Bosses erecting job barriers
(CNS): While government officials at the National Workforce Development Agency are working on trying to help local job hunters remove their own barriers to employment, numerous qualified job-hunting CNS readers have been contacting us to reveal the barriers erected by employers that they say are blocking their ability to find work. Of the many different tactics utilized by some bosses to renew permits rather than trying to recruit locals, one that is beginning to look increasingly obvious in the age of technological communication is the insistence that applications are made via post to post office boxes. However, the employment minister said she wants to see employers remove these barriers and make genuine efforts to fill jobs with qualified Caymanians.
An increasingly common problem faced by Caymanian job hunters is that where a genuine vacancy exists, employers ask for email or hand delivered applications or even offer a number to call but those that are tied to permit applications are limited to what many call “snail mail”, as they require all submissions to go to PO boxes and often with tight deadlines, creating further barriers to applicants.
The ploy is often more apparent when the same company is recruiting for what they see as a genuine vacancy where they make the application process as easy as possible as opposed to work-permit applications, where they are doing all they can to hold on to existing staff and deter local job seekers.
In the face of this tactic deployed by employers, the minister responsible for employment is urging bosses to stop the practice.
“The government expects that companies take genuine efforts to try to attract and hire suitably qualified Caymanians prior to applying or re-applying for work permits,” Tara Rivers told CNS. “The job ads in the local paper should contain enough information to facilitate this as best as possible. In this day and technological age, a PO box number is simply not sufficient in this regard. The ability to hand deliver the application should be made available to the job seeker at the very minimum, and the normal expected practice would be to provide an email and a physical address to facilitate this.”
While employers are clearly hoping that post office box applications only deter applicants and the tight deadlines should head off the more persistent candidates, the new interface between the immigration boards and the work agency could start to undermine that practice. While employers feel they can reject applications received after deadlines during the permit consideration, the boards will be able to see Caymanian applicants who made efforts to apply but missed deadlines or who submitted via email and were therefore rejected.
The minister is hoping that the new communication between the workforce agency and the work-permit boards will change the process and enable the members of these critical boards to make more informed decisions about bosses’ efforts to employ local staff.
“In collaboration with the Immigration Department, the NWDA has created a mechanism that increases the transparency of the work permit process and provides an efficient way for employers to communicate efforts to hire a Caymanian,” Rivers explained. “The hope and expectation is for more and more employers to choose to utilize this mechanism to assist with their recruitment process.”
Government remains between a rock and a hard place at present, as it depends very heavily on work permit fees for revenue. According to this year’s budget annual plan and estimates, the Treasury expects to bring in some $60 million from work permit fees. However, the local unemployment figure is still hovering around 10% and the belief that even well-qualified, experienced Caymanians are being marginalized from jobs persists.
Along with concerns about the barriers erected by employers over the application process, CNS readers are also noting the constant fob-offs to their applications, rude responses or a lack of response, and many recruitment consultants are criticised for not following up with Caymanians who have registered for work.
Category: Local News
I make sure that job retention is a significant weighting factor taken into account for managers. The loss a long time profit generating member of staff because of a failed permit renewal would certainly make a big dent in their bonus.
I think one needs to closely examine the intentions of "some" foreign operations here, especially ones with a global presence. If the is intent is solely to have an existence in the Cayman Islands for tax advantages (in lieu of transfer pricing), is it therefore understandable that their hiring/recruitment practices is going to be deceptive?
oh dear…you clearly have never seen any of the international companies ofices here…all the ones I know including my own, there are at least 50% Caymanian staff. Some brilliant, others an unofficial tax for us as they do not show the will or ability to do anything useful. If I do something wrong, I get fired-if those that are not interested do something worng, nothing happens because we get into trouble with immigration, and that creates a false environment and belief that you can get away with anything. That is not the real world, and it is one of the reasons there are so many problems with employment here. However I do take my hat off to our Caymanians who get this and do mostly better than the expats.
The locals are usually hired to do jobs more often at the task level, and more infrequent at the strategic level.
The bottom line is that expats in head of businesses will hire expats. They would do everything to manipulate the situation until the caymanian gets fed up and walk. Let's be honest , if we were to compile the numbers, see how many presidents, CEO, managers that are caymanians verses an expat or a paper caymanian.
You will be surprise how company's would push for one caymanian to have amongst their management team and that person must be a "yes" person or else. I dare government to publish the stats people – would be surprised of the numbers.
I doubt you realize that your tenses, grammar and sentence structures are incorrect. Here are a few examples.
-sentence 1 use of will. Sentence 2 would. The tense should remain the same in one paragraph
– this one ingrates my soul. "Surprise" how is it that you are not aware that the word should be "surprised"???
– either "stats, people" or stats – people
There is a difference between an obvious typo and the inability to write a brief blurb correctly. Did you attend one of the public schools or one of the lower end private schools? Not all students end up with poor grammar skills , however it is easier to be left behind.
I am Caymanian and would never hire you or find every possible reason to fire you. The reason for dismissal would be "inability to effectively communicate with clients and coworkers alike". The reason would have nothing to do with the person as a Caymanian or Expat. It would be an embarrassment to have you send any correspondence to a client.
Instead of government making harsh laws against businesses and high fees, why not give them incentives like if 60% of their staff is in managerial or supervisory positions, they get exempted from having to pay work permit and TB license fees?! This is such an easy problem to fix. All our politicians have to do is think WIN-WIN and stop this WIN-LOSE mentality against employers, which in the end is really hurting young Caymanians that want to excel.
