Unemployed have right to know about jobs
Employment Minister Tara Rivers at the Chamber Jobs Expo
(CNS): The employment minister has said that Caymanian job seekers have a right to know about all the vacancies that exist at any time in the marketplace, including those earmarked for permit holders. As government begins moves that will eventually lead to more transparency about permit holders and immigration data, Tara Rivers is also calling for all available jobs in this country to be accessible to local people who are unemployed.
Her comments come against the backdrop of a legal case brought by four leading financial firms who are seeking to suppress information released by the immigration department that, for the first time, would have given the community an accurate and detailed picture of what permits are held by whom.
Speaking at the jobs expo hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce at the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) on Friday, Rivers emphasised her goal to see the National Workforce Development Agency become the focus for all jobs in Cayman and she offered her support to requiring all locally unemployed people to register with the government job unit. (See related article on CNS Business).
Rivers said there needed to be a more transparent process about jobs in the local market and the vision was that the NWDA would become the clearinghouse for both jobs and job seekers. She said she could not comment on the current legal case over the release of information by the Department of Immigration but said she believes it is “a right for every citizen to know what jobs are available”.
The minister stressed the need for the business community to offer support to locals without work and young people coming from school and college. Government can create the environment for economic growth and the creation of jobs, she noted, but it needed the private sector to help ensure the work went to the qualified and able Caymanians and create openings for young people looking for their first job.
She said the goal of a national apprenticeship programme was still high on her agenda and discussions continued, but she said government needed the commitment from employers to get it off the ground.
Despite the criticisms that the NWDA has faced, Rivers defended the progress. She said that since she took up office the ministry had “made tremendous strides in increasing the quality of the information on the database” and greatly enhancing the important links between the agency and immigration. Given that issues of employment are split across a number of government departments, she said the entities had to improve when it came down to talking to one another
Government now has a better grasp of who is unemployed and available for jobs and more work is being done to enhance that information, she said. But urging the private sector to register all jobs with the NWDA, she said job seekers need to see all available opportunities in one place.
In order for government to tackle local unemployment it needed everyone looking for work to register in one place and for all jobs to be accessible, including work permit posts. “We have come a long way but there is much more work to be done,” she admitted.
The job fair was one of the largest hosted by the Chamber for several years and welcomed 37 exhibitors from government and the private sector. Several hundred students from all the local high schools attended.
Category: Education, Jobs, Local News
Unemployment is a myth and something to talk about and cause a fuss over
Get real if the government really cared they could create jobs But they don’t care
wrong employment for. the
local people. is the myth ! due to the laziness and worthlesness of the elected goverment.
It would be great if the unemployed could find jobs; as long as someone else is doing the hiring.
I am sick and tired of this about caymanians can’t find jobs…government is one of the biggest work permit holders furthermore I have a friend who was well qualified, registered with the NWDA was told there was a position with Dart that they would set up the appointment. Almost a month has gone by and she hasn’t heard from anyone for the so call appointment…..
No need to know the salaries but the work permit holder should be made to show their qualifications. What do these 4 firms have to hide? That they employ people from certain countries who have an unfounded sense of superiority? Especially when their qualifications are below those of certain Caymanians and RERC holders? Could be their HR departments are not doing their jobs and complying with legislation?
More Cayman twisting, I suppose you would like it if a list of salaries in your place were published, people could work out who you are from the job description and then the begging starts-its happened to some of those who were on those lists..
I think you’ll find, if you read the above correctly, that the poster suggested that showing salaries was not necessary and that this is about whether there are equivalently (or better) qualified people being available on island.
But alas it is hard to accept reality when one has such a closed minded myopic perspective as the poster at 16/03/2015 at 5:06 pm.
A good start would be for government to sort out those companies/people who are very putting these very obvious rip-off job ads in the paper where it is clear that the pay and benefit published are one figure and what is paid in reality (to the already chosen candidate) is a completely different figure.
