Unskilled expats in gov jobs
(CNS): According to information released in response to an FOI request by a member of the public, the government is currently employing more than fifty unskilled foreign workers in various public sector roles. The issue has raised some concerns, especially when hundreds of unskilled Caymanians are currently out of work. The issue was highlighted just before Christmas when hundreds of unemployed locals turned out to try and get work on the government’s short term road clean-up employment project. The independent member of the Legislative Assembly for North Side, Ezzard Miller, has said the issue demonstrates a real disconnect between government and the people that need jobs.
The documents released under the FOI law reveal that at the end of November last year there were 58 unskilled foreign workers on government contracts employed in nine different government departments. With literally hundreds of local people looking for work as a result of the economic recession, Milller says he can’t understand why at least 54 people who are still on government contracts cannot be replaced by the locals that turned up for the road-side cleaning project. (Four of the contracts expired before the end of 2010 and it is not known if they were renewed.)
"This is the reality that is difficult to comprehend, certainly from the 800 applicants for the Christmas work government could find replacements for these 54 workers,” he said. “I have sent several persons to Environment Health looking for jobs without success, yet they have 15 contracts.”
Miller said that the problem is far more than just rhetoric about foreigners taking jobs from Caymanians. He said it represents a major economic problem as well. He explained that across the private sector government is receiving millions of dollars from work permits only to spend those millions on welfare to support its own local people when those unskilled Caymanian workers should be given these kinds ofjobs.
“This is why the government receives $40 million in revenue from work permits and spends some 60 million on Social Services, a large portion of which is to support the unemployed and needy. There seems to be a huge disconnect between the government’s ‘unemployability’ and ‘the national interest, the buzz words of 2010,” the veteran politician said.
Getting Caymanians into work is one of government’s stated goals. However, Miller says, unless government leads by example in the civil service and enforces the immigration laws, Caymanians will be marginalised. He said that at present there is no need for government to be using unskilled imported labour.
The documents reveal that there are five overseas contractors working at the Department of Agriculture, 12 in family services, three in District Administration, 14 in education, 15 at environmental health, two in the Governor’s Office, two at the Mosquito Research and Control Unit, two in the Prison Service and three working in the Department of Youth and Sports.
The jobs include cooks, agricultural workers, farm labourers, bus drivers, cleaners, house keepers, maintenance staff, painters, work crew at the landfill, and solid waste drivers, among others.
Category: FOI
Not only in "unskilled" jobs, but there are also many instances where someone is hired in Govt. for a particular job and then is promoted into a higher job that they do not have the proper qualifications for. And sometimes without properly advertising the job also.
This is done/endorsed by both ExPat and Caymanian Directors.
Govt. continues to make laws and then expect that the Private Sector must follow those laws while Govt. does so only when/if it wants to!
This sense of entitlement by much of Govt. to do as it pleases, rather than Leading by Ethical example, is destroying Cayman.
It seems like Jamaicans in Jamaica are called lazy as well.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/tools/cartoons/ed-cartoon-jan-06-2011
We all know who these people are in which this countries wealth isbeing exported to bolster their countries economy who put absolutely nothing back into our economy. Yet we have our political leadership talking absolute rubbish while we suffer at the hands of these people.No surprise here Instead of the government setting the example, they are also part of the problem of employing slave labour to put qualified Caymanians out of work. Time is up UDP
Don’t make it a political party thing the PPM does the same…it is more a Chamber of Commerce thing…or an Immigration thing…
The majority of expats who qualified for status are Govt. employees. This will continue to be true until a rollover policy is put in place for Govt. contacts.
I don’t believe we need any more unskilled people here Govt.or private sector.
A decent minimum wage would go a long way toward fixing a lot of these problems.
And it’s not only the "unskilled" areas that need investigating. If we lookcloser we will find many others hired for one particular job initially and then promoted into higher jobs that they are not qualified for.
Sometimes it seems this is to do with foreign Dept. Directors bias/prejudice and sometimes it’s Caymanian Directors wanting contract/foreign employees that they can "handle" for skilled and "unskilled" jobs.
This practice is prevalent throughout much of Govt. and the Private Sector and lending itself to the growing social divide that we see and feel….while some of those at the top (and their "friends") smile all the way to the bank.
One only has to objectively investigate a few Govt. departments and interview some employees (both current and past) to see this problem. Maybe this should be a part of the remit/function of DER?….or better yet periodic unannounced audits by outside reputable auditors.
I don’t think the problem is any more one sided than any other problem (always at least two sides to any problem/disagreement) but i do believe that FOI and Political willingness is very much needed and for that i thank the person/party who made the FOI request and Mr. Miller for moving this forward.
What is most disapointing is the glaring lack of any meaningful accountability and continuing efforts to hinder transparency. Meaning, even if/when a Director/other person is/may be found to break an emplyment or pension law (the few times such is properly investigated or prosecuted)….almost nothing happens. In fact, such persons are often seen to be rewarded….with either time to pay or months and years off on full pay/benefits and then some other top job or cushy retirement….or nothing at all happens.
Until there is proper Political willingness (from the very top) to first "Lead by example" and then prosecute or otherwise punish (terminate) those guilty, then this divide and unrest will grow!….as it should! Not because i want same to grow….but because it is past time that we as a people/country…. "do the right thing" for ALL!
Two points:
A major cause of Caymanian unemployment is the indentured slavery law that allows some (not all) Caymanian employers to import expats, pay them low wages, steal their pension and health care contributions and deport them when they complain. The immoral Caymanian employers cannot abuse Caymanians like this so they don’t hire them.
The government will not eat its own dog food. Rollover and a horribly inefficient work permit system has been forced on the private sector. Government expat emplyees are imported with government contracts that are outside the work permit system and are not subject to rollover.