Why is only private companies??? What about government? WHo picks up our garbage? EXPATS? Who is guarding the new glass house? An army of work permit holders for a private security firm. Private companies? Who works all the fast food restaurants? Majority work permit holders. How come some companies no problem, where other companies big problem.
A little to late don't you think? Just note: All we can get to watch our children are work permit holders, the answer? Caymanians think this is below them….
I keep hearing about how caymanians are kept down and not promoted etc. however, private compamies have no vested interested in not hiring the right people for the job whatever their nationality. Has it occured to anyone that with so little experience, just maybe caymaniams may not necessarily be the right person. There is also the issue that once a caymanian is hired it is i mpossible to fire them if they cannot do the job. After all isnt that why the schools are having difficulties. Expats if they fail to perform have their contracts ended, whilst local teachers are kept in the system.
our country would fall apart if all the home helpers, nursery staff, teachers, doctors, nurses, cafe staff were not here. So grow up. There is no conspiracy to hold us back. Its simple economics and unbridled capitalism.
The solution to all of this nonsense is a minimum wage. $12 per hour should fix it. Pay is the problem not education.
Of course not talking about professional people they get more. But when a gov't employee gets $15,000 to 18,000 per month to supervise people . They are working in depts that are not generating value for money. It should be treated the same as businesses anywhere in the world.
In the USA ,highest pay for a place like Miami-Ft. Lauderdale is US12,000 per month ,US155,000 per year.
In Cayman $18,000 per month, CI $ 216,000 per year? Insane right, for what? Lets higher a foreigner from a foreign third world country for a third of that and drive everybody's cost of living down.
Minimum wage has nothing to do with this topic. What a company/government decides to pay for a job is up up them. Individuals who are willing to work for that pay will be many. It is that persons personal decision. If that salary doesn't suit you then apply elsewhere for something that suits you. Otherwise open your own business. Then you will realise what it is like. Regardless, open your own business. That way you can take a lower salary elsewhere to work the job of your dreams while making a real income with your other business. Or open a business that is the work of your dreams.
I disagree the that government should determine who companies are allowed to hire and what salaries to pay. It makes Cayman quasi communist.
You got to know how this economic thing works. I live here over 35 years so I know how this market works. The problem is not having a minimum wage. Rather it is not having a robust job market! Why? Because government is not creating an environment for the creation of businesses and hence workers are left with fewer job options. The employers know this and because there is less competition in the market, they pay their workers low, knowing full well they have not enough jobs out there for recourse! A minimum wage, trust me, is just a mere bandaid. The employers will justincrease the cost of their products and services on consumers if you try to enforce how much they should pay their workers.
If it gets too bad it will be better moving departments than having to lose experienced staff. It is OK to have a couple of charity hires, as that is just a cost of going business, but anything more risks the bottom line, and the bottom line is more important than operating as some limb of social services.
Let the companies hire who they want. As a caymanian I've been turned down for jobs before to get a job I had to reinvent myself. Make money through other avenues. These new residents need somewhere to rent, somewhere to eat etc. Besides if they can come here and get a job, there is no reason why we can't go elsewhere and find a job. Our forefathers did it. Once ready we return with international experience or find a new place to settle. Nothing wrong with those options. Please think out of the box as there is no box.
06;21
I have to agree with you on your statement.
Yes we have travelled the world to seek work, we should still be doing it today.
I dont believe in our government chasing down people to put them on various jobs. At the same time telling companys who they should hire. It was never like this in the years past.
I dont know much about the white colour workers, am in the construction field. First of all, i dont think you will find amongst the grass root caymanian one mason that came into the field since 1980. Most grass roots are in their 60s and have their own construction compay. So tell me plese, where are the companies going to find Caymanian masons.
One way to think out of the box, is for government to make easier for Caymanians to start their own businesses. I am sure if Caymanians were the owners of their own businesses you will have Caymanians looking out for Caymanians too. Exempt Caymanians from having to pay huge business fees. simple.
Sounds like you are saying we must just give up on having a life in our own country then ?
That can be a side-effect of extreme melodrama.
And the problem with that is? Eg if you aren't moving up in the company you currently work in and see a better opportunity in another company, wouldn't you take it? It would you stay where you are and gripe about why you can't get ahead. Take it upon yourself. Don't wait until something is handed to you.
The civil service is a case in point. There are many good people but there are many more who have been given the job based on their passport and not their ability. In fact many have been "promoted" to move them from a job they were wholly inadequate at. The give a caymanian a job at any cost rhetoric of this government will in the end harm our country and continue young peoples sense of entitlement based on nationality and not ability. The answer in our country to perceived problems is to commission another report, insert another layer of management, and blame expats for "holding us back". Our half cocked solutions is evident in the government pursuing an agenda of privatizing schools against all the evidence. I say the government because Tara Rivers, with absolutely no experience of education is pursuing a privatization agenda and the premier has to date failed to reign her in.
i fear for my country because we are failing to face up to the fact that we are not good enough as evidenced in the way we run government, the way we run our schools and the way, when experts are brough in, they feel unable to "tell it as it is" for fear of not having a contract renewed.
Cry about everything you want and try every trick you can think of but at the end of the day the expats are leaving and everyone else left is going out of business
The govt needs to stay out of everyones way. Stop being up to no good all the time.
HONOR your contracts.
Stop abusing people.