Also, temp agencies flooding the market with cheap office laborers. No school leaver is every likely to get a foot in the door with a medium size company until temps are no longer allowed to sit for years in the same job with the same company. A temp should be a temp, not a permanent temp!
What people fail to realize is that a Company hires a “temp” to fill a roll that has an immediate need. They don’t want to take the time to “train” a person, hence the “temp” title. Now as far as I know, Immigration doesn’t allow for a “permanent temp” permit approval, so not sure how that works. When the permit comes up for renewal Immigration wants to know where the temp was stationed and for how long.
Also unfortunately Cayman is not designed for the school leaver, a high school leaver cannot jump into the role of lawyer, accountant, trust officer etc it just doesn’t work that way, those areas require skills and experience. Also take into consideration that you have older people employed in viable roles for school leavers (receptionists, clerks etc) that cannot afford to retire or move on due to the cost of living.
My children are Caymanians. They are both qualified, great attitude, received an A+ in Time Management, very good looking, dresses well but both need a work permit to get their feet in an organization. Until this opportunity is provided to them, the employer will never be able to identify that these two Caymanians are remarkable young people who just wanted an opportunity to share their knowledge and skills with their good attitude. Please give them a break.
Your problem is a problem faced by many families on the island that were granted status. Especially those with children who were away at college. Some of these children are in cayman working on permit and are granted a mere 40 points toward pr. First they must get a job and permit. Then last 7-9 or 9 years. Not sure really how much anymore. Then apply. Others have pulled up and stayed overseas. The real problem is these families will have a hard time when the parents get older and pass away. There will be estates to settle property, businesses etc. however the children will have no status and will not want to return disadvantaged to cayman. When will the government do something for these people? Cayman has lost doctors, lawyers, bankers, artists, scholars and entrepreneurs because of this. It is a brain drain of people in our community who have bee part of it for a long time. People who are our family friends and old classmates. It really is shame.
If you are Caymanian, and NOT registered with the NWDA, then you should NOT be listed as unemployed, and actively looking for work. BOTTOM LINE!!! if you are not registered with the NWDA, but are B^t(h!nG about expats taking all your jobs then you are doing exactly that….. B$%#%#ing!!!
Please excuse my ignorance. But why are we talking, and debating this? Thought the system got sorted? I work for a small company and am an expat. When they put in my permit, they had to run job ads for 2 weeks, and register with the NWDA. They then had to wait for the NWDA to say that NO Caymanian wants the position, before we can even submit the permit. How are ANY company’s allowed to get a permit even heard without registering with the NWDA? if EVERY company HAD to register with the NWDA, and wait for the NWDA to say that NO qualified cayman are in their database before a permit gets heard, then how does that mean they have not “fixed” or on the way to fixing the system? or how it is any other department, or groups problem to fix other than the NWDA? I believe that EVERY Caymanian that wants to work SHOULD have a job, and think that MOST expats would agree. But when the government (NWDA) says not Caymanian wants to job, then the job still needs to be filled. Again excuse my ignorance, but can someone explain why this is still an issue, rather than just focusing on improving the NWDA, and making it more productive and effective… STOP diving Cayman, and START helping it. Look forward to hearing what you say to help educate me more on this situation.
Good old fashioned corruption, collusion, power tripping. Take your pick. Or are you as naive as you sound?
Thanks for your resposne….. so you have narrowed it down for me then…. not expats, or employers to blame… just government?
It all starts with the Employers playing their shell games. People are often confused by the role Governments play in laws. While Governments world wide establish laws in most of those same countries the Court system plays the role of enforcing the laws. If someone is unemployed without the monetary resources to go the Court system to have their offense dealt with how do the problems get fixed? Governments would be in a perpetual state of creating new laws to close loop holes. The Employers know this and the shell game continues…….
She shows a basic understanding of a lot – she will be a one hit wonder as a politicians! Sorely disappointed in her.
