CITA: Recruitment bigger problem than COVID
(CNS): Just 24 hours after the tourism minister was standing in the Legislative Assembly making it clear to the private sector that his priority was to see far more Caymanians working in tourism and that they would not get permits while local people remained unemployed, the Cayman Islands Tourism Association was urging action on processing the work permits it says it is going to need to rebuild the sector.
At the annual general meeting on Tuesday, CITA President Marc Langevin illustrated the problem the sector is facing when he said that WORC has around 50 local candidates interested in food and beverage work but that sub-sector alone will need to recruit around 600 people over the coming weeks.
Langevin said the problems surrounding recruitment for the vacant posts are bigger than the COVID-19 pandemic itself because a combination of factors are negatively impacting the recruitment process, and he listed a catalogue of challenges in the re-mobilization of staff to rebuild the local tourism sector.
The CITA president and general manager of the Ritz Carlton hotel raised many issues working against them, such as immigration boards not meeting, the time it takes to find overseas workers and get them here, and a shortage of Caymanians wanting to work in tourism, all of which are creating a major problem that will prevent the return of the tourism product.
Langevin noted that food and beverage workers are fundamental to kick-starting the sector, and without a cook in the kitchen and a server to take it out, a restaurant or hotel cannot open. He said that withholding work permits will not help the sector employ more local people.
He said there was a “systematic lack of understanding of our industry”, as he raised the alarm about the reopening process and urged everyone in tourism to keep advocating for a specific date for Phase 5 of the reopening plan, against the need for unvaccinated kids to be isolated, and for a change in the testing policy and better airlift.
But the president and other members of the CITA executive were especially concerned about the staffing issue and said that WORC had to begin immediately fast tracking the work permits that will be required to get people into critical jobs. However, the new work permit and business staffing boards have not met since they were appointed as they are undergoing training, which means that WORC has a backlog of applications.
Langevin spoke of an immediate crisis that was not being properly recognised by the government. There is still a major gap between the political aspirations of the PACT Government to re-Caymanize tourism and the difficulties the industry seems to have doing that.
CITA VP and Sister Islands representative Michael Tibbetts said it was politically sensitive to talk about the remobilization of work permit holders and the sector wanted to recruit Caymanians but there are not enough people interested in certain types of jobs. So the sector will need to get hundreds of people in what is a very difficult environment from overseas.
The recruitment process and getting work permits signed off for people to begin work next year should have already started but permits were not being cleared, he noted. “We have to be able to hire a certain number of work permits to rebuild tourism and it is taking a lot of time to do that,” he said, pointing out that the sector has to begin recruiting now for April.
- Fascinated
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CITA President Marc Langevin complains openly about time, energy, and cost hassles of recruiting and importing indentured unskilled labour from the third world, during a global health pandemic; asks that CIG streamline process.
I have spoken to people who have married foreigners who have worked at different Bars, Restaurants, hotels, Condos, etc. They use to work on a work permit but when they got their Cayman passport something changed. Some have been at their jobs for years. Explain that.
If your acaymanian right now and have been unemployed for a long period of time then you are unemployable. Go on jobs cayman and search through the abundance of construction jobs. You don’t want to work, simple as that. Just want to get on the excuse train and blame expats for taking YOUR job lol
Marc is full of sh@t! They pay foreigners more than they pay locals. They need to use the funds allocated for work permits and pay locals more. They treat locals bad, advertise a very low salary to keep out locals. You will never see a local on their guidance team. The guidance team members get bonuses, their rent/mortgages pay, utility bills, and children’s CIS Tuition fees. They can increase the salary to attract more Caymanians
The permit holders are coming one way. ….in droves.
Worc does not WORK. Like other government offices, programs are put into place but then…
Oh paper shuffle.
You guys love the old work permit excuse as a reason why you can’t get your lazy ass out of bed and get a job,
Here is where the PACT and CITA become trapped by their lies….
If there are 4K workers of the Hospitality Industry requiring a stipend, then Marc you should at least be able to recruit 300 of those.
But I guess unicorns are fiction, and lies are real.
He might be able to recruit more of them if the stipend were to stop.
Some people might like to get paid not to work and for others the wage was is so low that they make more on the stipend.
$1,500/4.3/40 =$8.72/hr
Now if you are working another job it is even better.
Strangely if you pay people not to work…
Obviously Caymanians do not covet jobs as waitstaff of bartenders or other front line service jobs subject to gratuity sharing because the $4.50/hour minimum wage is poverty-level income and even with grats it comes far short of being on par with a living wage. If the CITA wants to recruit more Caymanians into the hospitality industry, then they must be prepared to embrace something that resembles a living wage. Until then, their pleas for more work permits to import cheap foreign labour should fall on deaf ears.
And yet – thousands of expats, many from First World countries, come here and make a living doing exactly what you say Caymanians cannot do. And they do it without the social services safety net and other advantages that Caymanians have. Why do you think that is?
No mortgages, no children, no cars, living 3 to a room. That’s how.
There aren’t too many European or N. American food and bev staff living 3 to a room.
That’s not true, especially divemasters who were constantly seen at Bars and restaurants drinking a beer and eating free food. They start at $6 per hour plus tips.