Educate your kids and then in perhaps a few years your ship will stop sinking
Weeellll, with all the major finance companies on island having expat HR Managers, expat department heads and expat managerial employees what are we really expecting?! There are some major companies on-island that can work the labour and immigration laws like a hooker at the red light and no government labour authority gives a hoot enough to take a stand on what is happening! One year renewable contracts for "full time employees" that allow for "dismissal WITHOUT A CAUSE" or that they are able to opt to renew or not renew your employment at the end of each one year contract (this helps them avoid paying severence)… oh believe me I could get into some good details and call names but my post would be censored 🙁
Is this the place where the HR manager isn't even on island? The place that has been referred to as a slave ship?The place that has a trust manager that is a "lawyer by trade" but uses her senior trust officer for advice because she doesn't know what she is doing? The place where part time employees have been on one year renewal contracts for 3 years now?
Who are Caymanians, they are like everyone else in the world. What makes a Caymanian different? Nothing. So why do they act like their better then anyone else, I'm not quite sure. There are many Americans, Europeans etc that are in their own countries unemployed because the boom just isnt there and/or people like CAYMANIANS running to England to spung. A few years ago I noticed a Caymanian always ran to office jobs and this where this issue all began. You wouldn't see a Caymaian waiting tables, bar tendering tables, flipping burgers,picking up garbage etc…. permits were granted with pleasure for those who needed a job.
Check yourself again guys, you all made a bad reputation for yourselves.
What makes Caymanians different ill tell ya, we do t have the guts to kick ona sorry ass otra here on the next plane, oh our forefathers are ever so turning.
a true Caymanian for ya!
You guys miss the point! It's not just about someone being too lasz to send a letter! It's about sending a letter in a technologicall advance era where an email can guaranteed an auto reply or at least confirmation that it has been received is beyond peculiar!
Snail mail is merely a ploy – they can claim they never received it and you have no means of proving otherwise OR given the tight deadlines that it was not received on time and once again with the local postal track record how can you dispute that?
If they were being fair about it they would provide more than ONE option for submission. NO harm in hand delivery, email or post – whichever you prefer. BUT that's not the case with these empoloyers who are trying to be crafty.
ALSO – even the NWDA has moved to e-applications with their new website. Why would an employer move backwards with snail mail?
Smells like a stinking RAT to me!
Seems to me you treat conjecture and hearsay as fact. Government should not interfere in people's businesses. Companies hire the best people at great cost in most instances. One thing you do not hear is job Growth, only job replacement which will get us nowhere.
Could you used registered mail?
Wrong, not being crafty!!!! We have options,either by mail or email… Emails the way to go, with confirmation of recieving.. The problem is that we can only advertise in the Cayman Compass, Why can't we places ads on CNS or Eccay? and for trying to get employment services to reply, what a joke!!
The fact is the job application system is scewed… In my humble opion, Gov should provide a public site or paper for employers to advertise on!!
if the immigration dept were doing their job they would look carefully at advertised jobs as most are fulfil work permit requirements. those troublesome applications!
Truth be told employers seeking out locals rarely advertise in the media.
Compulsory advertisng in the Compass needs to stop. We have many avenues now where jobs can be posted for free – CNS and Ecay to name two. Lets stop topping up Mr Legge's bank account with job ad money.
One of the biggest problems is that all these uneducated and lazy "Caymanians" are not "Caymanians". They are imported un-employable persons. This "married to Caymanian" thing has gone too far and they are overcrowding the work force.
We have persons out there so uneducated and so lazy, some cannot speak, read or write English, but are being forced onto employers, while our real Caymanian young adults are being over looked due to them being passive and not making a big fuss about being Caymanian.
Until this fact has been sorted out, our young adults will always be one step behind, as being an indigenous Caymanian seems to not worth much as opposed to residency and married to Caymanian.
The fact is that Cayman is overrun with imported poverty; imported uneducated, imported un-employable persons will continue to cause a problem in these Islands. The persons married to Caymanians should not be given the same rights so fast as status holders or residents that have been here for a few years, as some people come and find a way around all of this, while everyone else have to live and work and abide by the rules in order to get the rights to work.
Every employer will tell you that they are expecting to receive Caymanian applicants when they request for employees, what is being sent around to the companies is all foreigners that might not need a permit to work and will remind you that they are Caymanians. It is ridicules when you are seeking to hire Caymanians and all different nationalities show up, and based on most applications they have been jumping around from job to job and just wasting employers time and efforts, while at the same time when being hired will have bad work ethics and a no care attitude to the job.
Caymanians need to stand up and remind these persons they are not Caymanians and they are taking up space for real Caymanian and are making real Caymanians life harder by making it seem Caymanians are lazy and have work problems. There is good and bad in every set, but the fact remains that the same employees that were working so hard and diligent, have gotten married and are now jumping around and have no care to be employed or to work for a fair pay day salary. They are expecting the moon now. They have mistaken somehow that they have a married certificate and thinking it’s a bachelor degree in every field of work available, so they apply for everything that they could not have tried before. And that there is only the start of the problem.
Do you reckon this person knows they are a narrow minded racist?
I stil trying to figure out why there are so many Caymanians marrying people who are useless in the workforce according to the post above. Are these really attractive trophy wives & husbands that do not like to work? I don't get it.
I'm a Caymanian and I am trying to figure out how is it the gullible and naive ones are not being educated enough about cunning persons who pretend and marry them for love – when it is really for convenience. As Caymanians we need to educate our young people in the schools of the strategies expats from torn countries used to decieve and get ahead inlife. It is a totally different mindset out there. Our Education ministers need to get on par with the sort of dirty education certain expats learn on the streets from their home countries. The Caymanian parents and guardians are sleeping whilst women and men are marrying to use, abuse, and destroy as much as they can.
Judging from the responses you got, it looks like a bunch of people don't realize it.
Stop stirring. There is nothing to do with race in the post.