That’s why when you hear someone slapping themselves on the back; shouting and preaching from the podiums, tv or the microphones to laud themselves praises on their own personal achievements/education/degrees as the “be-all-end-all” with all the drippings using the first-person (I am; I did; I will) then my dear:- BEWARE………The only person they’re gonna watch out for is themselves……..You and many others got a real fooling with her
For an education minister she shows a poor understanding of how private sector employment works. They need to talk to all employers on island, find out the skill sets, work ethics and qualifications needed and provide the appropriate education that gives Caymanians a better chance in the work place. I have repeated time and time again, employers would much rather employ Caymanians here as there are no permit fees, however they are not going to be forced to employ people who do not make the grade either in qualifications or attitudes. Many here just subscribe blindly to the theory that companies have to just employ people because it looks good for government. They have to do a lot more than that and it’s about time government did what is right for Caymanians rather than blaming the private sector.
I think what Tara is talking about is leveling the playing field for the unemployed Caymanian to be qualified for the job to be done and be fairly given the opportunity. Instead of the employer saying he/she needs a janitor with a master’s degree etc. I have to think that she’s doing the job now that she was put there to do.
One speech does not get the job done. There is no analysis of just who these unemployed Caymanians are. Until there is I do not think there is a real problem but rather political manipulation of voters. Yes there are unemployed Caymanians, but I want to know, as another poster said, how many are actually fit mentally, physically and educationally for the jobs at are available.
I think the point should be to level the playing field. There are some managers who employ people just because they have a similar accent. As an example there is a person at work who was employed on a full time basis by a manager from the same country. After a few months the employee asked to work half days twice a week because he has other interests and he was granted the request! I wonder if Immigration is aware of this. This whole issue is very unfair to the rest us us in that bank dept because we have to pickup the slack, but do you think that manager says anything? In the meantime that manager picks on the Caymanians every day about everything. It’s not right.
The opposite is my experience. The Caymanian employees get away with arriving late, have more than necessary sick days, being less productive etc. While I on the other hand am harangued if I am a minute late, am terrified to take a sick day and am constantly expected to cover for my absent Caymanian colleagues or take on the work load they have failed to complete.
And after talking to the employers, then what? what should the Government do next to insure employees are up to the standard of being hired.
Well 2.17, they should firstly learn to read, as you clearly have not learn to do so..secondly, there needs to be skills programmes for relevant qualifications, be that accounting, insurance, banking, carpentry, electrical..whatever, and then there needs to be lessons on what happens in the real world, what competition is and that competition is relevant to jobs and prosperity.
As a sell proclaimed sufferer of the moniker you title yourself after, you should be more sensitive to spread stereotypical, racist, bigoted and mythological information around so easily. It’s the same old hateful tune from the likes of you or whoever you are. These businesses know exactly what they are doing. Pay a few dollars in work permit fees to control an expat who they do not have to renew in a couple of years or hire then keep on a well qualified Caymanian who will become more costly to keep on as the years go by. Impress the home company bosses with savings to the bottom line and the mid and upper level managers stay on automatically. Take a fly on the wall reality poll of the managers at many of these businesses and you will find that paranoia and self preservation are the rule of the day. EVERY day.
oh dear, keep on taking the paranoia pills! I did not start a racist debate, but you certainly did, bigotry at its best!! Certainly in this office there is not one racist soul and if we could find qualified and willing Caymanians we would employ more of them by the boatload..however when they don’t turn up for interview, “get the day mixed up”, turn up chewing gum and not properly dressed then they will not be employed, end of story…there are not enough qualified Caymanians in our field. I wish there were, would save us a fortune in work permits.
Sure, sure, sure. What part of what was written really did strike the nerve?You made no mention of how businesses tow the bottom line the world over but you insist on making it a Cayman thing.
He who protest the loudest carries the most guilt.
Whoever you are you consistently perpetuate your paranoid stereotypes and display your hateful bigotry in these threads for all to see and that is why you will never receive any sympathy from fair minded human beings.
