expats on work permits.
It does not require extensive experience or high intelligence to hold one of these jobs. Our young Caymanians can get "a job" if they want "a job". If they are unemployed it is because they choose to be.
Somebody needs to tell them that everyone has to start somewhere. Many very rich and successful people started out flipping burgers or worse.
Could not agree more.
The question is, are these young Caymanians willing to flip a burger, deliver a pizza, bus a table, wash a dish, sweep a floor, drive a nail or do any job that is not in a bank or law firmÉ
It seems that these kids or maybe the parents of these kids think that this type of work is beneath them.
What the youngsters need to know is that most of the CEO’s and Millionaires of the world did not come from a priviledged background but worked their way from the bottom up.
Do yourself a favour Cayman. Get your hands dirty. It is not such a bad thing.
The question is, are these young Caymanians willing to flip a burger, deliver a pizza, bus a table, wash a dish, sweep a floor, drive a nail or do any job that is not in a bank or law firmÉ
Another misinformed "Non Caymanian" who has been conditioned to believe absolute rubbish, with an agenda, but I won’t blame you. Instead I will enlighten you.
The Cayman Islands have always had a population prior to the 1970s as most in the expat community seem not to believe or know. When you first arrived here did you not find Caymanians flipping burgers, doing deliveries, waiters/waitress, bussing tables, dishwashers, cleaners, carpenters, bankers and law firm employees? I hate to disappoint you but all this was done before you found us, by "Caymanians" and will continue long after you depart for greener pastures.
I will however, agree with you that the parents of these kids at one time had the mindset that these types of job are not what they should aspire to do as their parents made the necessary sacrifices for them to have greater expectations and what is so wrong with this? the world would still be in the stone age if each generation did not aspire to achieve more that the next. This dream is slowly being unrealized because of poor educational planning, lack of proper parenting and greed.
The Cayman Islands was always bless with a small population so like Bermuda, the BVI, Anguilla and the Bahamas the people of these islands should have been given free education from the cradle to the grave to ensure that they could take their rightful place in society and not have to become the blue collar works. However, the politicians of the day did not see this day coming and those that had the foresight to were called educated fools and relegated to the background while the expats used our young people of the 70’s and 80s to elevated themselves to the boardroom and are now the movers and shakers of the financial industry.
Let me tell you what happened in the 70s and 80s because I was a young Caymanian of that era, we were seduced by those in the financial industry mainly the banks as at that time. It was not as easy as 1,2,3 for many in the financial industry as it is now to get work permits and key employees therefore they were too happly to recruite our young people from the tourism industry, high schools and anywhere they could find them to train, very few of our young people were encourged to pursue further education. In later years the present UCCI campus was setup as a technical training school but was changed by the government to again accommodate outsiders and not to benefit Caymanians. I rest my case because I could go on and on but this is a lesson in futility, all I will say to you and others get to know the history of Cayman and Caymanians before you judge us.
Hardly surprising when the only criteria for "graduation" is showing up to school 80% of the time.
I am a Caymanian who graduated from high school more than three decades ago. The mess that is our education system was not always that way.
We need programmes that modify the expectations of those looking for work so that they understand the requirements of the real world work place. We also need programmes that provide the literacy, numeracy and practical skills needed for employment.
There is no doubt that successivegovernments have failed to implement proper educational programmes both with respect to core "hard skills" like literacy and numeracy, as well as proper "soft skills" which are needed for in the job market. Politicians over the last 2 decades have "purchased" public approval by lowering educational standards and approving the "social promotion" lunacy which allowed people to leave school without the ability to read or write. Politicians also supported irresponsible parents who threatened to have teachers thrown off the Island for pointing out that "junior" was refusing to learn anything and was disrupting the class. Some politicians, including notables among our longest serving politicians, together with some parents are jointly responsible for teaching a significant part of an entire generation the lie that rude behaviour is acceptable in school and in the work place.
Rolston in my view is the only one in the current government that has the requisite intelligence and common sense to do what is required. I hope that he is able to persuade others in Cabinet who view education as irrelevant, that it is critical that we implement the needed reforms and remedial programmes which will tackle this very serious problem.
This is one of the best posts I have read on CNS.
jobs such as bank tellers that young Caymanians use to get as they come out of high school, are now filled by expats….UDP you all created a mess in this country with people, not even rich people that can contribute to the country, but poor people that rely on govt!!! what a mess!
which bank is that???
