In a robust address at the Chamber Economic Forum on 23 Jan., Minister for Caymanian Employment and Immigration Michael Myles called for collaboration with the business community on immigration reforms and labour initiatives.
Recalling employers telling him that “Caymanians are lazy”, Myles appealed for a change in attitude. In a personal note, that differed from other speeches at the forum, Myles cited his mother, “a single mom who sometimes had to work four jobs at the same time,” as an example of how hardworking Caymanians can be.
But despite some strongly worded, personal passages in his speech, Myles also struck a conciliatory tone. He acknowledged that some Caymanians leaving school are not ready for the workplace. He also admitted that – just like in every jurisdiction – there are those who “may not want a job”. That last point is important because previous government messaging has talked about full Caymanian employment.
“I am under no illusion that we will fill every job in this country [because] we have more jobs than we have Caymanians alive today,” said Myles.
Myles also admitted that “criticising previous administrations” wouldn’t help fix the problem and highlighted that many businesses do try to hire Caymanians.
Myles said it had taken him eight months to fully understand the immigration system and labour market and identify the problems. Acknowledging the criticism that his immigration reform has received in some quarters, Myles stressed that “I don’t want to make this an ‘us versus them’ situation”. He said he would be willing to hear any private sector suggestions for getting more Caymanians into good jobs on the islands.
Proposed solutions
In the meantime, Myles is ready with his own solutions. One area of focus will be the international study scholarships, which cost government around $40 million per year.
“Scholarships have to be aligned with the labour market,” he said. “We need to align what people are studying with what the economy needs.
“We can’t just tell our young to follow their passions,” he added. “We need to make sure they come back with talent that suits your company, not just coming back to be unemployed.”
He also called for the private sector to provide more internships, but said the government could help. Citing a recent programme with ONE | GT hotel as an example, Myles said the government would fund some internship placements for Caymanians. He said the goal was to create a national internship programme that would create a pool of young eligible Caymanians.
Myles also acknowledged that cultural factors were at play. “As a parent, my responsibility is that my children are raised appropriately [but in Cayman] we have fallen short of that.”
“We consistently tell our kids that they are entitled to something [but] we have to get our kids more competitive, those small skills, like saying please and thank you, showing up for work on time, we need to administer them at home.”
He called for collaboration and asked the business community to provide more mentors for young Caymanians.
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Not sure why the kids are entitled to stuff. Parents needs to instill good work ethic,values and morals.
Myles will go down in history as the us vs expats immigration minister. Personally I think he has hurt the economy pretty bad and it may never recover to the point of the previous administrations.
We have many Caymanian friends who grew up here when there was no electricity, it was impossible to go outside at dusk because of the mosquitoes, medical care for anything serious meant a trip off island, no natural fresh water except rain water, it was hard to grow crops due to the lack of good soil, and most of the men sought employment overseas, often on ships.
The Caymanian people we know, and have heard about, are among the toughest people in the world. The opposite of lazy, but survivors.
Unfortunately politicians and others have been claiming for years that they need “protection” from foreigners who never grew up with hardship and that they are “entitled” to the best jobs without the need to really strive.
What is needed, as the Honorable Gentlemen says, is better education, including government funded scholarships to top universities, and in subjects that will allow our young people to compete with anyone.
Also we need a trade school here, teaching carpentry, electricity, plumbing, masonry, hairdressing, manicures etc.
And, of course, this country, like every country, should give priority to its own citizens. Let’s remember that there are two ways to own the tallest building in town. One is to build it. The other is to knock down all the other tall buildings.
Mr. Myles’ business is training (https://www.inspirecaymantraining.com). He has been in the business of training. I wonder how many people sign up and get trained? I agree with the point that Cayman was built by tough people who persevered. Only a fee built businesses. Not everyone wants to be rich and own things. Everyone’s success is defined by themselves. Everyone’s achievement is up to them. Plenty of examples in this community of people who built themselves over years and years.No one is entitled. That thinking only leads to envy and failure.
My company has an annual internship programme and each year we experience good and bad interns. Some who work hard, ask for more work, bring positive energy to the workplace, or stay beyond working hours out of choice. We also have others who do the bear minimum, turn up late, do not try to integrate with their team members, or simply are not competent. Just like everywhere else in the world, there are good and bad Caymanian employees and all businesses have limits to their resources to train. The business sector as a whole feels it has been penalised since the elections for the bad employees. Hopefully government changes its tune on this going forward and does more to acknowledge and contribute if it wants to see more Caymanians in the workforce without impeding the economy.