Maybe it’s because they are willing to work 50 plus hours a week instead of 27 with a whole packet of excuses
In many cases, it is due to the exchange rate of the expats’ native country and ours, and the nature of their short-term sacrifice for their family. It’s a good thing that I respect, however it is different for those who live here and who hope to raise a family in a system where they will never make enough to invest in themselves beyond paying the bills.
We need a living wage and then a radical enforcement of the laws. We sit at a great pivotal point right now, where we can have the stones to dig in and really benefit the native people. We will ALWAYS need expats.
Some of our people have given up on themselves and subsist off the NEU and patchwork work. That is fine and no shame if that is enough for you. Some of our hard-working people just need a chance to work and show themselves and earn a living that can support them and their families. The hotels and big businesses are making good money. Jobs need to be fairly funded for those businesses to be sustainable.
We’re talking about opportunity, just a little break. I had opportunity when I was young — the opportunity to work my ass off and gradually get ahead. I think that is far more difficult in these trying times.
Hey 8:55:
Read what 8:33 has to say.
I say DITTO that, 8:33!
Or some businesses may move to other jurisdictions, where it’s cheaper to conduct business.
Why don’t you start a company and hire caymanians for $30 an hour? Talk is cheap.
It would be nice if CITA would provide the numbers of Caymanians employed in the Tourism business . If possible leave out all of those paper-Caymanians so anot to distort the numbers.
I look at the board right now and there is only one or two on their they came here by pain, the rest all came here by plane..
What about all those born here to expat parents? Think you need to change your terminology to multi generational Caymanians – we have moved on from the 90s and paper Caymanian is no longer an accurate term to reflect your antipathy towards those you regard as outsiders, no matter how long they have been here.
You are correct for most, but do not lose sight of the fact that some of them are outsiders. Some of them appear to have been granted status in an overt act of corruption. Some of them have made plain their disdain for the Caymanian people. They are not, and never will become, one of us.
You mean those ‘Paper Caymanians’ that acquired BOTC citizenship rights status & right to work legally under ( Insert Immigration Law order in space “_______” ) who have since contributed to Caymans success on many levels & add to the local community & lives here, are they the ones distorting your numbers? Shocking !
No. Most of them are Caymanians.
Caymanians cannot afford to live here on 5 dollars an hour. This is where our lives and families are. How can we own/rent a home, feed our children, keep the lights on, a car in good condition with gas, clothe our growing children and pay for a helper to take care of our kids while we work shift hours on 5 dollars an hour? You expats that come here with just a bag can do that while shacking up with 50 people and paying low rent…. we can’t do that. I want to live good in my country not how u think i should live. You came here to save and leave…. so shush it you pasties!
This attitude is not helpful at all. Cayman has evolved and if the local population doesn’t realise this and stop the uncalled for and critical comments directed at people who have come here and helped the Island grow, we will end up in a much worse mess than we are now. Stop a while to think, if you can, most of our children and even grandchildren are married to someone from another country. The minimum wage is something the Government needs to correct. Many Caymanian owned businesses take advantage of the existing wage – trust me on that one. Stop the foolish blame placing and own up to the fact that Caymanians sold their land to the highest bidder in the first place. Do you expect to receive top dollar for your property and then ask the purchaser to leave and or do nothing with their investment? What a load of crock! We need to look at the real problem and what we lack is proper training in the tourism industry to encourage our young people, especially those who cannot afford to go away for schooling, to become enthusiastic about being a part of the industry. Anyone with the right attitude and proper skills will succeed – and I impress the word attitude here. As a Caymanian business owner that relies on some work permits, and pays way above the minimum wage, I would rather not have to deal with the hassle and expense of work permits or dealing with a Board that takes its time handing out decisions – running a business relying on this is difficult but so often hands are tied. I often wonder why when I hear of so many young Caymanians needing work…..where are they?…
While you blasted 4:55 for his critique of expats who come and work for peanuts, you utterly failed to uphold the harsh but valid realities that he presented. He proffered that the reason Caymanians do not seek out work in the hospitality/tourist industry is that we cannot subsist on a poverty-level wage. You say “We need to look at the real problem and what we lack is proper training in the tourism industry to encourage our young people, especially those who cannot afford to go away for schooling, to become enthusiastic about being a part of the industry.” However, the reality is that unless and until the hospitality sector starts to offer significantly higher wages, you could provide totally free Harvard-level training and you will find few candidates because–as 4:55 aptly pointed out–Caymanians cannot own/rent a home, feed our children, keep the lights on, a car in good condition with gas, clothe our growing children and pay for a helper to take care of our kids while we work shift hours on a poverty-level wage. Since you claim to be paying a decent wage to your workers, I suggest that you can be part of the solution by supporting a mandate that hospitality employers do the same.
So we have some people saying it isn’t a living wage and others saying Caymanians aren’t hired and these conniving expats get the $4/hr. job but make thousands from tips after unfairly stealing that job from the deserving Caymanian, who by the way isn’t prepared to work for $4/hr.
Which is it?
Be honest, if you and your wife had 2 kids, how much would you spend on cost of living? Rent, groceries, electricity, water, phones, lunch for the kids, health insurance, car insurance, going out, etc. $3200 couldn’t pay for what you need to survive. We’re not in Cuba.