I’m worndering the same thing! Too funny. I guess they don’t "look Caymanian" so automatically they have to be expats. LOL
Where do you bank? I bank at three different banks weekly, pretty much know most of the tellers and they are all Caymanian,, and always see lots of "trainees" also young Caymanians,, also which poor people relying on government are you referring to? Last time I checked there were no social services alloted to expats??
i don’t care who says different but the UDP antics with the status grants has/ and will continue this mess, they have made 3000 + Caymanians that does not include their children, who now attends public schools, who is now depending on GOVT for scholarships and jobs… Sherri/UDP invented "key employee" how about mandating businesses to have an entry level opening for every position they have, and mandate them to prove that they have trained a Caymanian before they issue a work permit for an expat? All UDP care about is rolling out the red carpet for expats… Big lil Mac you need to start investing in home first If you leave this country to him, he would make our population grow to 100,000.
on another note, Caymanians take your head out of the sky and go work for an honest dollar. Stack a supermarket shelf, work in a resturant waiting tables, no one should be too proud to do these sortof jobs, its an honest dollar
Math estimates the PPM gave out 2,800 residences who will become status holders.
Your second paragraph is very true. Office work permit renewals are being denied hand over fist. However, at the same time, anyone can get a NEW work permit for waitresses, fast food chains, gas station attendants etc. There should be NO new permits for unskilled jobs while there is so much unemployment. How difficult is this?
"Math estimates the PPM gave out 2,800 residences".
What are you trying to say? Do you mean that the Permanent Residency Board under the PPM granted permanent residency to 2,800 people who applied and were assessed in accordance with the Immigration Law and Regulations?
"In accordance with the Immigration Law and Regulations". Surely you jest. If you think this was any less a friendship thing you are out of your mind. The ONLY way a points system would be remotely fair is if the applicant’s name was not mentioned.
I’m aware of a board member’s gardner getting residency while a qualified person, with property, got turned down because someone lied about that person. These are FACTS.
How is this more honorable than what the UDP did?
The point I’m making is the UDP put their friends through. The PPM put their friends through.
Obviously if the applicant’s name is not mentioned there would be no way of assessing the merits of the candidate. For example, if there is blank police clearance certificate, personal reference etc. it could be in respect of anyone, not necessarily the applicant.
I don’t jest at all. What it seems like you are saying is that the grants were made by the Board but you personally are not satisfied that all of them were made or not made as the case may be, fairly. In that case you have a right of appeal and judicial review. O the other hand you must surely jest if you believe there is any comparison to the 3000+ status grants, the existence of which are an established fact not a fantasy indulged in for the purposes of partisan rhetoric.
Thw word on the street is that young Caymanians just don’t want those jobs.
Ppl assume this applies to all young Caymanians…so now when i’m finished Uni and I’m applying for jobs employers will be hesitant to hire me because of what they heard about young Caymanians. The funny thing is there are so many young Caymanians coming out of school willing to work non-office work until they can get where they want but we’re all being put into the same category. Many of us are willing to work and work hard so excuse me if I’m insulted when ppl assume that all young Caymanians are the same.
I am shame to hear that they don’t want those kind of jobs, but yet we have Caymanians saying that expatriates taking away all the jobs, when it is our own young Cayamanians that is not applying for them, because the pay maybe small, but they still miss the whole point of them making a honest buck. So then they choose the other road to destroy their future, not to smart I must say.
No permits should be given for these low paying jobs, BUT answer me, what is an employer to do, close his business down because the Caymanian school leavers or young adults do not want to work in these positions, but want office work only, arent we speaking from both sides of our mouth, help the owners get permits, employ people that refuse to accept the job. Oh my, what tangle webs we weave. Talk to the employer about their dilemma.
Lets take a real life example. The Ritz at one point was the second largest employer of Caymanians. Despite that fact, the burden is on the Ritz to train Caymaians until there are little to no expats working there. At any time Immigration doesn’t feel the Ritz is doing a good enough job, permits become more difficult to obtain. It is completely irrelevant to Immigration, whether the Ritz is providing Ritz standards or not.
In contrast, I get my car washed at a local establishment that hires 100% foreigners. Why isn’t there a burden on that employer to train Caymanians to wash cars?
The Ritz has to International standards it must adhere to. The car wash, on the other hand, does not. Why doesn’t Immigration force the local car wash owner to train his own people or shut down? Are you telling me Caymanians don’t know how to wash cars?
Do you not see the double standards and the negative social consequences that come from this?
I can’t accept your arguement that Caymaians only want office jobs? They cannot be that delusional and / or lazy.
I keep telling you UDP cronies that you must all try & get your stories straight! One group of the UDP seem to say one thing & then another group says something else & then another group says the opposite & then….. you get my drift! They cannot get their stories straight! Anon 12:02 claims that the Residency Board under the PPM gave out 2,800 PR’s, yet a previous posting claimed it was over 4000, then an earlier posting said the PPM gave out 1000 PR’s! Can’t you all get a simple figure right? If you were telling the truth then you all would have the correct figure!
