Businesses are being sent applicants by the National Workforce Development agency who don’t have the skills or experience for the job, Chamber president Johann Moxam said.
Speaking at the opening of the Chamber’s careers and training expo Friday, Mr. Moxam said recruiting local and international talent is the biggest challenge facing members and is “strangling business development.”
He said small businesses, in particular, are being hampered by the “frustrating and expensive reality” of recruiting skilled labor, both locally and from overseas.
He said he hoped a new online jobs database, announced by government last week, would make the process more efficient and prevent ill-equipped candidates being referred to businesses.
“Our members report that Caymanians and local residents who are registered with the National Workforce Development Agency are sometimes sent to their businesses without the skills required to fill the positions advertised.
“This is an equally frustrating process for both the business that is in urgent need to fill a vacancy to keep their business running, as well as the Caymanian applicant who may not possess the skills or the attitude to obtain the job.”
He said applying for a work permit is an “expensive, time consuming and unpredictable process” that most employers would seek to avoid if qualified and motivated Caymanians were available.
He said the Chamber has invested in local talent through its Professional Development and Training Centre, as well as events such as the Careers Expo, held at the University College of the Cayman Islands on Friday.
But he cautioned, “In today’s globally connected world, no one is entitled to a job.”
He said Caymanians need to take advantage of opportunities on offer and ensure they have the education and training to compete for jobs.
“We must make every effort to ensure our Caymanian workforce is globally competitive and can stand shoulder to shoulder with any country in the world.”
Mr. Moxam suggested frustration over difficulties obtaining work permits, when local talent is not available, is hindering economic growth.
“The cost of doing business and the constant struggles with obtaining local and international labor remains the biggest challenge facing Chamber members and is strangling business development and our efforts to press ahead with a sustainable economic recovery.
“The matter is so serious in our view that there needs to be a national discussion to evaluate all labor- and employment-related systems as a matter of urgency to address the issues.”
He said some businesses may be forced to “downsize” or look to other jurisdictions if the issues are not addressed.
“That will lead to Caymanians losing their jobs and a decline in the standard of living for us all,” he added,
Education and training minister Tara Rivers, also speaking at the opening of the careers expo, said the Workforce Development agency is a “key vehicle” for preparing Caymanians to participate in “current and future economic opportunities.”
She said the agency is expanding its services, including the launch of a Web-based registration and referral system for people who are unemployed.
The Web portal will allow Immigration chiefs to see which local applicants were referred for jobs by the Workforce and Development agency and why they were turned down by the employer before a work permit is granted.
“This will allow for better, more efficient communication between the NWDA and the Immigration department and its boards and will create a more transparent, efficient and accountable work permit process,” she said.
The move is part of a wider effort to use the Web to make the process of matching job seekers to available positions more efficient and transparent.
She said the process would “help to hold employers accountable to use best efforts to identify and hire Caymanians prior to seeking work permits” and would also require unemployed people to “take responsibility for their job-seeking and up-skilling.”
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I’m sorry to hear that there are struggling businesses out there . But there are families struggling out here also. I am concerned to know which businesses feel that they need to look elsewhere ? Are they hotels,rest., grocery stores,gas stations, schools?? Who are we talking about? How many business? Its very important to know how many businesses are able to teach a job to a school leaver with the right attitude . Would it be feasible to give a business certain discounts on stamp duties for their businesses cooperation to teach staff ??
Are we talking about how to teach a person to be a cashier at a bank or a front desk, or a grocery store ? Its all different , cashiers at banks take more skill and more time. There does seem to be a more cooperative stance at the bank in teaching school leavers to learn such technical work. But doesn’t seem at foreign or some local businesses. There is a very small amount of people who come to work in a local bank with a banking degree. Our local banks and not offshore banks that I’m talking about.
Let us not make excuses, if it was a time of war we would find work for everybody on this island. Let us find work now even if it is cleaning bush.
Good job Johann.
In every demographic around the world you are always going to have that percent of the population that is unemployed it is a fact of life. For the government to step in and force foreign companies to hire these unemployable workers is preposterous. The bigger problem as Johann mentioned is entitlement… you get a job as clerk and want the pay of the CEO and holidays, then quit. As an employer on this island it looks really bad on a CV when a applicant cant stay at a job for more than 6months to a year.
When I moved here in 2000, Cayman was the only place in the world I had ever been to where 90% of the restaurant staff were foreign.. the reason I was told was a Caymanian would never serve foreigner. Who teaches them these things? Swallow your pride and flip some burgers .. contribute to your community and country.
Hogwash Johann! The Chamber Members are the MOST guilty when a local goes through the Chamber’s Professional Development and Training Centre and then STILL are denied a job for an overseas recruitment or a Work Permit renewal. The Chamber ran courses for Project Management, but when successful and degreed Caymanians (with 3,000 hours of PM experience) applied for the advertised jobs, they were turned AWAY by Chamber Member companies! So until you can prove that talented CPA’s. Law Grads, IT professionals, UCCI Grads, are getting the white collar chances they deserve, you need to stop cherry-picking from a global sea of expats…local talent is HERE, but Chamber Members break the laws and hire anyone they want! The advertised requirements are a joke! 7 years experience for an entry level middle management job? a local with a BS degree and good references SHOULD be considered. The advertisements need to be screened as biased as well!! Recruiters should have incentives to screen and place qualified locals. The Chamber and Recruiters are simply closed shops to degreed Caymanians. I will agree talent needs to be developed, but when it IS developed and available, you must hold up YOUR END and adhere to the LAW. No one wants a free lunch Sir, but the glass front door must also open.
David, I hear what you’re saying but it’s not the responsibility of private businesses to educate the population or school leavers. The responsibility falls on the individuals themselves and the government has the duty of insuring educational opportunities are there for people to take advantage of. Look around Cayman and tell me how many schools of hospitality you see that teach courses in things like hotel and Restaurant management or even cooking schools. With tourism being one the primary legs of Caymans economy why doesn’t Cayman invest into training its people to hit the ground running in these fields. I know there are accounting and finance courses at UCCI but how much financial aid is actually made available. For a fraction of the money spent on the Turtle Farm you could offer tons of free certificate courses to school leaver that want to get extra training. As for cleaning bush, How many young Caymanians really want a job doing that.
The education/attitude of young people is key for the future and they are not getting much support from the ‘entitlement’ generation. I wish the next gen well and hope they can see that having a qualification is only as good as the things you are taught and what you do from there with it. All advanced education is NOT the same, a fact which seems to go unrecognized. Raising the bar of education locally needs to happen sooner than any cruise dock or supporting the turtle farm.
Still curious too on follow up of the 170 jobs that were offered and what has transpired since on that front for those jobs/job seekers.
There is no such a thing as an entry level middle-management job. Entry level is an entry level, not a managerial job.It does take few years to move from an entry level to a middle management position.In any business.