Please do tell us how many hospitality workers are raking in “thousands” you speak of? At what venues are they working. How often do they make those thousands? Who compiled the figures? What we do know is all hospitality employees in jobs subject to grat sharing are subject to the $4.50 minimum wage. This is why government must start by compiling and making public auditable information and statistics in regard to employment and take home pay levels in the tourist industry and begin moving towards paying a living wage. Too much is left to speculation. Given sound and reliable information, Caymanians can then decide on which policies to support and which to reject, and can voice their feelings confidently as to what direction they want these islands to go.
“…You expats that come here with just a bag can do that while shacking up with 50 people and paying low rent…”
Why does Caymanians support importing poverty?
Because it makes some of us buckets of money, on the backs of the hopeful.
Entitled much?
Perhaps you should elect a government that doesn’t spend money me water and pay for it all by driving the cost of living through the roof.
BTW – “pasties” – really? Sad man sad.
If you can’t afford to live in your own island when it seems everyone else can then leave and take your poor me attitude with you. You don’t deserve it.
The Caymanians have a valid complaint if their hospitality job offers them the opportunity to earn a wage on which they can barely survive on their own island.
The kryptonite to the purveyors of poverty-level wages is establishing what would be considered a Living Wage in the Cayman Islands and comparing that to the take-home pay of hospitality workers under CITA employers. This would pretty much shut down CITA crying about not being able to recruit Caymanians and the reason why.
If those caymanians had stuck to a job instead of 4 or 5 employers in the last year they wouldn’t be on 5 bucks an hour.
What I notice in cayman most of these business places does not want to hire newly graduate but come on they need a head start here also.i work most of my life in tourism from galleon beach hotel to the old holiday inn to the old Hyatt and in those day wages was like peanut and everybody was happy,it’s not about caymanian lazy it’s about these manager take the gratuity for them selves,you do the job and they take the prize.
Pay a living wage and you will have plenty of workers
Bravo! Well put!
Maybe open your own hotel
Not a fair market. I would have to pay full tourist tax, for example.
And breathe. Shout out for the comma!
The tourism minister has been played like a fool by the likes of Marc Langevin. Marc Langevin thinking several moves ahead of the tourism minister and he has demonstrated on numerous occasions that he understands how to navigate the tourism minister’s personality.
His boss will get everything they want. Money talks and bullsh*# walks!
🙏🏾 PREACH ! Mic Drop 🍾🎉. Kurt Christian
Here is what any recent high school graduate can expect if they present themselves properly attired and on time, speak with the manners and respect for others that was instilled in them from an early age (even if it is now only in the deepest recesses of their memory), and are able to understand and follow instructions, both written and oral:
1. A very good chance of a job offer for an entry-level position at a bank, insurance company, law firm, accounting firm, or any of the many other businesses operating in the Cayman Islands.
2. The written job offer will be in compliance with the Labour Law, Pension Law, and Health Insurance Law from day one. If you happen to be a teenage parent, your children will also be covered under your health insurance immediately.
3. If you are willing to study and apply yourself, your employer will encourage and assist you, usually by refunding the costs of courses passed, and also giving you pay raises for any relevant qualifications you acquire.
4. As you learn and grow, promotions and pay raises will follow, but you also have the option of moving (with proper notice) to another company that may be willing to offer you a compensation package that you find more attractive.
If you are a work permit holder you know:
1. The option of moving to another employer in the Cayman Islands is seldom viable.
2. If the Pension Law, Labour Law, and Health Insurance Law are not quite followed in their entirety by your employer, you don’t need to be reminded that there are thousands of people in your home country who would gladly trade their current job for yours under the same conditions.
3. You were hired as a young healthy person with no dependents, so don’t bring up children or aging parents left at home.
What’s not to like about having work permit holders in the tourism industry, construction industry, helper, gardener, and every other non-skilled job?
Not to mention the many skilled jobs not protected by a local trade organization.
It’s an issue because he don’t want to hire Caymanians they want us on the road so n Christmas cleaning up so they can have us as a laughing stock, this is what happens when you let foreigners have these titles no what they need to do is give Caymanians his position I bet it would not be an issue then! Cayman not for Caymanians we get better opportunities abroad well we sick of that we want this opportunities in our home land we want to enjoy our land and raise our children here! We need to protest because right now the foreigners have us Caymanians as a laughing stock and we are Qualified with education and experience!
Maybe learn English and someone might employ you above minimum wage. Reading and writing PROPERLY isn’t an optional extra.
That right there is why your a laughing stock and will never be more than that on an island you no longer own. If you were qualified you would be working and happy like the thousands of Caymanians and expats who are responsible and happy with their lives. God is trying to teach you a lesson you won’t get in this lifetime.
Employers in the industry need to ensure that Caymanians can expect reasonable working hours, decent pay, and that their statutory obligations for benefits such as health and pension are being met and PAID. Far too many employers in this industry play too many games with their employees, and then wonder why nobody wants to work for them.
This goes for Employers both Caymanian and Expat, as a Caymanian that has years of experience in bartending on this island I can guarantee you that there is often ridiculous expectations placed on workers and lack of clear boundaries in their roles working for these people. If you are white (esp North American culturally or sounding) you have a massive advantage in being hired without a doubt.