The UDP must also accept that most of the mess concerning the granting of PR is because of the dreadful decision they made in 2003 by giving away over 3000 Cayman status! Thousands of people who have lived in Cayman for decades but were overlooked by the UDP in 2003 for people who had not even been to Cayman, or had been in Cayman for a very short time, have quite rightly applied for PR! The utter mess that immigration is now in is because of the UDP.
One difference between the UDP and PPM, on this website, is that the UDP don’t collude. I’m neither UDP nor PPM. Since you know the simple figure, why don’t you enlighten us? Of course, you won’t because that would be an admission that the PPM ALSO gave out residency / status in the thousands and thus weaken one of the PPM major political pillars, i.e. that the UDP gave away the county. Just ONCE, why don’t you put country before party and tell us how many residency / status the PPM gave away. Until then, the 4,000 one person quoted from ESO will suffice. (And just in case you didn’t know, 4,000 is more than 3,000). Here is my prediction: Not only will you neither quote a figure. You will argue the UDP (through Cabinet) by-passed a process. Whereas, the PPM used the process implemented by the UDP. At the end of the day this assumes:
1) Most people who got it from the UDP were not deserving and the UDP is dishonest.
2) Most people who got it under the PPM were deserving and the PPM is honest. (Apparently not honest enough to come out and give the figure though.) POLITICS BEFORE COUNTRY.
First, there is absolutely no comparison to be made between a Board applying the law and granting residency in accordance with the law where everyone is considered on the same basis, and the debacle of the Cabinet making secret grants to 3000+ people without any background checks, level playing field or anything else that might resemble the rule of law. This was not a give-away. This is an obvious pathetic UDP attempt at spin. That is surely putting politics ahead of country.
If the legal process was applied then the objective is not to artificially restrict the numbers that outside of that process, so saying there were 1,000, 2,000 etc. etc. doesn’t matter. Bear in mind that this is permanent residence not Caymanian status. This is the process that should have happened with the UDP and did not.
It is really disturbing when UDP supporters don’t understand the difference between applying the rule and not applying the rule of law, between grants based on merit and those based on political favour, between what is legitimate and what is not legitimate. Apparently all you have to do is quote some arbitrary number and try to equate the two. Ethics is a foreign language to this lot.
If this is the quality of their supporters there is no wonder that the have suh poor quality leaders
I agree with you, but our young Caymanians are to proud to be doing those jobs you mention, which is a shame, because when I graduated 20 years ago I started at the bottom and work my way up, I actually started out working in a Supernarket and became a Supervisor there and kept getting better salary as the years went by, but these young Caymanians don’t same to understand that not everybody started with a blue collar job, I sure did,nt and I make more today than I did some 20yrs ago. It is sad to see that they choose the road of violence and robbery than to work for an honest buck, even if they started at $4.50, it’s a start in the right direction, atleasr they would not have anytime to have any problems with the law, instead they would be working to better their future, whatever may come.
Even working in a Hotel is an excellent start to think of it, because Tourism is important to Cayman and a lot of tourises would love to be serve by a local person, because I have hear that from tourises many times, saying (it is so nice to meet a local person). And all I could do is smile with pride of way they feel about locals. Those jobs you mention above is all a good start up, maybe not so great of salary scale, but it’s a start for these young Caymanians and they need to stop thinking about blue collar jobs and get a start doing any one of those jobs you or me mention.
What is the ILLITERACY Rate?
Publish that….it would shock us all and give the Education Ministry something to really work on.
thats another caymanian secret…ignored by the media…
Last time I checked our literacy rate was somewhere about 100th in the world, slightly behind a couple of former Soviet republics famed for their high rates of corruption.
INNUMERACY rate?
Fri 18:27:
Your post speaks volumes.
What do we expect when we have no academic requirements required to "graduate" from high school?
That’s the longest sentence I have ever seen!
Want to know why you cant get a job? you have an attitude ,thats one major block, next you dont present yourself properly,no one can talk to you about your demeanor which sucks. You beleive that you must have the job whether you have any kind of experience or not.You want to choose your hours not the employers. Its high time that we stop playing the blame game and be realistic. We are our own enemies, we tell our peers and the whole Cayman islands what we wantand will not take. Life is not fair as a Caymanian I shouldnt have to do this or that, guess what being Caymanian does not say that Cayman have to tolerate these attitudes. Want a job? do what every other hard working Caymanian and expat alike is doing, go to work, stay on the job, have a good attitude give the employer what he is paying you for, its an even exchange your time their money. You want work then look in the mirror and ask yourself do I look employable, can I give what an employer wants. Its there for you, you have to acheive it.Im a working Caymanian.Attitude will take you around the world.
