Workforce grew by almost 15% since census

| 30/09/2022 | 60 Comments

(CNS): The number of people in the Cayman Islands currently in a job has grown by almost 15% since the census was completed less than twelve months ago. The combined number of people looking for a job or in work also grew to 11.7%, increasing the actual workforce here to a record level of 54,398 people, according to the latest Labour Force Survey. The survey also shows a whopping population increase of more than 10% since the census to stand at 78,554 people, almost entirely due to an increase in overseas workers.

Reflecting on the situation as of spring this year, the report pegs overall unemployment at just 3%, though just over 5% of Caymanians in the workforce are jobless. But the population increase appears to have been fuelled by foreign workers. The Caymanian population rose by just over 1% during the last ten months while the non-Caymanian population is estimated to have increased by more than 25% in the same period.

More local people were back in work in April 2022 than in October 2021 as 21,299 Caymanians are now employed, an increase of 5.7% compared to the 2021 Census estimate. But more than 30,000 jobs here are now held by non-Caymanians, with over 27,000 of those on work permits. Meanwhile, over 1,000 Caymanians and permanent residents were recorded as being under-employed.

The majority of those who took part in the survey who were unemployed stated “no work available” as the main reason for not having a job, while unemployed non-Caymanians identified “home and family duties” as their main reason for not having work. Among Caymanians who were unemployed, 22% said they had never had a job and 40% of local jobless people said they had never received any training.

The survey also revealed that over 2,200 people over the retirement of 65 are still in work. Over 90% of the workforce is employed by someone else, with only 8.2% of those who work owning their own business. While the number of locals owning a business is higher than non-Caymanians, less than 16% of Caymanians work for themselves.

See the full report below or on the ESO website:


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Category: Politics

Comments (60)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Kenneth is the biggest useless waste of a salary.
    Tourism workers should have been trained and hired locally.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    This is surely expected. About 20 % of the expat workforce left cayman during the ridiculous extended lockdowns and those awful press conferences we had to watch during Covid. Now those staff have come back to fill hotel jobs. What I don’t get is why every time I go to a gas station, restaurant, bar, fosters, shop or anything, it’s never a caymanian. Why won’t caymanians do the jobs? That’s why we have to have people on work permits.

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    • Beaumont Zodecloun says:

      Most unskilled jobs are filled by expats who are willing to sacrifice on the hope of their country’s exchange rate eventually causing their savings sent home to be a nest egg.

      These jobs are minimum wage, and minimum wage is not a living wage for Caymanians. Additionally, those jobs rarely — if ever — lead to advancement.

      Single young Caymanians, often still living at home, could fill those jobs, but they are not a living wage for people who have to pay rent, especially if they are parents. Thus often getting stuck in the dead end do-loop of being a long-term NAU recipient.

      I realise that raising the minimum wage would likely translate to increased costs of goods, however I also believe that would help some Caymanians to have gainful employment and even rebuild their lives.

      If given a chance to vote upon it, I will choose to invest in our own people in this way.

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      • Anonymous says:

        With increased cost of goods and services, isn’t that essentially handing over extra wages to be sucked up in expenses?

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    • Anonymous says:

      You sound homesick busta.

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    • Anonymous says:

      what about the airport? Hardly see a Caymanian, Security, Porters?

    • Anonymous says:

      How about the Port, employees have to sign new contracts, no matter what jobs they hold, they all getting contracts as Laborers? How does that work for moral?

  3. Anonymous says:

    I know that their cencus was way off,I know that they had more people living here more than what they choose to say,Right now i believe we have over one hundred thousand people living here and many of them is illegal and many of them have no respect for the Caymanian people or the Island just come to scrape up and destroy the island .

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    • Anonymous says:

      There are not 100,000 here. Maybe 80

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    • Anonymous says:

      Nice grammar. You is smart.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Why not correct their grammar? Perhaps they weren’t as fortunate as you and couldn’t afford proper schooling; does that change the efficacy in which they communicated their message?

        Why not contribute something positive, instead of an unnecessary, hateful jab at low-hanging fruit? You might be educated, but apparently even that can’t help you to be a decent human being. Be better.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    How much of the 15% workforce growth are expats, who have intercepted Caymanian jobs?

    If being infiltrated by the Lodge everywhere wasn’t enough, Cayman is now being infiltrated by expats.

    Also, if all of this wasn’t enough, MacKeeva’s grants of Status to many undeserving recipients was already the nail in the coffin

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    • Anonymous says:

      Did you read the report? The number of employed Caymanians increases by 1,151 – or 2.5%. As to how many of the remaining 5695 increase in jobs are jobs “intercepted” by expats is a an interesting question the survey cant answer, but given it only has 1140 Caymanians as unemployed….Could it just be that the increase in non Caymanian workers is because the jobs are there, but Caymanians either don’t want them, are not qualified for them, or there are simply not enough Caymanians?

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      • Anonymous says:

        There are a number of clerical positions that come up for interview regularly, which are also “rewarded” with a pittance for a salary. Desperate Caymanian job seekers take the jobs but soon find that a salary of $22k doesn’t go far. You can’t buy loyalty to an employer for such little amount.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Too many excuses when it comes to employment of locals. Start a movement and picket the sites, let no one in until they are employed or shut them down. It works in other countries, why can’t it work here.