STOP complaining that Caymanians don’t want to work! They don’t want to work for exploitative business owners in inconsiderate and inconsistent conditions at crap pay! Caymanians deserve better than being undermined by such a ridiculously low entry level minimum wage and then being harangued as lazy by these same entitled bourgeoisie people that still see it as more profitable for them to extract surplus value by paying 1,000 dollar permit for someone on 6dollars an hr than to ensure a CAYMANIAN IS DEVELOPED AND PAID A LIVING WAGE BY THEM AND NOT RELYING ON CUSTOMERS TO DO IT FOR THEM.
Develop Caymanians and pay them more than peanuts and watch how many end up actually genuinely enjoying and thriving in the industry! This also goes for the economy in general. Wake up and stop victim blaming Caymanians because you wont actually offer them a living wage.
If you were any good, your tips alone would at least triple your pay. Fact. Sulky and slow doesn’t cut it.
No one should have to rely on tips to survive.
Exactly. How do you get tips while on maternity leave?
Getting the tip is what got you in that mess in the first place.
Shouldn’t have kids if you can’t afford them!
Shouldn’t employ people in Cayman if you are not prepared to abide by our Labour Laws.
@7:42
Shouldn’t have employees if you don’t want to pay them a living wage.
that’s true, but if the company goes under due to charging higher prices to afford to hire Caymanians, then no-one is employed.
And everyone will be commenting about the high cot of Cayman and the increasing cost of living.
But we can just raise the living wages higher to cover the increase in the cost of living, and prices go up again
Everybody survives on tips to survive. THIS AROGANT ATTITUDE ONLY ENSURES THE CYCLE REPEATS.
I agree, my 30+ years of visiting Cayman indicates that ‘sulky and slow’ is what is common-place. Sorry Cayman – your work ethic is simply poor (Not all, but far too many). Stop blaming expats, stop blaming foreign work-permit holders that out-hustle, out-work, and are simply better staff.
@12.16pm Thanks for demonstrating your judgmental approach to and perception of Caymanians in the workplace though.
@2.26pm never once did I mention other workers, I even was clear in stating the issue is with employers both Expat and Caymanian. Stop gaslighting Caymanians when they bring up legitimate issues relating to labour relations and lack of compliance with statutory employment obligations here.
Blah blah. Part of relaxing is slowing down.
And yet you continued to come for thirty years
So why do you come here in the first place if you think Caymanians are “sulky and slow”? Masochist much? Sounds like you like being miserable. The likes of you is why expats are often perceived by some to be stupidly arrogant.
Right, demanding basic dignity and respect at work is considered sulky?? No wonder Caymaniams can’t be bothered working for dorks with your mentality. And tips were never an issue for me, because I was valued by my customers more than my employers – consistently across multiple jobs, despite the thousands I made them. Too many employers feel empowered to get away with wage theft and non-compliance with statutory obligations. Your attempts to gaslight Caymanians into not demanding better from such employers will not work anymore.
I was speaking as a customer. Sulky and slow is what I see in Caymanian wait staff. If your employer is stealing your tips that’s a different issue. Do something about it, make a complaint. Or work for an honest employer.
On top of that, they want to do what almost every Caymanian I have ever worked with does – use all 10 days of sick leave EVERY year, as it it is a use-it-or-lose-it entitlement. You can’t earn if you don’t show up to work, especially in the hospitality industry.
Tips are not a reliable source of steady income. If you were any good you would advocate for employers paying a living wage. Fact.
Wrong. They are very reliable. But you have to be there at work hustling. Sounds like you don’t want to do that.
Trying to envision new workers coming here to then be burdened with red-tape from any future travel & have to pay $800.00 to Cayman Airways for a ticket to Miami.
The problem with the Tourism sector is having the mouthpiece of its organisational body helmed by a DART shill: profit-blind and tone-deaf to global pandemic realities, public health, and tourist safety. Omicron cases in SA are up >400% in just one week, 92% in last 24 hours alone. Cayman will not be in great shape when we receive those metrics. USA’s CDC is mulling 7 day quarantines for all inbound travellers including returning US Citizens, and USA are chairs of of a newly minted G7 COVID policy treaty to extend G7 decisions globally. Professionals in the tourism industry should be capable of understanding what’s happening, play that forward a couple weeks, to perceive the forthcoming global business travel and Tourism interruptions. Recruitment for what?
But DART owns the Ritz, so the reflection looking back in the mirror is tough to distinguish. Perhaps the veil of the pretty tree and lights at Camana Bay, it’s backdrop of spraying fountain water and kiddies running thru, says that the world is good, real good. Pandemic ? Here ? It must be true, as the PCR test and vaccination warehouse reside behind the 3/4 “impact glass doors and are doing an amazing job . I fail to see how they cannot grasp that it will be years before tourism gets a chance to kick off here again, if it ever does at all. 2022 is shaping up on Dec 1st to be up in the pandemic / travel gong show hour like 2020 was . But we got close, real close.