Every company with over ten employees should be required to run an apprenticeship program for young people as part of receiving a Trade and Business Licence, and the government should part sponsor their salaries, This private-public partnership would provide opportunities to many 18-24 year old unemployed individuals.
. . .Imagine all young Caymanian school leavers have an opportunity to complete apprenticeships in plumbing, electrical installations, carpentry, tiling, roofing, motor mechanics, office adminstration, hairdressing, retail sales, boat repairs, and so on. The government should also pay for those in apprenticeships to attend the excellent day courses at the Chamber of Commerce as part of their program.
I’ve been posting here on CNS repeatedly calling for a vocational/tech college offering such training as you suggest 06.29. In addition, no graduation without academic achievement and qualification. Why do some expect the private sector to make up for where the government failed the people? Education is their ambit. They permit graduations without formal academic achievement and/or qualification. There’s no incentive for the youth to achieve. Most are leaving school unemployable and then the government expects private practice to shape theseyoung people’s education instead. It’s ludicrous. Now, if these young people had academic achievements and the will to learn and develop, they would be a damn sight easier to train when they reach the private sector. The problem with the current system is just as at school, the youngsters are expecting to get ahead by bare attendance only and this just doesn’t cut it in the workplace.
Every company employing Expatriates with any skills is already required to do this. Unfortunately the Boards have not enforced it for years.
Trust me they do. Typically when a local employee doesn’t like an expat employee and contacts Board Members directly to oust the expat. Word of mouth is fact when it comes to these boards.
Then they should take it to Labour and immigration. Expatriates can and do get protection from both.
That is complete nonsense. No expat would feel safe reporting an incident to labour and immigration board or whoever. From experience I know that results in a swift flight home at best and in more extreme cases can mean some stories can be fabricated by these people to get expats in trouble with the law.
Any expat boss will tell you how precarious it is getting rid of Caymanian staff, depsite them being lazy, incompetent and not up to the job, it is nigh on impossible to get rid of them as they would report the boss to their cousin in immigration an expat would suddenly get his work permit pulled and sent home. This is the real situation here.
LMAO. Sorry for laughing, but you see, therein lies another problem – Labour and Immigration are as bad, if not worse! There is nowhere for an ex pat to take a legitimate complaint as on each and every avenue stands an irate relative or friend of the person causing the trouble in the first place! As another poster has already said, this is a real problem here. Too many of us have comments like "my uncle/auntie/sister/brother/cousin works Immigration and I gonna get your permit revoked/get you thrown out of this country" thrown at us; and too many times, its resulted in just that.
The most important part of your suggestion, which NO ONE in government seems to get is "Over Ten."
It is easier for larger companies to train than smaller ones. If a two man company has to train they don’t have any time to get work done.
This is true for many fees as well.
Firms have to grow to a decent size before things are forced upon them.
To Anonymous Sat.08:47 "Are you really that suppressed of the situation your in?" Were you trying to ask "Are you really that surprised at the situation that you’re in?"Looks like the pot calling the kettle black.
Wow, you might have a point but very tough to read with your grammar being so bad. Perhaps that is why you were let go?
Rolston, I really like you but isn’t suggesting "we are no worse that Caricom" really a positive thing. Compare us to Canada, Europe, the US. That is more indicative of our economy and standard of living – and you will see that we (with some help from unscrupulous employers, ignorant parents, absent fathers, unenforced immigration policies, and lousy education) betrayed our own youth in a way that is both unconscionable and will hurt us all for at least two generations.
If you let a single Caymanian graduate from school before age 18 without first instilling them with significant literacy skills, you will be to blame as well.
Keep them in education. It is not like you are depriving them of a job opportunity by doing so.
No, do not compare us to Canada, Europe, or the US. It is not indicative of our economy, it only reinforces our misconception of our relative wealth. We absolutely cannot sustain our champagne taste on our beer budget. We are no different than any other CARICOM island when it comes down to brass tacks. If you take away the "other people’s money" we have relied on to prop up our better than everyone else attitude of ours, where will we be left? When a youth told me "my family got money, we got plenty land", I asked him if he could take a box of dirt to Fosters and get a bag of groceries? Let’s keep it real.
Why cant we just send them to the British Forces they can learn self respect and disciplin as well as a very good career .
The existence of "The British Forces" has not appeared to have helped Britain’s society very much.
Have you taken a good look around the UK recently?
Seriously, why are so many of us calling on the UK for help or some sort of guiding light? (That was not necessarily directed to you (poster).)