Helloooooo. Anybody home?
Caymanian is not a race, idiot.
Maybe you should stop getting married to such lazy stumble-bums. Just sayin.
Uh ya. Hello. Um, my wife is coming in to apply for a job today. Do Not hire her. She is stupid and lazy. Don't say I didn't warn you about my wife and the mother of my children. She is no good!
Saw an ad asking for a registered letter for the application. Makes sense. If it is going to be an offence not to include submitted resumes with permit applications at least the employer can prove no one applied.
yeah, absolutely right. Gwment should tell the employers who they should hire. That'll work for sure. Why doesn't somebody take a step back and try an alternative approach. Let employers employ who they want and make the process as easy as possible, because right now all CIG are doing is losing jobs and industries to grateful places like Canada, it's callled outsourcing – and it's pretty simple to do.
How is submitting an application to a PO Box prejudicial to Caymanians? Surely the opposite is true. How hard is it to get off your ass, fill in an application form and drop it into the Post Office. This is a truely bizarre argument. It would surely be more hassle and cost to submit from overseas. I may be missing the point, but I for one would want a paper application as an employer. It is not the be all and end all of these things – but it indicates the applicant's presentation skills and grasp of the English language. As I said, this might not be a factor with some job applications, but certainly would be with others. There are 750 jobs shown as advertised on ecaytrade – go figure!
The forced employment of someone who is not the best candidate is a significant tax on profits and undermines profitability and brand value.
Self-pitying bollocks.
Really if sending a letter is a barrier to applying for a job then I am Santa Claus. Here is a way to get a job or a promotion – be the best candidate for it. Shock. Horror. Given that the work permit system effectively imposes a hightax on ex-pats, Caymanians don't even have to be the objectively best candidate, since they can be substantially less productive but still more value once the permit is taken into account.
Caveman, Cavewoman style.
This is what you get when a self reliant country gets greedy and lazy then imports not only poverty but rampant ignorance as well. Instead of being thankful and rising and inspiring others to rise on their own merits, the new Cavekeepers regress and find a work around by clubbing their prey over their heads.
Meet the new Boss, much worse than the old Boss from the country whence they came.
Huh?
Most of the unemployed are unemployed because they suck
And those that think they are qualified most likely arent qualified.
There are jobs available all over Cayman and if you cant find one you dont deserve one
That said I deal with so many civil servants that are not qualified for the jobs they hold
They think because they work for Govt they are above all others the fact is 99% of all civil servants in cayman couldn't work in the private sector because they suck.
Finally II have looked over the Bio's of your top Govt Management and there resumes reflect why this Govt is Bust.
Some people are not employed because of the following reasons:
I know several people with these issues. They want to have a job but can't get one.
oh and 20:54, your attitude…its sucks.
O yes my attitude sucks thats for sure but its better now
On friday one import worker with status was caught stealing red handed and admitted it. He needed a draw of weed and a nip Diddnt think stealing $50 per day would matter. He dosnt realise that 10 employees taking a little $50 per day makes a differance …Glad he got caught ..
and another one on Friday robbed somebody he gave a ride home. Thats why the helecoptor was out I no longer have to see him on tuesday.
So Tuesday will be a wonderful day and my attitude wont suck
The Cayman employment market is distorted to reduce the availability of part-time work by the inability of employers to obtain reduced permits for part-time employees. As part-time employees are harder to replace there is a resulting reduciton in part-time opportunities for Caymanians.
They got resumes?
A lot of unemployed are unemployed because they suck.
You cant fix them and its such a small number of unemployed. Just politricks
That said how come those people whom decide workpermits have themselves so many expat workers in there establishments. I bet they dont worry about approval unlike the rest of normal busineses.
Finally I am glad we are no longer employing any extra workers at my establishment they were not worth the aggervation and the bottom line is better because of it.
I would like to add that due to govt BS we have cut way back on everything not just employees
Are you taking into account that many expats have now status and are no longer limited to their industry. These workers are being actively recruited after diligent hardwork, investing in property and fulfilling their resposibility to their employer . Good standing businesses see the value in strong work ethics and that workforce is now moving up to compete with early adult caymanians. As well all young caymanians coming into the workplace better be on their A game cause it's getting tougher to make a dollar so you want the right people in the job that produces whether it be finance, construction or tourism. Sorry Cayman you are slowly catching up on the rest of the world, educate your youth!
MY exoerience has been frustrating even though my advisor at the NWDA has been fantastic. I found that I had problems loggin on to my account even after given two differnet passwords, and now that I am finally on-line and able to apply for jobs, the listing DO NOT show the salary ranges so I can't determine if I want to apply for a job or not based on my crriteria. So the other day I drive from Savannah to the NWDA to look at teh job in the hard copy book, and even though the dealine was two days laterm the job wasn't listed! Awesome right? I had to wait and talk to my advisor there and she had to go look it up and write it on a Post-It-Note for me. The webiste has been impossiblly helpful. I find that the hard copy and the on-line version of available jobs don't coincide, besides the fact that empoyers are outlining impossible qualifications for what t me are miniscle/trivial jobs such as requiring a Bachelors Degree for real estate property management for example when I have owned many properties myself and managed them and several strat's accordingly, but to require a Bachelors degree to manage rental properties, really? It's not rocket science! I applied for a job and was given a phone conversation, the current office manager agreed my experience is what they are seeking to penetrate a new market, yet I did not get the job even though the COO thought my resume was "very impressive"! I was told the advertisement was for a work permit renewal, yet the current Sales Manager obviously wasn't penetrating the market the company wished to attract. I would have been awesoem for them! But oh well, here I am unemployed for a year now while others. work permit holders/renewals, can't perform the job adequately!!!! Wow! I applied for GOvernemnt job by the way and it was a post office box application only and after realizing the deadline was that day I was pressed fot get it in the post and probably ommitted pertinent information such as a cover letter because of this fact. Tara, the system is failijng Caymanians drastically! Please do something to make it right, I don't care about GOvernments need for permit income, the Gvernment will benefit by lower unemployment and lower Social Services costs!!!!