Langevin says the island needs 550 ex-pat workers for the food and beverage sector over the next few weeks. What, that massive influx or tourists he thinks will come to an island with the highest per capita infection rate in the world? I want some of what this man is smoking! One thing he must get try to get to grips with is that tourism workers in this country will now NOT put up with minimum wage — sometimes less with unscrupulous employers. The rebellion against this type of exploitation is over, the world over. You need workers, Lanegvin? Then make sure your members pay a living wage, otherwise their shops, restaurants, and other tourist facilities deserve to go under.
Fundamentally, his grift is to project a unshakable confidence that the global health pandemic is done, when it’s certainly not. Any tourism stakeholders following DART’s pied-piper, ignoring ever-changing realities, and disregarding ever-present global air travel interruption risks, do so at their own peril. DART can absorb these curveballs, especially when they are paired with the acquisition opportunities of buying failed competitor brands for pennies on the dollar. DART would love everyone else to get a loan and staff-up in advance of the predictable interruption. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.
I don’t get it either. On one side they are saying there is not enough airlift and people are not coming but on the other side they say they need 500 more people.
Wouldn’t it make sense instead of complaining if there is 50 Caymanians ready to to work to hire them and then ask the government to fast track permits for the rest needed. You can’t just ignore the Caymanians and not even give them an opportunity.
Oh they can ignore the Caymanians. They have for a decade. Government gave them permission.
So the man running the hotel who can see his bookings, knows less than the uninformed commentators on CNS?. If those tourist facilities go under. You REALLY go under. You have no idea the precarious existence you in. The hateing here goes to begging and pleading the minute the government money runs out, which is real soon with your idea of a solution.
You don’t understand. We existed before them. Our lives were better then. Most of us actually have little to lose if they go. This is of their making. If only they had allowed the legally mandated participation of locals. Instead they did all they could to minimize it.
Look at the pictures of how people were living in the 50s-60s.
I don’t have to. I remember the 70’s and 80’s. MUCH better.
Meh, maybe in Cozumel. The Cayman Islands has a different economic engine, where tourism is a pleasant sideshow contributing <25% of GDP in its best years. Even then, profiting only to a handful of magnates and foreign-owned duty free perfumeries and jewelry chainstores. There is no widespread trickle down in tourism sector, it’s dribs and drabs are already flowing into the bottom of the financial pyramid.
Why should Caymanians want to go into the tourism industry. Employees in the tourism industry have suffered the most during this Covid crisis and continue to suffer because the government is more interested in protecting the willingly unvaccinated civil servants.
Ummmm, who is being paid CI$1,500 each month to sit home and do nothing?
OK, cut Civil Service pay to $1500 / month unless vaccinated….
And many work on other jobs also…smh
The likes of Marc Langevin and many managers plus owners in the tourism industry have always loudly complained about not being able to find Caymanians to fill jobs. However the reality is they have zero interests in hiring, developing, training and promoting Caymanians. CITA is full of bigots and parasites that have zero respect for anything Caymanian. Yet none ever want to leave these shores and are desperate to get Caymanian Status.
Stand your ground Minister Bryan. If Caymanians cannot get a chance in our country what is the point of any of this razzle dazzle and high end Tourism all about? A group like CITA and Langevin could never do this in other caribbean countries like Bahamas, Barbados, Jamaica and TCI where tourism industry thrives on the employment opportunities given to locals.
Time for the tourism industry to pay locals a living wage and not the usual $5.00 per hour.
try getting a drink in a bar in those countries. that’s why locals only drink at the gas stations or rum shops. they smart and won’t wait an hour for the local bartender to get up from filing their nails
What the crap are you talking about? Which small island have you visited and experienced a barmaid ignoring you whilst filing her nails?
Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Guyana, Trinidad, Barbados. Have you left your home ever? All these countries!
Do you think that maybe it’s possible that you’re the type of person who gets ignored by servers wherever you go – because you are so obviously rude to them ?
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🙏🏾 PREACH ! Mic Drop 🍾🎉. Kurt Christian
So being in the bar & restaurant industry for over 30 years ( I’m a caymanian), I started off as a bar back and runner, I worked my way up to server, then bartender and saved enough to invest in a restaurant. Yes the salaries apear to be low but if you include tips you make a lot more than the average salary on island.
From my experience, being in the industry is a life style, not just a job, yes the money can be great but you have to learn to be social, outgoing, be able to work weekends, public holidays put up with @SSHOLE customers, mostly locals, who speak down to you (whilst on this, we caymanians believe servering other is beneath us) as well as being sexually harassed by moslty again your Caymanian husbands (but we won’t talk about that).
Let’s be honest, we are never going to fill these sorts of industries with Caymanians as it is a serving of others role! So just stop b@tching about it!
My experience hiring Caymanians is they come in, see that they are on there feet all day, cleaning tables, working at a fast pace, no long lunch breaks, take the garbage out to the dumptser, to to the storage room and bring in 2 cases of liquor, couple cases of beer,then fill the ice wells with ice, make sure all cutlery is arranged, after a couple of days training they say they don’t want the job or just never show up again. Guess what they haven’t even felt with a customer at this point.
I love this industry, I’ve saved and invested my money into a small business which gives me a comfortable livestyle, but some months my staff make more than me. I would never change it as I have met so many other great servers, bartender, cooks and five industry staff, who to be honest I would prefer to serve all day long rather than your drunk, groping, rude and sexually harassing Caymanian husband, oh and the b@tchie Caymanian ladies who look down on you, like I’m their helper.