"38%"?? WOW. Diversity is good for every Country. But we have to stop and think about our YOUNG Caymanians as well and try to find new solutions of employment for them. "Maybe" fewer permits should be granted (Just a thought).
Did you not see the Miller report recommended they increase the amount of work permits held? What makes you think fewer will be granted?
This is why crime is at an all time HIGH …because unemployment is at an all time high
There is surprisingly little evidence to link violent crime to economic indicators. Oddly enough in most developed countries during a recession violent crime tends to go down.
To Cleo Shay Fri.22:51. You may be right, but could please post evidence to back up your statement.
Sociologist and criminal justice scholars have found a direct correlation between poverty and crime. One economic theory of crime assumes that people weigh the consequences of committing crime. They resort to crime only if the cost or consequences are outweighed by the potential benefits to be gained. The logical conclusion to this theory is that people living in poverty are far more likely to commit property crimes such as burglary, larceny, or theft.
Considering that about half the work force in Cayman is expats, there is a large pool of jobs for the young Caymanian. Obviously, education is lacking, or will to get educated.
You hit the nail on the head, and not just education is lacking, but self image/respect.
I work for an IT consultancy firm and we had three young Caymanians come for interviews responding to an add we had in the papers,
One came to the interview in a baggie jean, a 50 cents hooded top and a dark shades on,
The second candidate was well dressed but turned up 40 minutes late and actually had the nerve to tell us he was out late last night and over slept,
The 3rd candidate dropped out of UCCI witch out completing his associates degree and some how thinks he has the skill/qualification required to be an IT consultant because he fixes printers and installed a couple windows XP machines for various friends..
These guys need to get serious, the rule that i can do the job and I don’t need qualifications cause I am a Caymanian or the rule that says I will come work for you, I got no qualifications but you need to spend time/money training me is not working any more, employers looking for more value for way less money these days and things are way more competitive now.
Actually, according to the ESO the workforce is about 39,000.
There are 25,000 here on work permits
There are 4,000 here as Permanent residents with the Right to work, including spouses working etc…
There are 2,500 here with pending appeals working by operation of law.
There are 500 (at least) overstaying and working illegally.
Therefore 32,000 out of 39,000 in the workforce are expatriates (according to Governments own figures).
Therefore approximately 80% of the workforce are expatriate.
20% of the expatriate workforce have no real skills or education either. Selfishness by employers, and a failure to enforce our laws by immigration and government, have together gone a long way to put us where we are today.
Very informative. But one statistic is missing, "Willing to Work." This could be the ONLY reason there aren’t more Caymanian helpers, gardeners, garbagemen, waiters, bartenders, construction workers and security guards? One that particularly irks me (and is air-conditioned) is jewelry sales people. Do I really need a foreigner to tell me its a dive watch? Another one I can’t fathom is why there aren’t more Caymanian realtors? To me its odd having a foreigner try to sell me a piece of my own island. What we need to go back to is the days when there was no shame in making an honest dollar.
I agree very much with your point about willingness to work. There’s a huge lack of it, and so I see 38% unemployment among the youth as probably being closer to 5-7%.
And on a side note, I wouldn’t exactly call realty or jewelry sales making an "honest dollar."
LOL – Fair enough.
It seems your statistics may be a little off. Recent reports reflect that those on work permits plus those working by operation of law comprise just over 23,000.
Thank you, my statistics were out of date. Now, it appears (if the workforce has not declined) that 70% are expatriate. Of course, this does not count all those who have become Caymanian in the last year. If the workforce has declined below 39,000 then the original figure of 80% expatriate may still hold true.
The head of the Department of Relations just got suspended. I’ve seen a job advertised in the newspaper requiring 10 years of cashier experience. A large amount of foreign labour live purposefully in conditions below the poverty line to save up enough money to send back where living costs are lower. Its more complicated then "Caymanians are lazy and stupid".
To Anonymous Fri.15:49 Or too easy to get work permit.
To Anonymous Fri.15:49 Or perhaps we created too many jobs due to too rapid development.Maybe we should try to reduce these over a number of years ,which should also reduce the number of work permit holders ,which should reduce the strain on our infrastructure or which should reduce Govt expenditure ,which is needed.I had hoped that Hurricane Ivan had accomplished all this but then the opposite happened.Instead of simply not being in control of development we found that development became a runaway train and now we have the resulting train-wreck.
Years ago, mostly every graduate received a job placement. Now we see the 19-25 age groups of other countries manning cash registers, fast food restuarants, messengers, deliveries, receptionists and many other jobs that does not take much skills.
All we hear are that Caymanians are lazy and are unskilled. All jobs prior were done by Caymanians from domestic helper straight to the top. Now our government is disillussioned by the employers.