“Cayman’s history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.”
— Adaptation of quotation by H. G. Wells (1866 – 1946), Outline of History (1920)
Positive discrimination may have a negative effect on the attitudes and behaviours of many young Caymanians. It often sems to breed an “I don’t need to lern becuz the goverment will help me git a job” work ethic: life ethic, in fact.
PD has the potential to destroy the desire to excel by hard work and personal sacrifice, and has a strong tendency to negate competitiveness — many young Caymanian’s would simply sink and drown in the UK or US jobs market, where core skills and competencies are often checked during the interview process.
A reliance on PD to protect jobs for “the locals” may be seen as an indictment of a country’s flawed education policies.
The government should steer away from the unhelpful and divisive policy of PD and concentrate on providing young Caymanians with a solid education: Reading, Riting, and Rithmetic.
National protectionism is a flawed social policy that does more harm than good to those it seeks to protect, and to society as a whole.
It is sad that Cayman businesses continues to create so many low paying jobs and then complain that Caymanians will not work. Then they get an unemployed person from a country that has tens of thousand of low paying jobs and bring them here and make them feel like they are in heaven, while the business owners live the good life, knowing that the more they complain, the lower they can justify paying the staff.
Bring in a Mnimum Wage Law and start to pay unskilled labour at $8 an hour, then you will see more Caymanians working and a better standard of living for all. As for me I pay $15 an hour for gardening and $20 for painting as I believe that is fair and justified. A Minimum Wage Law is what we need.
A minimum wage at this high a level would be very inflationary for the Cayman economy.
On the other hand, a minimum wage may not increase the standard of living of workers and reduce poverty like some may surmise. If the minimum wage is high enough to work, it may just increase unemployment among workers with very low productivity due to inexperience or the physically disabled person. Small struggling business owners may raised prices, and be unable to hire certain laborers for simple tasks, because they can’t afford to pay them at the minimum wage. Lesser skilled workers could be harmed to the benefit of better skilled workers.
A study needs to be done on how it will effect Cayman. How I see it, when government starts reducing its fees, permits, licenses, and import duties, it will help the private sector to create more jobs. When government starts removing these restrictive laws against the locals that prevents them from starting and maintaining their own businesses or companies, you will see more Caymanians hired. Government with its laws, fees, and hunger for more $$$ is what is crippling the private sector! Government is fat and needs to trim down or the whole ship will sink!
a minimum wage would kill caymans already over-priced economy in a matter of months……
do you really want to pay 25% extra for groceries and other services because of a caymanians sense of entitlement?
A newly qualified chartered accountant (so 6 years of higher education beyond school) can expect to receive the equivalent of CI$17 in the UK before tax. After tax and student loan repayments it’ll be closer to CI$11
mmm, so double that for an unskilled painter, and we wonder why Cayman is so expensive?
Increase wages leads to increased costs, which lead to increased prices. Soon the new minimum wage is not enought to survive on so it is increased again with the same results.
It is inaccurate to compare post-tax income (much less post-tax and loan) to pre-tax income, which is what you do when you don’t skim 20% off the top of CI income to pay for the import duty, etc., attached to everything here. (Yes, its more complicated than that, but that’s the point. You oversimplify to build a straw-man of your own liking.)
Increased wages only lead to increased costs (as opposed to decreased profits) when the market is unresponsive to consumer pressure, i.e., shopping at those merchants that cut their profits instead of raising their prices. While this may apply to Cayman (for various reasons) it does not make it accurate to claim that paying someone a decent wage invariably raises the price of living for everyone.
Lets keep to the chase. Employers want to make as much profit as possible and so want to pay their employees as little as possible. And this includes not paying them a decent pension or for good health care. Cayman’s real problem will come when all of our hand-to-mouth (and lower) wage earners can no longer work and end up going on Government doll for retirement or health reasons. If you think getting money out of people to pay their employees decently now is hard, wait until its a faceless ‘pensioner’ that needs to be taken care of. Many people aren’t so loveing that they’d willing pay more in taxes to take care of someone else’s mother.
The 20% duty and the 20% VAT don’t cancel each other out because?
"The jobs include cooks, agricultural workers, farm labourers, bus drivers, cleaners, house keepers, maintenance staff, painters, work crew at the landfill and solid waste drivers among others."
The same type of jobs listed above also make up a big proportion of the foreign labour employed in our private sector, in fact you could expand the occupational list 10 fold and not run out of unskilled job descriptions in Cayman. One thing that Cayman has is a lot of unskilled jobs and the semi-skilled jobs are really no different, just a few more years of experience toiling in the trenches. Start counting them; I see these workers everywhere, from security guards working 12-hour shifts to grass-cutters pushing cheap, lawn broken-down mowers; dawn to dusk.
Every person living in Cayman benefits, in one way or another, from this huge large pool of cheap, uncomplaining, imported labour, from housekeepers to food handlers and every job in between.
Our businesses use these “workers”, they don’t expect to advance, train or educate them, just work them and replace them. They are at the bottom of the employment pool. They are virtually indentured servants controlled by work permits; they can’t change jobs or dare step out of line. Independent workers wouldn’t accept this modern form of low cost slavery.
I don’t think we can use the Xmas Cleanup program as a guide about how hungry for employment our out-of-work Caymanians are. That was an event with a fair amount of carefully structured national pride and respect attached to it, and not a lot of work performance or accountability demanded. Will those same people turn up for that kind of work every day for the next 10 years. I doubt it.
The real question is why are Caymanians not entering the bottom end of the labour pool? Could it be the low pay, no prospects for advancement and a reluctance to join the ranks of the indentured? As long as we expect to pay $200 a week for this type of employment and still demand respect and loyalty instead of earning it, we will find very few Caymanians standing in the employment line.