Once you Caymanians customer’s so respect for these sorts of jobs, maybe just maybe more locals like me will want to work in this amazing industry.
I have said this for years: working in the hospitality industry is more of a calling than a job. The idea that anyone can (or would want) to do it is pure protectionist fallacy. As you said, it is a lifestyle and is not particularly conducive to family life (although many have successfully managed it) but offers an opportunity to travel and see the world – those with talent and the right attitude can get jobs anywhere their language(s) are spoken. Bottom line is that many off the comments made on this thread are utter uniformed nonsense.
And yet more than 150 Caymanians had the calling at the Holiday Inn, right until they were made redundant and never rehired?
@8:49 – that was a different generation of Caymanian, they had a work ethic and they worked hard. I remember the ladies of the Galleon Beach Hotel, we all became family. We worked weekends and holidays together. It is not an easy job.
Today’s Caymanians, do not have that same work ethic. Serving others is considered beneath them. It’s a whole different breed of Caymanians that we have now. Entitled and not willing to work.
not just Caymanian… most 18-25 workers worldwide want something different then past generations, and there is nothing wrong with that. should you’ve to work, or work to live?
You say they were different, and yet even they were never rehired while they had many years of productive working life ahead of them? What has happened is disgusting. All overseen and enabled by corrupt or inept government officials whose job it was to stop it.
I worked at the old holiday Inn, my tips we amazing, I’d say 50kpa minimum. I know the bartenders there made anywhere between 70-100+ k pa. And that’s tips. They made more than management.
Yes. And they were Caymanian. And that was 20 years ago. None of those opportunities for Caymanians now though, are there? Why not?
Hit the nail on the head right there, different generation.
What is not fallacy is that if the industry offered a living wage as a minimum, more Caymanians would be “called” into the industry. When I was younger, I used to do gigs as an entertainer at various resort venues. I would periodically see new Caymanian face among staff. Some would tell me how they really liked the job but could not continue to work for such a low income and they would be gone. Others who departed suddenly and I would see them working in a different sector had the same story about the low income being the prime reason they quit. Other bright Cayman students and young people will tell you outright that they will not work for the CI$4.50 per hour offered. Sure, they might make more in a thriving venue if tips are good, but in the off season many do not earn a living wage.
@Caymanian Industry Lady – As a Caymanian former waitress, I started waitressing when I was 14, every word that this lady says is true. You HAVE to be hardworking, willing to do the dirty jobs, and still have a smile on your face and be genuinely pleasant to customers.
It is not an easy job, you work odd hours, you work weekends and holidays, your social and family life can take a hit. But that is the nature of the job.
Also, Caymanians in general were my worst customers, the women treat you as if you are beneath them and they generally do not tip, their husbands/boyfriends try to pick you up and make lewd comments, but they will generally tip well.
That was 20 years ago, when young Caymanians had a work ethic, I seriously doubt many of today’s young Caymanians, have that same work ethic. Being in the tourism industry is seen as being “beneath” the average Caymanian. Today’s kids, all want to be “influencers” they live on social media and try to have an impossible lifestyle.
There are very few Caymanians who could stick it out in the F&B industry. That is a fact.
Govt is just as guilty as the tourism sector. They hiring practices are beyond unethical, just look at how many people were hired recentLy
Just because they voted for a PACT minister
Govt should raise the minimum wage. Simple as that. The minimum wage in the Cayman Islands is a disgrace by any standards. Impossible to live on no matter how hard you bust your ass.
I remember making minimum wage a very long time ago. I never thought of it as a living wage or something that remotely resembled something I would ever be statisfied with. It was a time of living with my parents or with serveral roommates. I always looked at it as an entry point not a destination. Somewhere along the way people started calling for it to be a living wage as though it should be good enough. I always thought of it as paying my dues or paid training. There was no way I was going to be stuck at minimum wage.
Wage inflation just causes more inequality.
Earn what you are worth, minimum wages causes more unemployment
Try being in construction where we get forced to hire inexperienced and unemployable workers because they are caymanian. Kids going through school believing they don’t need qualifications because their cayman passport is a ticket to a job under this new govt.
So there are no inexperienced and unemployable workers on work permits in construction? Judging from the negative reviews from homebuilders in the residential sector, present circumstances dictate a different reality.
1. There is no such thing as a Cayman passport.
2. The passport by itself would not determine that someone is a Caymanian.
Next time do your HW before fabricating a story, at least it will appear factual.
Kids going through school do not need qualifications. That is the whole point. They are in the process of gaining qualifications, knowledge and experience.
Apprenticeships are the key. The world over it starts at around age 15. Kids come in and do menial tasks on vacations. They watch and learn. Aptitude is recognized. Responsibilities increase. By their 20’s those that make it through are highly capable and competent, and making reasonable incomes.
How many interns did you have last summer?
I have echoed your sentiments on Apprenticeships and also Traineeships for many years now. This is something the Cayman Government needs to facilitate for future growth, development and education of Caymanians for employment. For those who do not know what it is:
An Apprenticeship is traditionally a 4-year program that trains a worker to become skilled in a particular trade e.g. Electrician, Mechanic etc. Apprenticeships combine hands-on work with classroom learning to train the apprentice.
