Doug Soares - Employment Challenges/Solutions

When I consider the magnitude of what I am going to talk about today, it is impossible for me not to feel troubled. It’s a topic that goes to the heart of the struggle that Bermudians experience competing for jobs in our economy.

Today I am going to talk about the long term trends of job creation and job losses in Bermuda and the degree to which the Bermudian workforce is adequately educated to meet the demands of the job market.

It is important to note that I will be speaking about the long term trends in the Bermuda job market – not the short term. I am not referring to the jobs that have been lost due to the current recession; many of those jobs will be re-created once our economy recovers.

When I refer to long term trends, I am referring to the impact of globalization on the Bermuda job market, particularly over the past 12 to 15 years. Specifically, I am talking about how the internet, technological advances, and the relaxation of immigration policies around the world, is making it so quick and easy to eliminate or move jobs out of Bermuda.

Specifically I am talking about the hundreds of clerical and office administration jobs, once performed in Bermuda, that are now, with the click of a mouse, being performed North America, Europe and Asia. I am talking about the hundreds of retail sales people who are no longer employed in Bermuda due to the ease and convenience of online shopping.

I am talking about the hundreds of customer service personnel, in all sectors of our economy, from banking to travel agencies, which have been replaced by ATMs and online self service websites. I am talking about hundreds of industrial and manual labour jobs lost due to the use of more technological advanced vehicles, appliances and machinery. I am talking about the jobs that are gone and will not be coming back.

I will do my best not to inundate you with statistics, but data are required to illustrate the trend.

Bermuda Government census and employment survey data illustrate that, over the 12 year period 2000-2012, 442 clerical jobs left Bermuda or were eliminated. During the same 12 year period, 753 jobs were lost in Manufacturing; 1,087 lost in Retail and Repair Services; 782 lost in Transport and Communications; and 63 jobs in the Utilities industry.

That’s a total of 3,127 jobs lost from the Bermuda economy since the year 2000. The majority of those jobs were lost prior to the current recession, which began in 2009. And the majority, I suggest, are not likely to be re-created when the economy starts growing again because many of these jobs were lost due to technological advances and automation.

That is terrifying. Here’s why.

According to the Bermuda Government 2010 census, 26% of working age Bermudians possess no academic qualifications whatsoever. This means that 1 in 4 Bermudians did not graduate from secondary school and must compete for jobs with the 32% of working age Bermudians whose highest level of education is secondary school completion. Take a moment to consider the type and number of jobs for which no education is required in Bermuda.

The statistics tell us that Bermudians with little or no formal education tend to take up occupations such as clerical, construction, manufacturing, retail, transport, communications and utilities. Put simply, this job loss trend is troubling because far too many Bermudians with relatively low levels of education are now competing for a relatively small and declining number of elementary occupations.

But that’s only part reason for serious concern.

Current employment data indicates that there are literally hundreds of work permit holders filling jobs that require little or no formal education. For example, according to the 2012 Bermuda Employment survey, there were 319 work permit issued to waiters and waitresses and a further 193 work permits for landscape gardeners. Similarly, work permit holders can be found in large numbers in more than a dozen elementary occupations ranging from farmers and pot washers to childcare workers and cleaners.

The popular response to stating this fact is simply to blame employers for cheating immigration rules to keep Bermudians out of such jobs. Another is to blame employers that pay too little such that Bermudians don’t bother to apply. Such blame is warranted in some cases, but not the majority.

The truth is, as a Minister of Immigration from a previous administration used to say, in Bermuda we have a large number of “unemployables”. Included in this category is a wide range of Bermudians who are capable but often unwilling to comply with basic employment requirements like making applications for employment and showing up to work on time. Also included are Bermudians who say they are willing to work but have proven to be incapable due to social problems such as drug use.

Another serious problem we face in Bermuda is focused at the opposite end of the job market and education continuum. That problem is that Bermuda produces far too few university graduates for the large and growing number of professional and managerial jobs.

From the 2010 census we know that only 19% of the Bermudian working aged population possesses a degree. Although no data exists to know exactly how many jobs in Bermuda require a degree, the fact that we import 5,161 work permit holders with degrees indicates that our economy demands a far more highly educated workforce than Bermudians supply.

Census data from other countries also strongly suggests that the rate at which we produce university educated citizens is very low. Degree holders in the United States account for 31% of the working population. In the UK it’s 29%; Canada 27%; Singapore 23%; Switzerland 22% and Ireland 22%. It is clear; Bermuda lags many of our competitor jurisdictions and we must do better.

But how do we do better? I have more ideas than I have time to share today. But here are two key strategies.

The first idea is a simple one. Let’s set a national target to vastly improve the number of university graduate Bermudians. Perhaps we should aim to have 25% of Bermudians with a degree by 2020; 35% by 2030 and 40% by 2040.

I am not sure what targets are realistic but you get the idea. Without targets, there is no focused action and no accountability. We are now setting targets and measuring outcomes in our public education system; so we need to do it at the tertiary level. The number of university graduate Bermudians improved from 14% in 2000 to 19% in 2010 – so we are moving in the right direction, but we must accelerate our rate of progress.

The second idea I have is less obvious but I think, equally important. I recommend that we scrap Bermuda’s motto Quo Fata Ferunt – “Whither the fates carry us” – and replace it with a credo and vision which inspires, motivates and guides Bermudians to engage in productive lives.

We need something that every Bermudian can get jazzed about. What do you think such a vision ought to be? I envision a new coat of arms for Bermuda, with a friendlier red lion holding a more positive image than a shipwreck, together with the adage “The most hospitable people on earth”.

Why? Because if Bermudians truly are the most hospitable people on earth, we will enrich ourselves economically and heal ourselves socially.

Economically it would serve to remind us that we earn our living in no other way than by being hospitable hosts to international companies seeking to maximize their profit and hospitable hosts to tourists seeking to maximize their fun.

It would serve us socially because it will encourage us to solve some deep-rooted problems which cause many Bermudians to be undereducated and inhospitable; serious problems such as poor parenting, sub-standard teaching in schools, child abuse, drug addiction and racism. To be sure, racism needs to be addressed because our history of racial injustice is, in large part, the cause of the educational underachievement of many Bermudians.

Also, I believe, if Bermudians were to become known as the most hospitable people on earth, we would be a proud people. Just think how cool Bermudians would feel to be known as citizens of the most hospitable country on earth! Just think about how being the most hospitable people on earth would enhance the value proposition for investors seeking to set up international businesses in Bermuda. Just ponder how tourists would feel being served by the most hospitable people on earth.

Put simply, just as an organization needs a clear vision to help focus and motivate its people to work productively, a country needs one too. Perhaps Bermudians will think twice about frowning upon service jobs such as waiters if they felt the intrinsic pull of being viewed as one of the most hospitable people in the world.

In closing, I would like to state the obvious. We cannot change the way the global economy works and no amount of badmouthing foreigners will help. We must accept the reality that there are relatively few jobs left in our economy that are inextricable bound to Bermuda. Most jobs now belong to the global economy; some of them just happen to be in Bermuda. Consequently, long ago Governments around the world liberalized their immigration policies to remain competitive. We must do the same in Bermuda if we are to remain economically viable.

Put bluntly, the unearned privilege of being born Bermudian is diminishing rapidly. As frightening as that is for our undereducated workforce, our Department of Immigration can no longer protect us as it could 10 or 15 years ago. Our best defense against the forces of global competition is to rapidly improve the education level of the Bermudian workforce. We must act urgently.