Well, I can see one reason I wouldn't hire you – you can't even spell/type! C'mon – you're complaining about not being able to get a job and then you don't even take the time to see if there are errors in your diatribe…no, thank you!
I hope this is a joke!
I fear it is not!
Who would want to employ someone that cannot use SPELL CHECK.
Ahem
No disrespect but your post is a perfect example of what human resources professionals are up against. How do we present a candidate who has such poor writing, spelling and grammar skills?
Any qualified, articulate, prepared to work Caymanian is either in a job or will get one soon. End of story. These sad sacks that show up with useless or phony qualifications from Mickey Mouse places and only want to work certain hours for a certain salary because they were born here blah blah will just have to keep on stirring up CNS's readers and agitating until we become like Jamaica..effed. It's coming.
Getting to the post office, buying a stamp and putting on the front of the envelope is a pretty small test to pass.
No it is a significant barrier to employment. Apparently.
A job bank of sorts might be a helpful too detailing the qualification sand experience of the unemployed. There is an incredible shortage of qualified workers in cayman islands. When you run an ad all you get is crap. People with experience as a shop attendand / restaurant hostess applying for a job as a bank manager and expecting serious consideration. Seriously?
that golden egg the goose lay is about to be cracked open to become rotten to the detriment of all. has no one learnt anything from the last mass exit of businesses from Cayman (fund administration firms)?
Caymanians are growing up and no jobs available therefore, another 5-10 years we are going to have social issues and trust me if we do not address the issues now, the younger ones are not as passive as us old folks and watch and see if they are not going to have revolt. Careful Politicians….
It looks to me that if there is smoke, there is fire. Tara? Winston? Are you hearing about qualified locals given the run-around?
Perhaps tighten the belt that feeds on permits, educate our youth for the top jobs (not just receptionist or construction) and really ENFORCE the immigration LAW. Honestly, this is so easy: Just pull up one of the dozen valid complaints against local recruiters, the commercial banks, the accounting firms that have ALL PLAYED THIS GAME recently, go ahead and FINE them $20,000 and a 30 day no-permit penalty and just sit back and watch just how many HR departments start to recruit locals.
Hear me out please, This pressure is not a bad thing (don't start crying in your beer expats) if we actually push forlocals FIRST then the education of our youth will follow. The myth that locals are not suitable is a lie. I too, know of 4 overseas university degreed educated (and yes, 2 of these are long term residents paper-caymanians!) that are still looking for work in HR, IT, Accounting, and Law- sooooo pul-ease do not tell me that an educated "Caymanian" does get all the jobs because I can also tell you the hiring practices of the LARGE firms that ignored these white collar applications, were ALSO ignored!! Tara & Winston, go ASK YOUR TEAM! Go ASK the Staffing Board for valid complaints and blatent expat rubber stamp work permits.
The blame lies with Tara and her team being all words and no actions. When every single local with a good degree and a decent CV has a job, then the problem will be fixed (sorry blue collar, imported cheap labour will never go away….)
We need to educate and employ our own to succeed. The current way will only fuel social services (and politicians love that) so be the GOOD politicians Tara and Winston and fIx the problem, ENFORCE the law, and employ your own people!
This is such a hot issue, and we need enforcement of the existing laws. I, personally know of two highly,highly qualified, already employed Caymanians who have been passed over for much less qualified expats. I mean significantly less qualified. Both of these expats whose permits are now in front of immigration for grant have close ties to the busn’s beneficial owners. BUT, if these employees complain, or go to immigration, they fear retribution fromthe employer. System sucks.
Anyone who posted thumbs down is a) an expat filling a job that could clearly go to a Caymanian. B) a beneficial owner of a businesstrying to hire an expat over a Caymanian. C) someone with no business ties who is ill-informed. D) a troll.
If it is a family business, then why should they hire anyone else but their own family. This this through. This is your personal company. You hire your family. You hire some other experts. You have qualified staff on hand. You have your family. Reminder this is your company. Who do you promote realistically? That is the reality. Nothing personal against the local workforce. I am a caymanian. I have seen both sides of this story. I also understand that if my boss doesn't want to stay in Cayman anymore not only is my job gone, but so are the other fifty people. If I want a better paying job or more responsibility, I have to look to another company or open my own. See what I did there? Open my own hmmmmm why would the business owner want to promote someone who could eventually be the competition? Keep the job within the family. Keep the profits secure.
The decision to hire or not to hire is not a conspiracy. People are not hired for a variety of reasons which may have absolutely nothing to do with the nationality of the person. If it is the case, why are there so many other educated caymanians employed?
Whistleblower legislation would help solve that.
You do know that qualifications are not the only factor in deciding on a promotion. Workethis is a huge component, in my experience I have found many people over the years complaining about others being promoted as they are more qualified when they arrive a 9 enveryday leave at 5 abd put in just emough work not to be remprimanded, while their collegues will be getting in a 7 leaving at 8 and requesting extra work. The problem is those being passed over do not see all the effort their collegues put in as they are not there, so the belief seems to be when they leave work everyone else does. Qualifications do not mean you can do the job, they just mean you have the knowledge to do it, the drive to the job tto the best of your abilities is what employers expect for promotion.