Maybe the reason we have unemployed, unskilled Caymanians is that they are stuck below this grass ceiling. Unfortunately this situation will never change because nobody in Cayman will accept a doubling or tripling of our low-end labour costs and a change in our employment practices. At this point I thank the cultural damage is complete and no self respecting Caymanian would be caught dead in these dead-end jobs. I don’t blame them.
It should be obvious to everyone in Cayman that using restrictive an Immigration Policy to solve employment problems doesn’t work. It was this easy way out thinking that got us into this situation in the first place. We should have been developing meaningful high value employment opportunities for Caymanians and then we should have been training and educating then with a urgent and competitive passion instead of trying to force them into the kind of cheap, unskilled work that we are economically dependant on.
Well put. As semi skilled carpenters say "you hit the nail on the head".
I am a young Caymanian and I have a Daughter and have x amount of passes I have been outta school 4 years and still haven’t got a job …. It is really poor to know what us young people have to go threw… And I also agree with what he said about the people that came on the road clean up if we didn’t want jobs why did we show up to the road clean up that alone says a lot.
Your post shows even more!
Obviously English wasn’t one of the "x amount of passes" noted above!
It’s obvious comprehension was not one of your subjects; as the poster said my daughter had x amount of passes; not her/himself.
LOL why don’t you try reading it again
LOL
Sad to say but your response really illustrates a big part of the problem (e.g., outta school, what us young people have to go threw, etc.). I worked for many years in the construction industry and we employed many Caymanians. Some were great employees, some average and some poor (like expats, I would venture). But even the better employees who worked hard and tried their best could not be asked to create or edit any correspondence on their own. And because communicating to clients is such a key, fundamental component of nearly every business it becomes extremely difficult to hire young Caymanians. In addition, this is not something that can be "fixed" through training on the job. In my view, the education system in Cayman is in dire need of improvement and until young Caymanians are able to enter the job market with better communication skills this problem will persist. I realize that this article is focussing on so-called unskilled labour, but Caymanians know that most young people do not want to enter the workforce at the lowest levels and work their way up. Cayman needs some long-term solutions and better education is the key, not harping about a handful of jobs that only look good now because of the current state of the economy.
Agree with the "good you are involved", and oppose the minority crass "cut down" people on the comments here.
The communication comments are important. Business, which a job is clearly one of those business agreements, is based on what you can provide to the employers customers. If you cannot converse in that dialect, be it English, Engrish, Spanglish, Madarin, Dutch, smoke signals, Morse Code, or the language of love, then that employer can’t really justify paying you a salary.
All business is based on an arrangement of what you bring to provide services to the clients that pay the bills.
Keep going, I’m sure you will be fine.
First of all, thanks for your reply, please stay involved.
It would be a good idea to check your spelling and grammar before making your next post. The mistakes above reinforce the reason for your unemployment and weaken the value of your comments.
I would also suggest that you avoid using "X" instead of an actual number for your passes. It will put the meaning of your statement into context and be more meaningful to the reader. You should be proud of your passes.
I also have spelling and grammar problems; very often I only notice them after my reply was published.
Life is continuous learning and improvement, so keep practicing. Good luck with you job search and congratulations on becoming a mother, soon you will begin teaching her.
Four years out of school and you have a daughter? Sounds like children having children to me. Perhaps if you concentrated on educating yourself in being responsible you would realise that getting an education, then a skill then perhaps marriage and THEN children, you would stand a better chance.
But its not too late, you will have to struggle but put your mind to it and you can and I hope provide for your daughter.
wow! although your statement makes some sense, it appeared very cold and indifferent by the way you crafted your comment! I always say, it is not what you say, but how you say it.
Once again, this degenerates into a racist mud slinging event, which is no more than Ezzard Miller does every time he opens his mouth.
If you look at the roles, ten are for community care workers – and I have seen the jobs advertised. I suspect there are few Caymanian applicants for these jobs, otherwise they would get them. And as for special support assistants in education, how may ex-pat volunteers are also in Cayman’s schools helping out? Another subject entirely, but how many Caymanians volunteer to help out charitable causes, all you ever seem to see are ex-pats. No, ex-pats don’t have a vote, but they sure as hell make a difference to the Cayman Islands.
It is a good point about the bin men, you have to want to be there early and get stuck in. I always thought they were not Cayman people, as they do the bin collection at high speed!
You are right that it has degenerated into a racist, mudslinging event, but on whose part? Is Mr. Miller "racist" for trying to look out for the well being of his people in a time of high unemployment? The racist comments on here are by those suggesting that Caymanians on a whole are lazy, unethical etc. You have got this completely turned around.
"…how many Caymanians volunteer to help out charitable causes, all you ever seem to see are ex-pats".
You seem determined to have a go at Caymanians. First, let me express my deep appreciation for the many expats who do make sincere contributions to worthy charitable causes. They do help to make this country better. There are others however who only join service clubs etc. cynically not because they are making a real and sincere contributions but because they wish to gain points for permanent residency applications.
However, isn’t it obvious that most Caymanians are too busy trying to make ends meet to be involved in charitable causes? The high per capita income that we boast of is highly skewed by the large professional expat salaries whose spouses can then afford not to work and spend time volunteering for charities.
"It is a good point about the bin men, you have to want to be there early and get stuck in. I always thought they were not Cayman people, as they do the bin collection at high speed!"
Were you trying to prove your own point about it being a racist, mudslinging event?
You are exactly the sort of expat that contributes to the discord between Caymanians and expats by these snide comments. Of course when Caymanians react in anger you then say that they are "racist" and "mudslinging".
"most Caymanians are too busy trying to make ends meet to be involved in charitable causes" ……….. come on!