Stop stamping work permit approvals whilst our youth are idle. Idle minds are not productivity.
Work-study programs are needed…it would not hurt if there were paid a minimal payment while in these programs. This would also help those on social service aid.
I was in fosters buying some groceries, it came up the CI24.55, so I gave the girl (Caymanian) CI$25 and said I think I have .55 cents, so she punched in 25.55 into the register, which then said I needed CI$1 change back, but then I realized I don’t have the exact amount and told her, I then watched on as she tried to figure out how much change I should get back, me along with the lady standing behind me "who was Caymanian" looked at each other as we both knew right away what the change should be. Eventually I had to tell her as I could not wait on her any more.
What was that? A Caymanian helper this day and age? Yeah Right.
Not to sure where you been living my friend, but the young Caymanian of today compared with the ones years ago are totally different. The ones years ago actually liked to work, a job was a job, and they liked Education. You ever considered the reason all we hear are that Caymanians today are lazy and are unskilled is because it might just be true?
Stop making generalizations based on your experience with one check out clerk. It is called prejudice. You are contributing to the problem.
On another note…
How come there has been no mention of this young Caymanian doing a reality show??
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2010/03/vh1s-new-reality-tv-lineup-for-april-celebrities-wives-and-more.html
Go E!
And crime rises – coincidence?
Yet we have so many persons on a GOL working in restuarants, hotels, shops, construction, service industries, etc. Why is that? Is it due to pride? Is it due to a lack of a "living wage" rate? Is it because some young persons simply do not know how much can be made? Maybe these young persons just need to be asked. Opportunities are available. Remember everyone starts somewhere and where you end up is not controlled by that start point.
I have personally interviewed a young Caymanian for a job in the last week. Whilst he was not right for the position I required (and another Caymanian will be given the job) he is educated and willing to do anything. He has 7 O-levels. His only employment since being made redundant 2 years ago has been the government’s morning roadside garbage clean up. He has been registered with DER for 2 years and has never been placed. He has a clean police record, and no known drug use issues – and last year 10,000 work permits were granted to persons with no greater (and in many cases lesser) skills than he. I am angry beyond belief, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he is too.
You ask why we have so many persons on work permits in those roles. I am more and more convinced that a large reason is simply because we allow it. As long as a bar manager can choose their expatriate girlfriend from another country, or her brother, or her high school buddies’ first cousin, in preference to a young Caymanian, and lie in the advert (you know – salary 3.75/hour without mentioning 20.00/hr. share of grats), or falsely claim or suggest no Caymanians applied, then it will continue.
Thank you! There is so much nonsense written on these boards suggesting that there is no unfairness or disrcrimination against Caymanains in the workplace but any issues are simply due to Caymanian lack of ability, education, good attitude etc.
I do fully agree that some expat food and beverage managers do hire family, friends, etc from overseas. But please know there are also some of us here that do the exact opposite and continually recruit and train locally. Out of my 8 staff,, only three are permit holders, and one is applying for status by birthright. Throughout my food and beverage career over 12 years in Cayman I have encouraged and hired and trained many young Caymanians. No they didn’t all work out,, but those who were willing to work hard and enjoy serving the public have seen great success. Even a few especially ambitious and smart employees i encourged and supported in moving on to better opportunities,, one went to law school, one to culinary school, one to customs. I’m proud of them all,, and they come to visit me on a regular basis. Currently I am understaffed, and my company is not currently applying for any permits, due to the increase in permit fees and following our Business Staffing Plan. Every day I ask my HR manager (a Caymanian) ifshe has any suitable applicants for me to interview. The answer always being the same, no, nothing suitable, and that does not include lack of experience. We have advertised many times over the last few months,, and yes we include that we are only accepting applications from Caymanians and Status Holders. We are also in touch weekly with the DER. I ask my Caymanian staff every day if they don’t know someone that would be interested in training for a serving/bar position. After a month now,, still no applicants. Yes I realize there is a stigma about "serving" jobs.. Yes it is hard work, no time for lunch when busy, working holidays and weekends, etc,, but the financial rewards far outweigh the hard work part. I try to train new staff, that it isn’t really serving,, but entertaining and having fun talking with tourists from all over the world, making new friends, and getting to work with so many different cultures in one building. The instant gratification of a nice cash tip says it all. Tourists do ask me all the time why we are the only country in the caribbean that has so many expat serving staff. You would never find expats serving or bartending in Jamaica, Bahamas, etc. So anyway, I think I have made my point, and I hope anyone who reads this will try and encourage any unemployed youth in Cayman to apply for hospitality positions. It is a rewarding career, both financially and personally. It is also a very easy industry to move up the ladder to management. And please know that there are alot more expats here who do encourage and support bringing the youth of Cayman into our industries, than people realize. The future of Cayman is putting our youth to work, training them into occupations they can succeed at.