Work Ethic is a qualification. If you've got an employee and you're not grading them on their work ethic then, by implication, you think they're doign fine. So No, you can't then hire someone else over them in the hopes that you'll get a better 'work ethic' if you haven't shown the Caymanian youv'e got applying has a bad work ethic. Get off the 'excuses for bosses' bandwagon and call a spade a spade. (Which runs both ways. Not all employees are saints. But grade them as such and be done with it. Don't ignore problems until its hiring time and then wonder why you look bad.)
The NWDA is functioning under no legal basis. As far as I am aware, the Labor Law specifies that the Director of Labor is responsible for finding and securing employment for Caymanians. As such I will challenge government to tell the people the truth that the NWDA is a defacto employment agency. The NWDA is like 2 teats on a bull- totally useless. This country needs a robust labor office that goes into the public and conducts inspections- instead of sitting in offices and waiting for people to come to them. The Labor office could be and should be doing more in terms of going into businesses. I appreciate that the Labor Law might not be as strong as it could be- but USE what we have and at least make it appear that something is being done. As a contractor who had employees at the Ritz Carlton when it was being buiilt- I vividly recall that the Labor department came to that site at least twice a week and sometime more. They kept us on our toes. As a small business owne, I am finding it incredibly tough to compete in a legal way when there are companies and employers out there who flaut the Immigration and Labor Law daily- and it goes unnoticed. My laymans suggestion to this government and Minister Tara is to get rid of the NWDA and look to put this out to a private company to do.
Whats good for the gander is not so good for the goose? I find it telling that as the government is pointing fingers at the private sector demanding they pull up their socks and get on board but internally they contract outside companies ie. security and cleaning that hire predominately expats. I ponder why won't they hire their own workers (Caymanians) to do the jobs. I visited Government Admin Bldg recently and counted at least six workers in the lobby who were obviously not Caymanian by birth, so that leads me to believe they are many more behind the gates. I say they should lead by example for a start.
You can’t say someone is not Caymanian because they don’t live up to your narrow ideal. I am whiter than the GOP and have no accent (unless I’m buying jerk on Friday night).
I know you!
The NWDA are erecting barriers for businesses!
A position at my compay was advertised. The hours are unsocial. We had zero applications. We then were given a list of names from NWDA of people who 'are looking to work'
There were about 24 names. We contacted each person and arranged interviews. Out of those, one person showed up for inteview – and he didn't want to work the unsocial hours.
We now have to submit a report on each person as to why they were not hired. Much unnecesary time wasted
If you want a job be proactive. Apply when you see a position, even just apply anyway. Submit your resume wth a cover letter. Turn up for inteview.
Dont sit there and wait for the job to come to you.
No employer is going to hire someone who cannot even apply for a job!
Without question it needs to be much harder to submit a work permit.
Caymanians looking for work need to make it harder for employers to want to even hire an expat.
Get some skills, learn to communicate clearly, show up on for the interview, leave the kids at home, leave the phone on silent and in your pocket, and after you get that job. KEEP IT!
Dont change jobs after a month because someone offers you 50 cents an hour more, show up on time, learn the job, work hard, become irreplacable,and when your tummy is a bit upset in the morning… Come to work anyway!
Not only should it be harder for employers to want to submit a permit, I think they should make that first permit harder to be approved.
But, renewals should be automatic.
So Caymanians should be permanent upshot out of any position filled by an expat? That is what you get if renewals are automatic. That would be madness for the health of the society.
Automatic renewals is a good idea; But don't you think that renewals should differ from industry to industry?
I feel this way because the needs and resources for the finance industry are going to differ from the needs of the fashsion industry, the flim industry etc.
What do you think should be done to address these differences?
LOL, we know who control this country
I don't. Tell me.
Oh dear! What an old, old problem. For years my newspaper columns grumbled about the Mexican stand-off that existed between private-sector employers and the Immigration authorities. Nothing changed. Then when I began my personal blogsite ("Barlow's Cayman"), one of the very earliest postings there (in December 2010) was one called "Everybody's Cheating", which carried the exact same criticism. The authorities cheat by blackmailing employers into hiring unsuitable Caymanians, and the employers cheat by creating glass ceilings. Nothing changes. Nothing has changed since the first clamp-down on Work Permits in the mid-1980s.
There is no goodwill on either side. All the smiles are false. Immigration operates a kind of Soviet system, with new commissars appointed every 12 months or so, trying to force the employers to act against their own best interests. Naturally the employers fight back. They believe in capitalism and business efficiency, while the Immigration and labour authorities believe in full employment regardless of the effect on the cost of living.
That December 2010 blogpost of mine sums the situation up very well. You can Google Barlow's Cayman easily enough, and find it in the Archives. It (the post) is over four years old now, and it could have been written yesterday. It will still be fresh four years from now, UNLESS the authorities change their priorities. Fat chance of that!
Well when you have certain immigration officers in cahoots with employment agencies what can one expect starting from that! How is it that certain employment agencies can hire people overseas do do work for them here? Can someone please investigate! Our own Caymanian politicians are doing us in. So depressing. It was never like this in the 80s and 90s. We were protected then. This government had a chance to help us and they lied out of their teeth. Last wasted vote from me on them.
Its callled out sourcing and it is going to occur more and more, if the government forces companies to let go competent hard working staff and keeps increasing the cost of business in Cayman.
Name Names. To the Complaints Commissioner. Otherwise you're just trolling.