This country has to be a melting pot from around the world due to where it has developed over the past 40 years. Good Caymanian people rise through the work ladder (private and public) like everyone else, there are numerous examples. What is a problem is when your politicians, who are really at no higher level than a town councillor led by the town mayor in other countries, see themselves above that and want to take Cayman back to a fishing community with menfolk working the ships away for months. That work ethic is perhaps what needs to be brought in. It will be a sad day when a job is given because of the nationality (thats the racism, albeit positive racism) rather than the ability to actually do the job.
As for laziness, that is Cayman? How many times do you hear people refer to Cayman time. Perhaps more to do with the environment that a race of people?
Actually, people more often refer to "Caribbean time". Cayman time is actually much prompter than other places in the region I can think about. "Soon come".
You seem to imply that if Caymanians are not wealthy enough for their spouses to be able to afford not to work and to spend time with charitable causes then must be because they lack ability or are lazy. The issue has nothing to do with whether there are good Caymanian people who are working hard. There are certainly are; their work ethic is perfectly fine. However, this does not change the irrefutable fact: most Caymanians are struggling to make ends meet. Of course all of this gets hidden by the propaganda statistics about GDP and per capita income.
You are one those expats who perpetuate negative stereotypes about Caymanians and then have the termerity to talk about "racism".
Actually "most Caymanians are struggling to make ends meet"
Is mainly due to them living beyond their means, nearly all the Caymanians I work with and know have a huge Pickup truck or SUV be it secretaries, or even those staright out of school, all paid for by a bank loan they now have to repay while paying out a fortune on gas, and they wonder why their out goings are so high.
It’s "keeping up with the Jones’s" that is making most Caymanians struggle, over extending them selves financially.
Most expats will save a few month, cycle or walk to work until they can apend $2,000 on a cheap car that’ll get them to work and back.
It’s a fact the bigger you make your outgoings the less money you will have
Where are the racist remarks? There are none…
There is only one race – the Human Race.
So say we all.
So says the racist mud-slinger, I bet people at work hate you for making comments like that about Caymanians.
It’s simply… When the economy was good… no one wanted these positions. So, expats are hired… now that time is hard… Everyone’s talking about these positions. I only hope the government isn’t stupid enough to fire these expats and put Caymanians in these positions. When you hire someone you hire them to peform the requested tasks, and if they’re doing their jobs correctly… then they should maintain their position. Xenophobia will be the death of the island’s economy. Stop with all the expats BS and focus on training the younger generation now.
Hey, what a dimwit you are. Your comments are preposterous and ludicrous to say the least. You said: "…Stop with all the expats BS and focus on training the younger generation now." I say: How can we afford to train the younger generation when we need to focus on the here and now in order to pave the way for future generations? What kind of chance will they have if we don’t fight for opportunities for them. At present, there are possibly thousands of people out of work, not by choice, but by circumstance, so of course they will be seeking to fill even the lowest paying jobs to make ends meet. And just because an expat held a position before the economy went south, doesn’t mean that they can place an iron grip on it. If we bring in someone to work (because there are no interested Caymanians), then it’s ok for the time being, but if there is interest from Caymanians, then they should be given an opportunity to work. It needs to be that simple, but unfortunately we have a near-sighted government in power, so this country is falling apart. In any case, our government is not here to support expats, it’s here to support Caymanians with the assistance of expat labour. It’s that simple. No racism, no classism, no prejudice; just a plain old-fashioned contract between a government or company and its employees. Put this in your pipe and smoke it: Cayman doesn’t owe expats anything other than a thank you for their efforts and a paycheck for their labour. So stop the fight the power BS and learn to respect the country that you came to because yours was rot with crime, corruption and taxes.
Yes, I’m dimwit… Too bad the generation that raised you didn’t focus of you. You’re reply clearly articulates your defense mechanism ( I should get it because I have the right to it, and not that I should work hard to get it) There are a few names I could call you, but my mother raised me correctly… I agree my country is rot with crime and corruption. So, much so that this economy and industry that I’m currently here working in was built largely on monies from my country because people are not interested in paying their taxes. It’s very easy for us to leave this island… VERY easy… and in fact some of us have already done so and many others are thinking about doing so because of FinReg… Just look at it like this… you’re benefiting from the crimes committed in my country. The facts or the facts. I’m not going to debate that… You have to think about Cayman as a business and not as a right in terms of job creation. Job creation doesn’t happen because you have the RIGHT… Job creation works because of skilled people and great business ideas. You only want upper class expat to bring monies to your country to invest and when times get hard remove the lower class expat from the lower end jobs? How about removing upper class expats when times are good so you can keep it all…? If you focus on training the next generation you wouldn’t have worry about unskilled positions. You train the next generation to fill skilled positions. Keep fighting for your next generation to pick up garbage and to cook food… we’ll see what type of growth this country will have in the future. That’s exactly my point… Focus your energy on something that will make sense for the long term for the next generation. Some of the largest companies in America were created by immigrants. Not all Americans are welcoming to immigrants, but one thing that’s clear America is that areas with high concentration of immigrants have a much better stable tax base because of the growth that generally takes place because majority of them are there to work, and not to wait for government to issue food stamp and section 8 housing (government paid housing).
There are many Caymanians who would happily pick up garbage for a living as opposed to being out of work. I should know, I’m married to one. The snide, sarcastic little comments by those who think they can label an entire nation of people with what they believe are the personality traits of the few Caymanians they might know are unproductive and uncalled for. When DEH recently advertised a Solid Waste Driver’s Assistant position on the Brac (for the second year in a row – a permit was renewed in 2009 for the expat worker despite suitably qualified Caymanians applying for the position), 13 Caymanians applied and were interviewed. Is this really because they are so lazy and bloated with their own sense of entitlement? Or is it because they are honestly looking for work?
