WORC agency opens for business at new location

| 24/10/2019 | 16 Comments
Cayman News Service
Old Walkers building on Mary Street

(CNS): As government’s new agency responsible for all matters relating to the workforce begins to take shape, it will open for business on Monday at new offices in George Town. Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC) has moved from Midtown Plaza to the old Walkers offices at Apollo House West, Mary Street, in the heart of the capital.

Announcing the move, officials asked anyone looking for work or wanting to register with the government employment office to call ahead to make an appointment. This is to ensure the officers can allocate the necessary time needed to work with individuals and help them find work.

Meanwhile, WORC services currently offered at the old immigration HQ on Elgin Avenue, opposite the Government Administration Building, such as work permit applications, will remain at that location.

WORC is supposed to be officially up and running sometime this month but the remaining legislative changes to provide for the full merger of parts of the immigration service with the labour department, such as the direction that all job vacancies in Cayman must be process through the new agency, are yet to be brought to the LA.

There has been no sign of the proposed amendments, which require a 21-day public consultation process before being debated in the parliament, which means the changes will not form part of the agenda when it meets on Monday to debate the Referendum Bill.

The merger of the law enforcement and border control arm of immigration with customs to create the new Customs and Border Control (CBC) agency saw that new body go live at the beginning of the year. But the work permit and labour side has still not come into effect. Officials said in August they were about to launch the portal JobsCayman, the critical first step in an entirely online national work placement system.

Officials said the aim is to offer a better system for Caymanians looking for work. It will ensure that, for the first time, every vacancy where the employer is seeking a work permit will be advertised and scrutinised in one place in an effort to prevent local workers from missing out and employers from manipulating the system.


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Category: Government Administration, Jobs, Local News, Politics

Comments (16)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Government needs to move east… with the dump. Hell, they can put the MLA on top on the new dump.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Sharon’s job is not one that can be accomplished, finding jobs for unsuitable Caymanians. It will end in tears, like all the other efforts over the last three decades to fit square pegs into round holes.

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    • Anonymous says:

      That is 100% on point. You have people in very high places that dictate what permits to grant. Let’s be honest, you have to look out for those votes. You would be surprised and disgusted at what goes on. Sharon tried and I believe her heart is still in the right place but it’s useless when you have no support and I mean from the very top to the very bottom.

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    • Anonymous says:

      A placement merely to avert her from contesting the next election. Do try to keep up.

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  3. No Diggity says:

    I like the way they Worced that.

  4. Anonymous says:

    What a waste of money! WORC is operating out of 3 buildings then? Elgin Avenue, Cayman Centre and Walker House? That makes no sense! Why not get the Department under 1 roof?

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  5. Anonymous says:

    So what’s the point of the Government administration building? Very grand building, lost touch with the people they are meant to serve maybe?

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  6. Anonymous says:

    Really? Mostly what I’ve seen from Officials first priority will be a more efficient system for employers to more effectively cirumvent the laws and regulations.

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    • Say it like it is says:

      I believe 7.44pm is questioning why so many government departments are housed outside the Government Admin Building and paying high rents. It’s just like the “new” and larger airport terminal, just completed but already too small to accommodate all the passengers. Looks like we will need another Government Admin Building to accommodate our vast and ever growing army of civil servants.

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      • Anonymous says:

        and build it in the east

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      • Anonymous says:

        Remember that the original plan had been for two GABs but they cut it back to one because of the cost (global financial crisis). So it was always known that this one would fill up (quickly) and some agencies would need to remain outside.

        Now why we’re not looking to build #2, or Department buildings if there’s a reason to disperse them, now that the CIG says it has a surplus again, is a good question.

      • Anonymous says:

        Plenty space in the Glasshouse.

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