Apprenticeships are considered full-time employment. As the apprentice is learning, they are also applying the lessons through working.
To have an apprenticeship program, you must be a business, provide hands-on training, teach lessons, offer a salary (the employer is part subsidized by the government for their participation to this platform), and administer a nationally accredited certificate.
A Traineeship is a skills development programme that includes a work placement of both on the job and off the job tranining (e.g. hospitality, retail. It can last from 6 weeks up to 1 year, though most Traineeships last for less than 6 months (Employer also part subsidized by the government for participation).
With that being said no matter what programme could be offered – attitude becomes everything. There simply must be a willingness to attend, strive and achieve from all participants and and acknowledgement that excellence in anything now matter your colour, race or nationality is only ever achieved through hard work, consistency and participation.
The Immigration Act already requires apprenticeships. Corrupt politicians and civil servants seem to have give the OK for those sections to be ignored.
Need to catch these kids straight out of school before they learn the lazy way
Please. My 15 year old Caymanian son knows more than some of those Jamaicans I see you all hire. My former helper’s son didn’t know a hammer from a nail.
And you are happy to gloat about your child knowing a hammer and one not knowing a hammer? How simple can you be. They are kids. One child is clearly interested in knowing tools while the other may just be interested in coding. My gosh man, how desperate must you be to compare the abilities of CHILDREN. And same on you to the post above if you are complaining about a school age child. He/she is trying to learn. You should be a responsible adult and mentor them. You ppl could never be teachers.
“WORC has around 50 local candidates interested in food and beverage work”
I agree with Mr. Langevin.
It seems like this is the real problem.
If you want locals to get jobs in hospitality you need to do some marketing and get more candidates – and sell the job.
50 interested people, covid or not, is a very low number.
The industry hardly helps itself, advertising jobs that they know can and do generate $80k a year as $6/hr plus tips.
I am a Caymanian with no desire to work in the tourism industry, but that is not true for everyone. When Marc Langevin and every other manager in the tourism industry complain about not being able to find Caymanians to fill jobs, they really mean that they are unable to get anyone to respond to a local advert for a job that pays US$4.00 per hour plus tips.
Marc Langevin and his cohorts at the managerial level in the tourism industry, and several other industries to be honest, are accustomed to scouring the ends of the earth to find the cheapest labour possible. The fact that this gave rise to sub-standard housing and a host of other social ills in the local community is something he is comfortable ignoring as it doesn’t touch him personally, and he has no desire to spend his golden years living amongst us.
The current PACT government, and all their predecessors, consists of a majority incapable of tying their own shoe laces, so there is no chance we will ever have a government take a holistic approach to anything. If any of them ever have a vision it will be the result of an illegal drug overdose, or a bad mix of prescription medication.
everyone hashing on this $4 plus tips thing is beating a dead horse. If we all “know they actually make 50-80k” then why exactly does it matter what the ad says? “plus tips” is part of the risk/reward of taking that job.
If you want to be a bartender for example, you can ask almost any bartender what you could expect to earn in tips and they’ll tell you. If you want to be a housekeeper, find a friend who is a housekeeper and ask them.
There are jobs in financial services that say “$50k plus bonuses” or similar and these guys know if they knock the work out of the park they get $100k or more in bonuses, and if they don’t do well then they don’t get bonuses.
It’s the nature of the pay structure of the industry, and while it’s not that transparent, it’s also not some highly classified secret. You can very easily ask and find out what to expect for tips.
And for whoever is next to say “just pay them $50k flat regardless of tips” you need to understand that the industry uses this pay structure to ride out the low periods. Otherwise when things slow down they have to do big layoffs to stay afloat. It’s not sinister, it’s just economics.
If Marc says the industry needs 500 people and only 50 are applying locally then what are doing debating this? Hire the 50 that want the jobs (and another 50 if they come forward) and then grant the 450 permits they need to make their industry run!
They need a safe and welcoming Cayman Islands for their industry to run. Everything else, including foreign labor, is irrelevant if the first need is not met.
except riding out the slow period has been proven false by restaurant companies that have banished tipping and pay a living wage. most of these restaurants didn’t even raise their prices. it has to be the owner to take less profit for this to work. we need to stop subsidising owners profits with gratuities.
That is not the stupidest statement I have ever heard, but it is in tough competition for the pride of place.
I am guessing that you don’t realize you are a socialist, but your statements are pretty clearly socialist. Why are you thinking that you are subsidizing owner’s profits? If the owner doesn’t have the potential to make a profit that is attractive to them for their investment – THEY DON’T INVEST and open the business – which means no jobs at any rate of pay, tips or not.
The economic ignorance that abounds on these comments…
We do not need to and should immediately stop importing poverty to meet the profit whims of foreign resident owners. If Caymanians do not benefit, and Cayman is not made better by them being here, we can and should do without those jobs.
you are clueless. owners are paying less then a living wage, when we pay tips you are subsidising their business. do you tip the movie clerk, the swim coach, the phone service clerk, the cuc clerk? no because they are paying their staff more than $5.
so then why don’t you go open a restaurant…use that business model and let us know how it works.