By the way, I am an expat, just not a bigoted, blinkered one like some of the people commenting on this article.
I couldnt agree with you more. There are Caymanians working on the garbage truck; yes getting to work at 4:00 a.m. and doing their thing. I have seen them on many occassions when the truck stop by to collect my garbage, even at times giving them a glass or two of water.
Caymanians do want to work – some are not giving a fair chance. People are afraid of hiring Caymanians because they will speak up, but how many have really sit down with expat workers and hear their concerns. It was just before the Christmas holidays that the expat worker that do my lawn knock on my door to say he was leaving the island and the company at the end of December. When I enquired if it was roll over and these were his exact words "s. Mi cant take dis slavery business nuh more; five years ah dis is enuff. We get nuh vacation pay, even duh labor law seh we if get sick pay, we betta nuh call in sick, dem nuh pay pension and insurance fi we". I asked the gentleman if they had ever complained to the authorities and this was my answer " complain ms. ah firah dem woulda firah we pon de spot, dem tell we all de time that dem can replace we anyday and we will neva get a next work permit on de island". He went on to say that "dem nuh want fi hire nuh Caymanians cause dem fraid a dem, cause dem not putting up wid dem slavery mentality" his parting words were "ms. yuh now weh bun me, dem a nuh born Caymanian demself" he said "sum a dem jezebel boss are we own people".
This reminds me of an old saying " dog sweating, but long hair covering it:. This is not the first I have heard expat staff speaking out; but they bear until they cant take it any longer; Caymanians have low tolerance, so they exhale before counting to 10.
This is a new year; lets stop painting everybody with the same brush and this includes stop jumping on one set of nationality for the crimes committed; as our own Caymanians are capable of committing crimes, stop putting down Caymanians and calling them lazy; there are also lazy foreigners here; my sister is married to own. In general let us stop giving people basket to carry water.
Wow!
So much for those Expats who were dogging Caymanians about being unskilled when members from their own country are unskilled as well! Cayman may have them in the hundreds, but some places in the thousands or hundreds of thousands!
😉
Moving on from the dogging reference, thank you for pointing out that other places have larger populations than Cayman.
Where does all this dogging take place? Is it a regular occurrence?
Just curious.
The clampers are the problem nowadays.
And that folks is only in government. How many of us have shaken our head at least once to persons who did not know what they were doing or that could hardly understand us or us them. At least once? The Caymanians now know at least one thing. They can be better then some at certain things. I do expect many thumbs down but remember four are closed in your hand and pointed towards you.The more you rub it in that you are better then us the harder we will work at getting better. And all you school leavers get out there and get any job you can get for now.It may not be what you want to do or be for now but for one thing is certain you will learn something(Discipline) and it will give you character. That’s how most of us started and one day you will reach your goal, have children and will know what to teach them from the get go.
Ezzard has hit the new year running and beating the same old “us verses them” drum. I wish he would learn a new tune that one is getting old.
I hope the Conservation law passes as is this month.
What is really baffling to me is all those who turned out for the cleanup work that the government held just before Christmas, turned up for work everyday, on time, and did the job they were asked to do. That is a clear example that Caymanians want to work.
To those who keephammering the point that Caymanians don’t want to work, maybe if you give them the opportunity to work they will, and they certainly proved that they will work, and they did. If they can work for one month out of 12, what happened to the other 11 months??
It’s the proverbial work permit that employers use to hang over the heads of expat workers. I can tell you from experience employers treat you with disrespect, they over work and pay you the less and some employers even force you to pay for the work permit fees, medical and pensions etc. A foreign worker will accept these circumstances when a Caymanian won’t. Why? Caymanians have no other country to run to and seek assistance, they have their homes here, (of which the banks are like tigers waiting to foreclose and sell off to the expats, while the government has done nothing to prevent them from doing this).
Caymanians have obligations to this country. There are many qualified, skilled and unskilled Caymanians whom are fighting to work in this country but are competing with others whom come here to do one job, and in their spare time doing another and charging less, is that fair to the local? My husband has to compete with masons employed with a construction company and they are doing handyman jobs such as gardening, etc. and his gardening business has to compete with these persons that don’t have to pay for licenses, pensions, medical for his other staff etc. This is illegal activity and it goes on in many other areas as well. But there are no enforcing to prevent this from occurring, it is a free for all society.
There are many underlying issues that are going unearthed because we have a severely broken systems in place when it comes to the protection of Caymanians, and it starts with Immigration and the Employment departments and agencies.
Those of you whom are quick to jump on this blog and degrade a Caymanian in their own country you are selfish, disrespectful because Caymanians aren’t warriors like other countries you have lived and worked in but failed to get away with your deceitfulness and as a result had your lives threatened and had to run. Let the statistics show how many have ran from other Caribbean Islands to this one because we boast ‘free enterprise’, that’s the killer word, we are giving so many opportunities away and yet they are ungrateful and say that Caymanians are lazy, and have no entitlement to employment in their own country.
I have to ask the question why are you here? Was it because you had to compete with large numbers of your own that are given entitlement over an expat in your native country? This country and it’s people are too relaxed, which is why when you walk in the front door and make demands the agencies give you what you want, and this is the respect you show this country and the people? You are very ungrateful, and you should be thankful that you are not a statistic in this country the way many other countries have treated expats, and in the international news everyday. You are not paving a good road ahead for your own kind in the future, it would be in your best interest to appreciate this country and the Caymanian people going forward and when it’s time to relinquish your employment and move on, then do so peacefully without complaining about Caymanians, because not every Caymanian is what you say.