Great Excuse. As an employer this is BS!!! I have written 4 emails now to this dept over the last 2 weeks and to date i have not had an email reply, i have also called 3 times and have left a message twice!!! no reply as of yet, I also have not had on reply to our ads in the paper by any Caymanians. SO GUESS WHAT, hiring an expat!!! I will be attaching my unread emails to the board This Dept is screwed up. all they do is collect our money!!! Oh and by the way currently i employ 5 Caymanians and this will be my 1st permit in 3yrs!!!!
Yes immigration is a joke. Red tape is king. Whilst you may be doing the right thing, and be frustrated (as I often am), many businesses, big time, abuse the labour law, and our country suffers. Who benefits? CIG coffers, at the expense of our own people. I do not employ ANY permitted workers. It might take me a little longer to find qualified employees, or a few weeks of extra training, but in the long run it is the best option. Not just for my business, but also for my country.. That said…We need a total overhaul of the immigration law is clear, evenly applied, and brought into the 21st century.
I believe Government is more concerned with how much work permit fees they can collect than how many Caymanians are unemployed. Companies know how to play the game and they are playing it well. They have no intention to hire Caymanians, only renew work permits and take out new permits for their friends.
Where is the chamber of commerce on this. Oh I forgot they are conducting a survey on the Premiere.
If the law is enforced and the first business/employer is fined that $20,000 then maybe we will send a clear message that we are not fooling around here. BUT like this article states $60 million reasons why Govt won't impose that fine and why employers will continue to get away with not hiring Caymanians. Furthermore speaking to member of the Work Permit Board I am advised that employers lie on almost all applications.
Most, perhaps not, but a very solid 30% are fraudulent.
What law? Fined for what?
How are businesses supposed to compete on a global scale if the government is dictating who is hired? Government intervention in the labour market has not cured the unemployment problem as yet so why do people think it will fix the problem in the future?
The Immigration Law which sets clear criteria including an obligation to use best efforts to secure the services of a local person and criminal sanction if you lie to or mislead the authorities.
and yet we will continue to hear it proclaimed that no-one would want to employ an expat on a work permit when there is a Caymanian available. At last the truth is coming out!
rollover policy, talks on minimum wage, increasing duties, increasing work permit fees, growing the government so large fees have to increase, higher fines against employers …. I can see why they are lashing back and the young people of the Cayman Islands have to pay for it! Logic: The more government clench the fist against them, is the more they clench their fists too.
Bosses are resisting because the Government is making it bad for Caymanians by penalizing the private sector; especially the hike fees on the sector and refusal to provide incentives to them for complying with the Law. Our government is making it worse for Caymanians by their draconian, immigration, custom measures.
Please Tara, the biggest barrier is the 3 Month Work permit. These sail through without question for ALL white collar jobs so WHY recruit locallty when you can have an expat in the day within a few working days?
At least in the old days a company would take a chance on a young local with work ethics and a university degree as they knew the paperwork for an expat took 4 months. Now: 3 month & 6 month temps are granted like candy.
Come on, someone comes from North America or Europe and gets a permit within a week without question- can stay without even advertising the role for 4-6 months, has settled in, and you ask WHY we have no local recruitment. Why would a firm recruit when this is soooo easy. (Oh, the law, yeah the law ha ha ha.)
Ask the large banks and law firms, they laugh at local recruitment of any white collar professional job.
The worst offender is the government. They advertise and recruit from overseas and once in, on your way to status.
Local HR? crabs in a bucket, don't help their own ever….I want to see the stats of how many DEGREED locals have been placed by the $$$ recruitment firms? Hah! They would be out of business?
Nowhere else in the wolrd would have to send an application letter be considered "bosses erecting barriers". Pathetic.
wow, if a prospective employee cannot be bothered to post an application to a PO box, it does not bode well if you hire them. If they are unemployed time is one thing they have on heir hands. How difficult is it to post a letter? they will be looking at filling out an application or having an interview as a barrier soon as it's just to much effort!
In 2005 I applied for a job listed in the Compass by ‘a major private sector employer’ ON THE DAY it appeared in the paper. The application deadline was unreasonably short, and, It was, SUPPOSEDLY, rceived by said employer after the cut off date.
Duh, think they had an expat already lined up? Think they might have planned the short response time to discourage applications? It wasn’t about me, if I was qualified or not. They had already picked someone, and didn’t want anyone else. Forget that it is illegal, forget that it is immoral, forget that it is wrong. What about bad manners? They wasted my time, and probably many other applicant’s time. And, for that, should pay.
As the job has to be advertised 3 times, perhaps you saw the advert on the final notice, or did it not occur to you, that you might be at fault before harbouring a grudge for 9 years?
Thank you for clarifying what I think has been missed in the original article. The problem isn't really the PO Box issue but the application time in relation to mail delivery. Its a subtle issue and, unfortnately, we look for simple problems/solutions and targeted thePO Box. The difficult solution is for there to be an expectation that if there is not sufficient time between the advertisemtn and the deadline then the Work Permit Application will be rejected. But what's sufficient time?
I think your opening sentence should read. 10 years ago I applied for a job and did not get it.
The work permit board is at fault for renewals. All renewals should be advertised and the applicant should forward a copy of the application with the advertisement attached to it,to the board. If the employer submits an renewal request, then the work permit board would have copies of all the applications for that job.
Stonewall them, that way they can be caught.
It's always the employers fault somehow! The impression given is that there are hundreds if not thousands of fantastic qualified (and experienced) candidates out there but that no one is giving them a chance.
Are you for real? Why wouldn't employers hire candidates if they were qualified and experienced? Because there is a conspiracy not to hire Caymanians? Its time to put the conspiracy theories aside and look at the real picture.
