The day after the Cayman Contractors Association issued a press release asking the Government to suspend the rollover policy until the Immigration Law review is completed, the owner of a nursery and landscaping company has requested the same thing.
Nancy Rohleder, an owner of Vigoro Nursery, said her company is now facing a situation where, because of the Law’s seven-year term limit, all of its longest standing employees will have to leave the island.
Six of Vigoro’s employees have already gotten letters advising them they will have to leave, although some of them have since applied for permanent residency, Mrs. Rohleder said.
Vigoro, which has been in business here for more than 35 years, currently has 55 employees in six divisions of the company, including landscaping, landscape design, irrigation, garden maintenance, interior plant maintenance and a retail garden shop.
As was the case stated by the Contractors Association, Mrs. Rohleder said it is difficult to recruit Caymanians to work with Vigoro.
‘We don’t even get (Caymanian) applicants,’ she said. ‘Out of 100 applicants, if we get one (Caymanian) we’re lucky.’
Mrs. Rohleder said it was difficult to recruit staff in general, especially for more skilled workers.
‘When we advertise for a landscape supervisor, very few people apply, and it’s very rare to get a Caymanian to apply,’ she said.
Mrs. Rohleder said she thought Caymanians simply would rather do something else for a living.
‘Caymanians have lots of opportunities to do other things that are less labour intensive.’
As a result of the difficulties in attracting a Caymanian labour force, Mrs. Rohleder said companies in blue collar industries are now facing issues that were not thoroughly considered when the Immigration Law (2003) was passed.
Mrs. Rohleder noted that blue collar workers are just as important to her business as lawyers are to a law firm.
‘We’re a client-based company,’ she said. ‘Our (labour) needs are just as great as a legal company that is client-based; it’s just a little different.
‘Non-degreed personnel are just as important to us as a multi-degreed person is to a law firm.’
Mr. Rohleder said she has worked hard to keep long-standing employees, which she sees as one key to maintaining Vigoro’s reputation of integrity.
In addition to knowing the character of her long-standing employees, Mrs. Rohleder said their experience with the company is invaluable.
‘We cannot replace them at the level they are,’ she said.
Losing these long-standing employees will not sit well with Vigoro’s landscaping customers, either.
‘Our exterior customers get very upset to see a new face,’ she said. ‘They’re used to seeing the same people coming onto their property, especially these days.’
Mrs. Rohleder agrees with the Contractors Association that the rollover policy is likely to bring about a more transient workforce, which she believes could have some negative social effects.
‘I would want people who were going to value Cayman as their home,’ she said. ‘But if (a work permit holder’s) stay is just going to be temporary, I don’t think they’ll have the same vested interest it the community.’
Fundraising efforts and volunteerism for community projects will likely attract fewer expatriates, Mrs. Rohleder said.
‘We’re not cultivating a real dedicated member of the community.’
Mrs. Rohleder said she recognised that there needed to be some sort term limit.
‘I agree that we have to do something. We can’t just let everyone stay here,’ she said.
‘But there has to be a way to do this without this incredible impact on businesses,’ she said. ‘There has to be something feasible which causes less pain.’
Because the rollover policy forces work permit holders who have been in Cayman for seven years to leave, Mrs. Rohleder thinks businesses that have been in existence longer are feeling a greater impact.
‘The first people affected are the longest employed people in any business,’ she said.
‘We’re in business to do business and doing business in Cayman is not getting any easier,’ she said. ‘It’s getting more difficult.’
Mrs. Rohleder does not know the answer to Immigration problem.
‘I have great respect for the people making these decisions, I really do,’ she said. ‘But I believe we all need to work together and look at all the angles.’
Given the circumstances, Mrs. Rohleder recommended the Government suspend the rollover policy for the time being.
‘We could use a little pressure off us right now until everything is looked at,’ she said.
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