I am an expat, I married a Caymanian, and I have had my share of ridicule in this country, but I accepted this was not my home for many years and appreciate the Caymanian people and I am not interested in changing anything about them, and maybe if some of you out there would attempt to do the same thing you would have a more amicable and mutual respect for each other.
Stop the hate against Caymanians that want to work in this country, it is their country and they have right to a job if they are willing to work and do the job, they must have an equal chance.
I have had my share of working with lazy foreign co-workers and they are the ones that complain about Caymanians, and I am sure there are some of them on this blog making negative comments.
Before you comment against a Caymanian in their country, stop for one minute and ask yourselves, what would my life had been if I hadn’t move to this country??
Stop being ungrateful!!!
Yep they sure did. At 9am on South Sound where there are sandals pinned to a tree there were about 3-5 workers sitting on the tree root eatting and just hanging out. They were workers, but they weren’t working.
Do I need to say anymore????
Did you know that they started early in the mornings and finished earlier because of the heat? 9:00 sounds like break time to me.
No. You should have said nothing at all. Sometimes its better that way. Definitely in your case. They started at 7. They were on a break. Give us a break with your malicious crap please?
Okay, interesting, but shouldn’t we be more concerned about unskilled workers in the Legislative Assembly?
I wonder what would happen if we responded something stupid to a stupid questions with 15 thumbs up like which stupid place are you from to be here? I guess it would make us even more stupid to bother.Nothing better to do ? only 4 minutes left for lunch OR are you stealing time on the job? Hum ! 16 persons. Any caymanians can do that job!
I wonder what would happen if we responded something stupid to a stupid questions with 15 thumbs up like which stupid place are you from to be here? I guess it would make us even more stupid to bother.Nothing better to do ? only 4 minutes left for lunch OR are you stealing time on the job? Hum ! 16 persons. Any caymanians can do that job!
Well, if the Government had to go through the same process of getting an expat onto the island as the private sector did then most of these issues would be resolved, we would know if the jobs were advertised, who responded etc. If we are seriously saying that 800 people are applying everyday for the ‘unskilled’ jobs in the paper and not getting them, then something should be done. But having been through this process a number of times with both skilled and unskilled positions, that is not the case. Any country will have a portion of the population that does not want full time employment.
According to various, the employment problem is because we’re not building enough! What a bunch of self serving idiots
What were the requirements for the jobs that are being termed ‘unskilled’? Maybe the person asking for the FOI request should have also asked for that as well…oh, and how about an FOI to see how many Caymanians applied for the jobs when they were advertised? Would be good, or does Mr. Miller just want to make the headlines again?
Big surprise!!! I really wish work permit holders would stay out of Cayman politics, and focus on issues in their own jurisdiction!!!! You don’t have the right to vote in this country, so your voice does not count!!!!
Yep it’s the WP holders fault not the caymanian government for employing them instead of Caymamians.
If you get shot, do you blame the bullet or the person who shot you?
Obesa cantavit
how do you define ‘unskilled’?…..
maybe these people have skills that some caymanians lack….dedication, timekeeping, courtesy, integrity…..
they might actually be more skilled than some of the politicians!
If these comments were posted by a Caymanian about any other nationality they would be deemed to be racist and reflect the bigotry, xenophobia, hatred etc. of Caymanians.
I have been saying all along, these postings are by expats. Not many Caymanians have internet in their homes, and those that do hardly use it for checking News. These postings bad and ugly are expats. They are causing one hell of a problem between Cayman and expat. population. I just hope that those expats who are very smart realize what is taking place.
Maybe it would be a good idea to put a clause on the work permits forms that one should be at least courteous to their host as they are in another country and not keep offending and insulting the modesty of the Caymanians or residents for fear of being sent back home or Afganistan or something. yes ,I will suggest that when I am next at the Immigration dept.on the comment sheet. I’m certain they meet their share.Now we have the right not to be abused without shouting human rights violation. Right?
You can’t blanket an entire demographic based on a few bad experiences – I know LOTS of very hard-working, skilled, dedicated, courteous Caymanians (OK, I didn’t list prompt, but this IS the Caribbean, is ANYONE prompt here, local or foreign? That’s why we live here, so give that one a rest). Regardless, these positions are all pre-existing before the current downturn, hence the positions. While Caymanians should obviously receive precedence, it is normal to want to keep the existing person that has been doing the job for several years (hmm, so where should we stand on rollover – OUCH! Don’t even GO THERE!). That said, these are tough times, and permits should not be renewed for expats without a very strong reason for employing the foreigner over the Caymanian applicant. One is curious of the following;
How many of these positions have Caymanians applied for?
Why were such Caymanians passed over?
Where the positions advertised correctly per legal requirements?
If these position were advertised correctly, AND Caymanians applied for them, AND such Caymanians were passed over, WHO were the managers/HR people involved and what sort of history do they have hiring Caymanians vs. expats?
This is the sort of analysis that should be happening for EVERY job (not just Govt.), and Immigration is supposed to be tracking all of this to ensure they are protecting the Caymanian people.
Johnny 5
:o) Or, maybe some of these people have these skills, because some of the expat-cronies here help them to get the jobs…
maybe…
maybe…
maybe…
I sick of the guessing…LOL..JUST ADMIT!
It is so clear you have unskilled workers here NOT FROM CAYMAN!
new year…same old myth about unemployed caymanians…..zzzz
No sorry, you got this one wrong.New year and New rule. We will find work this year so don’t fall asleep at the job.Caymanians as soon as you hear of a vacancy pass it on even to the bureau of employement. if we don’t work together usually we would say(Dog going to eat your supper). That’s not what we going to say this time.