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      • Anonymous says:

        6.31pm Or people getting 5 or 6 Trade & Business licenses in order to bring in their people with no work for them.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Stop issuing work permits to those people, who no background checks are done on. If the facts are known, we are importing criminals into the Cayman Islands. Some are murders, or deported from the US and other countries, yet WORC is issuing permits. When we have examples of criminals being employed in the RCIP, do we need really need to open our eyes any wider.
      When they come here they are seeking security of tenure. Moving.into better jobs and pushing the Caymanians out. Why can’t our governments past and present stop the follow of undesirables. Is the LODGE more powerful than the laws of the land?

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      • Getting the worm says:

        I do like a dose of irrational dog whistle racism with my morning coffee.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Security of tenure lol. When your employer simply needs to inform WORC that you are fired and you have a week to leave the islands?

      • Anonymous says:

        Wow, Trump posts comments on CNS. Skylar Mack is free Donald. Go away.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Ideally a certain wig wearing woman beating/harrassing buffoon would be added to the unemployment roster, – to bad our ‘leadership’ does not have the cajones to make that happen.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    WHAT!? Expats grew by 25% and Caymanians only by 1%. There needs to be more BARRY WHITE played on the radios, night venues and KFC drive thru s that’ll get the Caymanian baby making numbers up! My darling I Can’t get enough of your love BABE

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    • Anonymous says:

      The problem is who the Caymanians are making babies with!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Like you lot are any different

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      • Anonymous says:

        The problem is ALSO who the Caymanians who are making the babies are: the cruffs and deadbeats and don’t wanna work /just wanna complain about “gernment’ types.

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      • Anonymous says:

        yup, which is why crime is out of control. how many caymanian women willingly had babies with 1 Jamaican guy who is in court accused of rape?

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        • Anonymous says:

          You know it’s interesting how no one in here talks about the facts that do many Caymanian men are marrying latinas and filipinos. There are a lack of available and decent Caymanian men for Caymanian women. Caymanian men want a subservient woman and most Caymanian women are far from that having grown up in households where women were both the breadwinners and homemakers.

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    • Anonymous says:

      KFC Drive thru? That is a blatantly racist remark! So we are into the black people love fried chicken jokes now? I bet you wont repost and give your cowardly name !!

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      • Anonymous says:

        It’s called humor! Here’s some more Asians can’t drive, whites can’t dance, browns barter and work at convenience stores and blacks sure do love their chicken, run fast and BBCs not talking about the news station either. Here’s a name Dave Chappelle the GOAT of comedy that has made his fortune with this universally known stereotypes humor.

  7. Anonymous says:

    Wait, are we comparing this to 12 months ago when the borders were closed and before all the hospitality workers came back to man the hotels?

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  8. Anonymous says:

    These are lies. They covering for the fact that the census grossly undercounted the population.

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Ah…that explains why the infrastructure is not coping; why most major roads have become parking lots! The lack of planning is simply deadfull, and Cayman will suffer the consequences. Sometimes, less is more.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Geez thanks for ditch digging jobs PACT. Saunders plee for equal opportunity sure worked. To hell with priority in our own country and the futures of our children.

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  11. anon says:

    What is the increase in numbers in the Civil Service over the last 2 years?.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    How many more Jamaicans do we want or need in this country? Honestly!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Enough to destroy the social fabric.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Done reach.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Would there be a need all the amount of expat workers if all the able bodied Caymanians worked? Do locals want to work at hotel, as gardeners, nannies, at Burger King? Never really see locals fill these positions.

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        • Anonymous says:

          How about the Port, employees have to sign new contracts, no matter what jobs they hold, they all getting contracts as Laborers? How does that work for moral?

    • Anonymous says:

      Good old fashioned racism being liked on here. Sad.

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      • Johnny the Wad says:

        hiding behind their computers.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Not racism – fair bet that the anti Jamaican comments are more nationalistic/bigoted than racist. Its not their color that is the issue for these posters.

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      • Anonymous says:

        It’s not racism. The facts are Jamaica is a country steeped in crime corruption and poverty. The statistics show those facts. The social fabric of Jamaica is severely compromised. My parents fled Jamaica over two decades ago, not because they were unpatriotic but for fear of their lives!! My parents are educated Jamaicans who could not live in such a society any longer. So no, not racism, just undeniable reality we find ourselves in.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Anywhere in the world that nationality goes, they destroy the social fabric. They must run things. Sad.

    • Anonymous says:

      11:39 am. None, need to get rid of many of them. Why cant Govt. See they are ruining these islands.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes….because only Jamaicans are expats.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    Now think about those that are working with no work permit…
    I bet that number would increase exponentially.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    The only reason we have so many workers is because of the rapid development this island has seen – please – let’s go back to the old days where there weren’t so many businesses and buildings. Less people, less traffic. Not to mention Caymanians were the majority. Sigh. It is the older Caymanians who destroyed Cayman for younger Caymanians.

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    • Anonymous says:

      No. It was pretty much destroyed by Mack. He had a lot of help from governors and commissioners refusing to enforce our laws, but history will record it as fundamentally being Mack.

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