Truth hurts doesn’t it?
Check you soul before you loose it.
This is a good one. Someone calling themselves “Driftwood” is accusing others of being paranoid? You just cannot make this stuff up.
Yes, please direct me to the job tree so I may pluck one from its branches.
Ms Tara , just started the tree, Tara please don’t put your big speech to sleep, and your next step is to take it to the LA . Then you will be given me a little value for my vote .
In case you have not noticed, the MLA is not sitting.
Do you want corporate businesses to operate in the Cayman Islands or not? Forcing them to reveal their compensation packages to their employees will not encourage more firms to locate here. You know that these firms have other options right?
Cayman will always accept and welcome the many who play by the rules. Have you something to hide from your Caymanian employees? Compensation not what you said it was in the advert?
Assuming the ad is consistent with the permit application, how will a list from immigration reveal that? If the ad is not consistent with the permit application then immigration won’t approve the permit.
If only that were true.
That has just nit been my experience. Sorry!
If you can’t follow the rules then leave! I’m sure your country wouldn’t afford you the opportunities you want to have here. Otherwise you would still be there.
The same old racist rant. Home must be awful else why are you here. Economic migration is a fact of life across the globe. If you don’t want us here, then stop employing us as your nannies, home helps, care workers etc. Its simple, we would not be here if there was no demand for us to be here. That demand is created by Caymanians and can be stopped in its tracks by YOU.
I love these comments about “following the rules” at immigration. There are no f*&%ing rules at immigration. It’s the wild west. Appointed officials and officers making it all up as they go. Nothing ever written down, no clear guidance or regulations, just a host of unwritten and ever-changing “policies” and if you don’t like it, tough! Who you gonna complain to? Oh, the same officer that is deciding your application? Good luck with that.
If Immigration wants its customers to follow “the rules”, all it has to do is write some down and be willing to follow some itself.
If all the people who couldn’t follow the rules left who would run the island for the few Caymanians left?
If you can find a job locally than go to your mother country (England)
Their is something wrong with those that cant find employment.
Lazy, Stupid, Cant Read, above menial labor?
I don’t hear about any expats not being able to find work
Actually NO! it will reveal how many have lied to Immigration about the wages paid for certain jobs.
The more and more bureaucracy that is spun into all this the worse everything has become. It is time for a light touch. Roll back business fees and permit fees and let the market forces take over. Fact is government does not produce anything. Just professional politicians that get paid nice salaries and have constantly produce nothing. The pass regulations and spin vote getting words to get elected. Bureaucrats that administer the various failing departments while using our tax dollars.
If there is a right to know who holds which job as a permit holder, is there a corresponding right to know who the unemployed are, and what their actual status is…are they unemployed, unable to work (medical eg), self employed etc. The figures bandied about of the unemployed range from 1000 persons to 4000 persons….if the Ministry now has accurate figures please release the accurate figure of how many people are actually unemployed and willing and able to work, and how they will be monitored as actively seeking work? Reportedly there were over 20,000 permit holders on the list…..how would you cull that figure without seriously affecting the economy?
It is not the matter of culling that figure, it would be placement for the unemployed, who could be employed in some of those positions.
Our problem is permit holders pave the way for more of their friends to fill positions in the Cayman Islands. I would like to see work permits under the WNDA. It would be an more cohesive effort in solving the unemployment and discriminative effort by the elites.
All permits should be scrutiniised before that final stamp of approval is given. We need to stamp out local unemployment first.
I might also suggest that we take this a step further and look at who is employed in the thr Ministrynof Education itself as a result of having to be moved out of teaching because of incompetence, being related to someone, or going to school with a politician. You want transparency in the private sector but have little of it across the civil service.
6:12, the Ministry of Education and in particular the Department of Education have always been places to put local teachers and principals who were incompetent at their jobs. That is why the Education Department has been so utterly incompetent for so many years. No firing-just re-shuffle and promote the incompetents. It won’t change.