"The jobs include cooks, agricultural workers, farm labourers, bus drivers, cleaners, house keepers, maintenance staff, painters, work crew at the landfill and solid waste drivers among others"
Correct me if I am wrong, but, are these not the types of jobs that always go to expats becasue locals are unwilling to take such positions?
Yes. Maybe you are wrong. If there was a turnout of over 800 Caymanians willing to stand on the road side to pick up and collect garbage then why would you think that they would not be willing to work full time as a labourer or painter, gardener etc.? Common Sense. Many of these employers will claim, "Oh, no Caymanians applied for the job." But really, when you see some of these ads in the newspaper, look at the kinds of information that is presented. Somethimes they do not even want to publicize who the company is. All you see is a P.O. Box number. No salary, or if there is a salary it is just not attractive. Many people know that there are employers on the job site that love to ‘work people like slaves’ and then expect to pay them $200 every two weeks. Bottom line is that, either the job is already being done by a work permit holder or they simply do not want to hire locally and maybe they already have someone overseas in mind that they would like to import to do the job. Exactly how hard to they go about to find someone local for the job? And exactly how had does Immigation look into the real issues? Like Mr. Miller says the Government has been moving backwards. They rather issue these work permts for revenue purposes and then Caymanians that are living here unemployed are forced to go to beg them for ‘handouts’ becasue they are unable to support themselves. Which I think is what they like. Give a few Caymanians a couple dollars every Christmas and what? What about the other 10-11 months?? There are a lot of young Caymanians employed even within the private sector and for someone at the bottom of the company they feel like they have the most workload for the least pay. There are foreignors there that sit around all day, gossip and chat on the telephone. But yet they are Supervisors/ Managers. The question is who or what do they superise? Ask them a question about what is going on in the company and they cannot even tell you! Many of them do not have any college degrees, but they obtain the job simply because of who they know and the fact that they may have been there for a great number of years. There are so many young people out there who are going to college and doing wonderful. Yet they are not treated fairly in the work world. They are not gaining the respect or the benefis that they deserve. People are so quick to look up and say Caymanians are lazy and this and that. But what abou all of the hardworking, dedicated,underpaid and overworked Caymanians? Who do not complain and just do what they are asked?
You mean like the clean up crews during Christmas?
Not anymore. New year, New rule lets all get to work and show them if we lazy.
I think it would be great to have these jobs filled by Caymanians. This is their country and they should be "encouraged" to enter the workforce at a level that inspires climbing the ladder to something better. That worked for most folk that I know who succeeded at something through hard work.
True…
Because I am a local, and tell me how a job like "cooks, agricultural workers, farm labourers, bus drivers, cleaners, house keepers, maintenance staff, painters, work crew at the landfill and solid waste drivers among others" can pay my Mortgage and maintain me and my family in a country that has a high cost of living.
Yet… expats like yourself can work for chicken fee and send your money away, converting it into big bucks! You have no children here, no worries, no bills, and have the assurance that you can scram anytime you want when you mess up here!
we need to stop this generalization..SOME Caymanians may not be willing to take said jobs but many Caymanians have responsibilities and will take whatever job they can to provide for themselves and their families. But if a Caymanian has qualifications and experience why shouldn’t they have the opportunity (or preference over foreigners) to obtain a job theywere trained for. I know there are situations where foreigners have a degree in say Art History and they’re in elevated positions in banking. That’s fine if they can’t find a Caymanian to fill the position but if there are good qualified Caymanian candidates then they should have priority over a foreigner. This is not being prejudice of foreigners this is simply saying that this country and it’s local businesses have a responsibility to it’s people.
it’s simple…unlike the most unemployed caymanians…the fifty ‘unskilled’ foreigners actually want to work….
Nonsense, its the lack of Government discipline which it demonstrates in most other aspects of its operation…
Bull Doo Doo……………..who you kidding, the "unskilled" foreign workers dont want to work either. They only want the Caymanian dollars and as small as the pay might seem here its REAL BIG where they come from. Think about it, no one would leave their country and families to come work here on a garbage truck if conditions were good in their own country. If you say yes you are damn crazy.
I SEE YOU, YOU REALLY HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD.
sorry lol.. some (if not many of them) were cherry-picked! With a Caymanian they know they have to deal with sound and fair employment practices! They just can’t pay them what they like
The big question to Mr.Miller is, "How many native Caymanians who are seeking employment would want work at the back of a garbage truck or driving one (Enviornmental Health) collecting garbage starting sometimes at 4:00am ??
I’m not stating that the article does not have some basis but I believe of those 15 foreign contracts at Enviormental Health, 98% of them are specifically for this type of work including working amongst the stench at Mount Trashmore.
Somebody has got to do it, but most native Caymanians except "some of our native ex-con’s", won’t go there.
The other Govt departments as mentioned, I agree with Mr. Miller that there is a serious disconnect between Govt and it’s native people.
Well to your response I know at least one. My son wanted to drive the garbage truck as it worked well with his often late shift.Well they said fine but fist you will have to work in the back for x amount of time and then pass the driving routine. in which HE DID.After at least a few months he asked if they would make him do the test and he passed having the right group licence and capability. DID he get the job NO.If it was up to me I would sign my name but out of respect for my son I won’t.But many can attest to that and I and many told me that how proud of him they were for him being willing to be so humble.Run those adds again and see how many will turn out. Times have changed.We( Caymanians) might have inherited a negative reputation in the past but like everything time changes, and when it comes to have to not only pay bills but feed your family, since then many have humble themselves.Like Bob Marley once sang " A hungry manis a angry man. Please run those ads that you have persons on permit contract now and I assure you that many Caymanians will step up to the plate and prouve many wrong.Real ads not with this and that degree that you would never need in the first place. Now don’t take me out of context I said those that don’t really need a degree,just commen sense ,pontuality,responsibily and remember we ARE a friendly people once you take the time to know us and appreciate us.