So very true, unfortunately some of these people like to start at the top.
Why is there such a great disconnect between the UDP and the situation surrounding youth unemployment and unemployment overall for the people of the Cayman Islands? This is all happening while Cheri Bodden Cowan stages a so called meeting to indoctrinate them on political schemes, instead of focusing on their education and scholarships and FREE education to cut back on crime! We have been had! by this government. I am disturbed that government has to make a special announcement and promise to do something that they already had one year to deliver on. Not only are they disrespecting the parents of these youth but this is direct disrespect to the very intelligence of our people. This should have been done one year ago!. Our youth and their good are no where on the UDP Agenda, the welfare and educational skills of the youth are of tantamount importance to a crime free society! Why is the premiere surprised that crime is rampant! why is he pushing the RCIP commissioner to do his job when he has the key to the city of a better future for our youth and a crime free society by pushing for FREE education and scholarships for these troubled youth.
AN OPEN MESSAGE TO THE PREMIERE AND THE GOOD GOVERNOR
‘EDUCATION IS THE KEY TO WEALTH AND A CRIME FREE SOCIETY!"
Impress caymanians by making sure that no child or no young person is left behind by denying him or her FREE EDUCATION IF HE OR SHE CAN NOT AFFORD TO ATTEND THE UNIVERSITY, THE LAW SCHOOL OR THE CAYMAN ISLANDS INT’L COLLEGE. It will make the Police job easier and you will better sleep at night and not have to build such a high wall around your house..
It is clear that this newly elected set of clowns do not have the people of the Cayman Islands wellbeing at heart and it would be better serving the country if they would all step down. I might add, they havn’t a clue what is really expected of them!
For the critics.
I AM NOT AT ALL A PPM MEMBER.
I’M INDEPENDENT AND PROUD.
The majority of comments in this forum are from Independents, people who have NO confidence in the PPM Nor the UDP what part of this statement do you not understand, stop blaming Kurt for these comments, we don’t have anymore confidence in him anymore than Big Mac, but at least he is No dictator.
We realize we have been on our own for sometime now. Its us and God.
I am educated including overseas. All I need is opportunity. Immigration is supposed to guarantee me that (not the job, or success in it, but a fair shot) and yet they sit by while employers lie to them, and I am deprived a chance again and again.
Education plainly is not enough.
9:43,. You are right, I stand corrected.
You need a government that ‘Works for the people" Not EXPATS, importing a work force, and Laborers that replace the poor struggling locals.
Chuckie, Kurt and Alden, shame on you all, you will live to regret your cancellation of the ‘MARCH" FOR JUSTICE FOR OUR PEOPLE. By the next election Big Mac will have as many status grants to re elect himself and the UDP win big in each district You can’t let him and cheri do this to us. Its painful and hurtful. The march is inevitable. Stop making deals with your oponent who only has plans for himself and not the ;people, Go through with your plans no matter what, cancellation shows weakness, lack of backbone and lack of leadership.
XXXXXXX and Big Mac to make it Big at the polls from the status grants of the tens of thousands he plans on importing to our shores.
WHY ELSE WOULD HE NEED A 2000 BED HOSPITAL?
Caymanians you better wake up and start a real independent move with an independent educated leader, to have the UDP ousted 2013. If you re-elect them in the next election, you are finished,mark my words.
I can see right through them that’s what scares the premiers so much of the CNS writers. We know what he’s up to. We are the brightest.
The REAL question is, "Unemployed, or UNEMPLOYABLE"?
I wouldn’t expect anyone or any Business to hire my child if he / she lacked even the BASIC level of education needed to fill out a Job Application Form.
By "Soft-skills", do you mean a program to change the poor attitude, and lack of people-skills?
You need a vocational college teaching students the skills currently being brought in from abroad, e.g. masons, carpenters, bricklayers, mechanics, electricians, care workers, hospitality industry work, secretarial (with certifications for speeds of 60 wpm+ with good accuracy). Courses in interview techniques; how to present yourself; how to make up a good CV and covering letter; basic business calculations, etc. All these things would equip the Cayman youth with many of the skills needed to make them attractive to the private sector.
You also need to stop graduating kids from school who have no academic achievements – they need something to aspire to. If they can graduate purely on the basis of effort, behaviour and attendance, where is the incentive to learn, to get an interest in a career and to qualify toward that goal? Instead we have children graduating with little to no real qualifications at all. No certificate should be given without qualifications being attained.