Sorry, but I know. 3 locals that have UK/USA overseas top degrees and excellent resumes that have been passed over in accounting, IT, and law. It happens!!
Yes, you hit the nail on he head: it happens. And it also happens that locals with degrees get good jobs. That also happens.
Minister please get up and do something about the situation except talking.
With any due respect, how would they know what to do about it? And with their nice salaries, why would they?
How things have changed. When I started looking for work I walked to business firm knocked on their door, ask to speak with HR, or left my resume.
I did not expect to sit on my computer in my undies pressing send and get a job offer. Asking for resumes to be sent via mail shows that a person has the initiative to go out of the norm and show a bit of hungry for a postion.
I feel the government needs to bud it nose out of private busineses and let business manage themselves and not but micromanaged by government officals.
Recently I watched Cayman 27 "The Panel" and was shocked and very concerned when one MLA said with distain and chuckle " business runs Cayman government not governmnet run business." It was clear and apparent that this MLA feels that government can run businesses better then the owners and investors. It is very concerning when MLA's do not respect the personal business/lives of people. Considering the receive their salaries from the backs of all residents and their businesses, they should be more respectful for the hand that feeds them.
The work permit Boards are given the adverts. There is simply no excuse for them letting blatantly tailored adverts through. Minimum 10 years experience required for Kitchen Helper? Worker must have own tools? You have to be kidding. Denying permits is not enough. It is time to name and shame the businesses that do this and start shuttng them down!
Are people hurting? Yes. Is the answer to stop allowing employers to choose their own employees? If you answered "yes", stop and think.
If employers are not to choose their own employees, who will? Government bureaucrats that have no experience in that business? How is that going to work out? How are you going to prevent them shooing their friends into high places? Or putting their competitors out of business. Or kicking out good employees they don't like?
Will businesses that have a choice about where to locate tolerate the CI government acting as their HR Manager?
Yes, Caymanians need more jobs. But in order to create more jobs businesses need more customers, not fewer.
If you think that the government micro-managing the employment market is going to help the economy grow, the evidence only shows the direct opposite. The more government tightens immigration, the more people leave the island and the more customers businesses lose. The more customers businesses they lose the more people they lay off. The more people they lay off, the fewer jobs around for Caymanians.
The more business contracts, the more government revenue shrinks. The more government revenue shrinks the more fees have to go up on the ones that survive. The more fees go up and customers go down the more businesses want to hire the very best people available rather than the ones government wants them to.
Join these dots and you will see that government intervention is the main ingredient of a vicious and intractable downward spiral of ever-stricter immigration, ever-shrinking economy, ever-increasing fees, ever-shrinking opportunities for Caymanians. Such has been the fate of Bermuda.
It is the very opposite of the formula that made Cayman one of the few economic bright spots in the entire Caribbean region. While the other path may be seductive, history has shown that it leads only to… well, Cuba.
Urging them huh? Is that a joke? That's the best that can be done?
I am confused. How is asking someone to submit an application by mail a "ploy"? A job applicant cannot simply post a letter? It cannot be a tactic designed to ensure that the apoplications are received late, becasue any WP application has to show the advert including the date of publication, and it would be blindingly obvious if the deadline was a day or two after the ad appeared. Or are you inferring that the Cayman postal system is so unreliable that employers are counting on the applications being lost or being able to credibly deny that they were ever received?
The problem is that alot of these companies only have small postal boxes. They put out the ad and then don't check the box, so 90% of the applications get returned to sender due to a full box. It basically gives them an easy way to make you not be able to apply.
Government needs to stop taking this attitude where they are afraid to upset companies. There are laws and they need to be followed. End of story. If a company has to recruit in such a manner that they are skirting the law then they should not be protected. If they believe a Caymanian is not qualified to do the job – then let them prove it and move on. This underhandedness needs to stop. I blame many of the recruitment agencies who started and continue to work the system. Government needs to stop making excuses for companies and MAKE them follow the law – end of story!
At the end of the day, government has to decide what's most important; governmental revenue vs. increased unemployment by Caymanians. I understand that the government needs money to run a country but they shouldnt heavily depend on work permit fees for that in lieu of selling out your " Own people". This needs to stop and change needs to happen. Talking is not enough, we need to get it done, we need results. (Government needs to look at the big picture and not only the bottom line (revenues). We have many young people studying locally and abroad and if we don't allow our own Caymanians to be employed, the unemployment rates and crime rates will signicantly skyrocket. Maybe the government needs to make it mandatory and have designated personell to monitor qualified Caymanians who apply for jobs are fairly treated. "Dear Government we need to see change.
P.S written by a young person
Blessings!
The 'problem' here will come when the company is using 'legitimate' means to winnow through a lot of applicants. One of them being 'can you follow instructions'? If the instruction is email and you snail-mail me your application, am I allowed to regect it becasue you didn't follow directions? If so, then why not the reverse? If I know I can get a half-dozen good applicants, via post, in a week, what's wrong with using that as a way to reduce the number of applicants I need to review. Remember, I don't need to hire you, I just need to hire a good Caymanian. (Clearly some employers are engaging in unfair tactics. But that doesn't mean that a tactic itself makes the employer unfair.)
Looks like more read tape and indirect taxation on businesses.
Amen CNS thats why we love u 🙂 Remember the FOI for the new goverments jobs and statut ory Authorities for the 2014/15 budget that was never advertised in the newspapers or online.Thanks CNS.
Tara, stop "urging". Prosecute the bastards and cancel work permits where this has been done. It is everywhere.