10:00 Poster. Can anyone answer this question "Which expatriate workers were here on the back of a garbage truck when we had no money? NONE, is the answer. Do not down grade Caymanians and bag all their money too! And while you are at it, please tell your foreign garbage collectors not to throw my hard earned garbage pail in the middle of the road.
Unskilled? I thouht in order to even function at these jobs some experience is required. I mean can someone unskilled (e.g. inexperienced and unqualified) claim to be a cook? What about the drivers? Drivers need at least to have a clean drivers licence, and probabily a heavy good vehicle licence to do those jobs, plus some experience driving the vehicles in question.
Not sure it is ever right for a politican to meddle in employment matters. Every employer wants the best person for the job – whether they be Caymanian or otherwise.
It is always so bizzare to me people should be shoved to the front of the line, not because they are the best person for the job, but because of where they were born. And no, it does not happen in other countries. There are equal opportunity values in these many other countries – discrimination is based on ability, not race, or some claimed birth right.
Cayman has it wrong to follow this path.
For some reason your 2cents don’t seem to add up. Why in he world would a politician not be concerned about employment issues? It’s obvious to see which government you would have put in place.. the kind that only sits back and talks about money, money and ways to help people such as yourself. Forget about crime and education and all the other things that don’t deal with Investments. Thank God that we have an elected member like Ezzard! When we have an Immigrtion Department and a Employment Department who could both care less its a good thing. And maybe what is meant by ‘unskilled is that these persons have had no experience to be hired in the capacity such as where they are working. Maybe the cooks only cook at home,bus drivers never drove a bus. You would be surprised to see some of the backgrounds and false information that they can come up with. My question is how in the hell were they even hired in the first place? When we have ministers talking about unemployabllity… think about it.
I find it bizarre that people believe this. It does happen in other countries, I’ve been there. As far as the ‘best person for the job’, whats with all the false qualifications required for them? I once saw a posting that required ten years of cash register experience, and another that required experience in a programing language from before its very existence. I see more discrimination against employing Caymanians then for them.
The view that there should be no preference given to locals has a number of problems if you think deeper in terms of its social aspect. It is extremely pro-business owner at the sake of unqualified locals that would have to compete with people who’s income would beworth several times more where they originate. That is why foreigners ‘work harder’, because they get paid much more. In every developed country I have been people say the same things about their locale.
Again, it is a stupid and self-serving belief.
If you want proof of how other countries treat immigrants, consider how the UK treats Caymanians who decide to go live and work there. You are welcomed without discrimination. You can live, work and be without interferance. If you have a legal immigration status, you have the right to apply for a job, and be considered EQUALLY amongst all the other applicants. It is in fact illegal to discriminate based on where you were born, your skin colour, your gender, or indeed your sexual orientation.
And its not just the UK towards Caymanians. Consider the Polish communities who now live and work in the UK. Anyone moving to the US, as long as they do so legally and obtain a green card, cannot be discriminated against when applying for a job.
That is not the case here in Cayman. I am legally allowed to be here in Cayman, yet I am still discriminated against, especially if I were to apply for a job.
Thats the difference.
Such nonsense. That does not demonstrate how other countries treat immigrants. We NOW have employment rights in the UK since by virtue of the Overseas Territories Act 2002 we are now also British Citizens. We do not have those rights because we are immigrants. Prior to that there was no question of equality of treatment with a British citizen. I ought to know. As a student I took a summer job only to get a very nasty letter from the authorities when I made my NHS contribution.
Second, Poles are now permitted to immigrate and work in the UK because they are NOW EU citizens. (Even so there are loud complaints against them by many Brits).
If you are a Caymanian you also have equal rights to work here.
The fact is that Caymanians are the ones who are most often discriminated against in respect of employment in Cayman.
It’s "bizarre" to be concerned that we may have imported labour for unskilled positions which Caymanians could fill in a time of recession and high unemployment?!!
Obviously the citizens of a country must be given preference. And it is not "meddling" for an elected representative to be concerned about these issues. It is part of his job to look out for the welfare of his people. Doubly so when it comes to public sector employment.
It is of course pure nonsense to suggest that other countries do not give their own citizens preference where the expat offers no special skill or ability.
In many other countries there would be riots if such were the case.
What do you propose the unemployed Caymanians should do? Beg? Steal?
You have really twisted thinking.
"The documents released under the FOI request reveal that at the end of November last year there were 58 unskilled foreign workers on government contracts employed in nine different government departments. With literally hundreds of local people looking for work as a result of the economic recession Milller says he can’t understand why the 54 people who are still on government contracts cannot be replaced by the locals that turned up for the road side cleaning project".
Please clarify. Are there 58 unskilled workers or 54?
We need to examine the reasons why Caymanians are not occupying these positions.
I suspect these were 54-58 positions that no Caymanian applied for – I mean – what is an employer to do… go without staff because no Caymanians apply.
And before anyone starts take my job for example. Nuff Caymanian girls come on here blabbing on about how they have my type of skills and people like me shouldn’t have permits – so how come not one person applies for my job each time it comes up for renewal?
I am not saying there is no merit in Mr Miller’s arguments, but I think there is perhaps a huge oversight in regards to the willingness of Caymanians to occupy such positions.
I am amazed that this post got any thumbs down. What parts did you disagree with? Did you think 58 and 54 were the same number? Should no questions be asked? Should we take it for granted that it necessarily means that Caymanians are not interested in those jobs? Absolutely amazing.
Look DING DONG, he said that he cannot be sure whether 4 (which would be 58-54=4) of those contracts are still in place. Talk about unskilled, it is a major issue.
Just stick it in the middle, it will be fine, go with 56