The vocational college or trade school has been discussed for decades yet nothing has been done. The reason for this in my opinion is that the Caymanian owners of existing businesses are against it because they are afraid of future competition and a possible loss of easy foreign labor.
If I am wrong please tell me why this obvious benefit for the education of young Caymanians has not been completed by any government in 20 years.
It is a down right disgrace that none of these governments including Truman Bodden, John McLean and others have not thought highly enough of out youth to provide vocational training. This would make these young people self sufficient, employable, self employed, perhaps wealthy and wiser.
They have failed us. We keep electing clowns that continue to fail us and seek their own gratification for themselves and their cronies.
British direct rule would be better.
NOW WE KNOW THAT INDEPENDENCE IS A NO NO WHERE THE CAYMAN ISLANDS IS CONCERNED.WE WOULD DEFINITELY BE AOTHER CUBA OR VENEZUELA IN THE WEST INDIES. Look at what we have now!
Any government whether UDP,PPM National Team or other, that does not
equip the youth educationally or with technical vocational training is simply ABUSING THEM.
Everyone of these worthless suckers have failed the people.
I could never see myself being elected and omit the most important aspect on a manifesto or agenda and that is to empower the people to be self sufficient. That’s why we elect them. They are looking in another direction.
At money, and rich developers and investors, and x-pats to grant status to get them re-elected at the polls. We need to get them out before 2012, they are going to ruin Cayman and Caymanians.
YOU HAVE BEEN CHEATEDBY ALL GOVENMENTS, SORRY BUT ITS THE TRUTH.
Need new blood in the L.A, you are getting your tails whipped because you voted for MORE OF THE SAME, .
So agree about need for vocational school. I can’t remember the last time I had a plumber, electrician, a/c tech, carpenter, etc at my house that was Caymanian. I think alot of people like myself would only contract companies training young Caymanians. But also the interest in a trade often starts young. We need to involve our kids in things around our homes. I grew up in a family where you helped take care of the garden, washed the cars, helped with small building projects,, were excited to get tools as a gift. Had cleaning chores, everyone was involved in cooking the family meal, a long Saturday afternoon working on the family car as a group effort was rewarding and a great learning experience. But as long as parents continue to hire the cheap expat labour to do these jobs around the home, what do we expect our kids to find an interest in? Some of the best chefs, mechanics, plumbers, etc I have met to date all started with an interest at a young age. Yes fair to say we would all like our kids to be able to go to university and be able to succeed in a "white" collar job,, but it’s not for everyone,, and there is no shame in hard work, and making a great living at a trade.
People Of Cayman "OPEN YOUR EYES"
We The people are allowing this to take place. Sitting In fear of word play.
They cut salaries Of Civil Servants, unemployment Rising HIGH. Many private sector companies laying off Caymanians instead of work permit holders giving the reason why we have so many caymans out of work/unemployed. "Yes" We do have a lot of Caymanians who either do not want to work or refuse to work for less pay. Which leaves me to question why is there not or if there is a suitable minimum wage law in effect.
The poor Is suffering, the middle class Is now the lower class,And the RICH Is still the rich who just does not care about anything but themselves and are still rich. CRIME, Murder Can Not be solved because of lack of proper evidence handling, and crime scene investigation.
Gas prices are rising here in Grand Cayman while every where else in the world are lowering there prices. Rent & Food prices are going up. "I Thought Bread and Milk were duty free"… i also question why is there no rent control board in effect? Then again so many Rich property owners,real estate agents and companies have there hands in the pot. they would still have control and these outrageous prices would increase instead of decrease.
Man, I’m Fed up with this. What is going to happen to my children here in Cayman? What is going to happen to our future generation?
Unemployment is going to Soar to unbelievable heights, Just as crime will.
Pen and paper, Nor the gift of GAB will make any Changes Here.. A Change Has To Be Made. Some How, Some Way
"Dear God Please Help US They know not what they do."
These young people should be working in the service industry waiting tables. It’s hard, hard work but very rewarding. It requires a good work ethic and an ability to communicate with people, keep your cool and be collected. But sadly, most kids in Cayman consider themselves too good to wait on any body.
I have always thought that everyone in the world who eats at a restaurant should wait tables, at least for one day. It got me through school!
And most restaurant owners and managers are from overseas and cannot (or refuse to) relate to local persons and so hire their own, also from overseas. I am a Caymanian, and I waited tables through school too. I had an opportunity to.
I feel you are wrong. My local spouse works in the office of a restuarant run by a foreign person who would love to get local persons as servers, kitchen staff, etc. They rarely get an applicant unless it is someone with a very suspect pass sent by the DER. Some of those they have tried. None have worked out due mainly to their attitude to the work and simply giving up if it was too "hard". Go figure.