To be fair, it’s common in Europe for f/b staff to be well paid and for there to be little to no gratuities involved. It’s also common for their cost of food to be incredibly low compared to here, and for three generations to live together in the same house.
Restaurants barely make any money, look how often they go out of business. People that don’t know the industry don’t know how all the expenses add up and put these places under water. So, if they’re barely keeping the doors open at $4/hr plus tips and still selling a steak for $50 that costs them $15 how do you think it’s going to work if those waiters have to earn $15?
Do the math. Go work at a restaurant and see if you can get a look at the books. It’s not glamorous.
Or like I said, go open you own and run it the way you’re so convinced would be better. I wish you luck.
Smartest Comment ever
Why can’t an upscale 5-6 star hotel like Ritz pay $10 per hour plus tips. Anyone who has been in tourism knows the season is 6 months. How do you survive in the summer months when electricity goes up, and you’re not making hardly any tips?
We go through this with every new government. They come in acting like they can force employers to hire Caymanians for every job and within a year they realize that businesses actually do need qualified, experienced, willing and motivated employees and that the economy will collapse if you don’t grant businesses the permits they need.
I’m not saying most Caymanians are not all those things but the ones that are have good jobs, unemployed Caymanians are almost certainly not. They’re unemployed for a reason. There are always jobs you could do if you look hard enough, you’re willing to turn your hand to new things, follow instructions, get along with people and your salary expectation is reasonable.
Employ and train Caymanians in their country the way you are forced to employ and train locals because of government policies and laws tin other countries around the world. Why is this a difficult concept to understand?
How about forcing the unemployed Caymanians to go and apply for a job. Be presentable in an interview, and then consistently perform the requirements of the job offered to them.
How can any government anywhere including Cayman force unemployed citizens to apply for a job?
I agree with the need to be presentable, demonstrate aptitude, drive and pride to consistently perform the requirements of the job when they are employed. However, those are not unique qualities that employees should only demonstrate in Cayman. It happens all over the world including big countries UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, South Africa. Sadly, lazy people will always be what they are.
No one can force a Caymanian or anyone else to actively seek employment. What a Government can and should however ensure is that those that seek employment get a fair shot at it, and that those that have employment enjoy materially better quality of life than those who do not. Market and societal pressures take care of the rest.
Ahh.. but applying or not should depend on whether the individual wants to get govt unemployed assistance… If there are jobs available AND JobsCayman was working appropriately i.e. experienced staff applied to running it effectively, then ALL employers should have to mandatorily advertise jobs on there, JC would match the unemployed persons skills with that of the jobs advertised and the individual must apply if they have the experience and the employer must interview based on the match – sometimes its just about getting the people to connect who may not necessarily connect otherwise. If the person doesn’t apply and doesn’t display the necessary willingness to consistenly look for employment – they receive no assistance…if the employer consistently denies hiring ppl with the skill or an unwillingness to hire if the jobs doesn’t necessarily require massive qualifications – then they don’t get a WP granted…it’s a two-way street!
The problem is many don’t even get called for an interview because they already have an expat lined up.
It is a difficult concept to understand because so many Caymanians coming out of our public school system don’t have basic math and reading skills.
How can any reasonable employer hire someone without those skills?
Because other countries don’t have a workforce double the size of the local population. Why is that so hard for you to understand???
The Ritz alone employs 700 people…that’s 1% of the entire population of the country. I’m not the biggest fan of Marc…but he knows his $#!t when it comes to running a hotel. So if they need 500 people and only 50 are applying what’s the problem? Hire them all…approve the permits and let’s get on with it. The rest is just noise and bs and complaining.
The Ritz does employ Caymanians.
Your wife should look inward seriously to see what her shortcomings may be. We all have areas to improve on.
Nothing like judging someone you don’t know.
Few have more to improve on than CITA’s treatment of Caymanians.
Langevin needs to realise that tourists from the USA that ignore the CDC level 4 warning not to travel to Cayman will likely not be covered by their health insurance providers.
I may be wrong, but many Caymanians will not work the hours and meet the requirements of a friendly server. Get real, they want to be sat at the table (at breakfast time, at lunchtime and dinner time from my experience) being waited on. The sense of entitlement does not reach the hospitality industry. Prove me wrong Kenneth…… I thoughtso
This man wants everything his way. My Caymanian wife applied for a job at the ritz. She has a college education and would take any position including entry level. Interviewed and heard nothing. Hire willing Caymanians asshat. These people want foreigners so they can own them. The board is right to withhold permits until these people learn CAYMANIANS first
Nah, it’s because the locals are lazy
Did it take both of your brain cells to come up with that generalization?
That “colonial mantra” is well known, and has been used around the world to play the race card. So just quit it and put it you know where.
Not lazy, just refuse to be slaves for the masses plus working for peanuts might can help certain expats back home where they come from but that shit is less than nothing here, facts.
Perhaps he can publish how many Caymanians he has interviewed and how many he has hired?
They interview just to say and have to report that they interviewed Caymanians who have applied. The excuse is usually, did not do well in interview. Happens in other places too, especially law firms.
but the Caymanian who just graduated from UCCI wants to be the hotel manager. why do you think they don’t get interviews. anyone graduating from UCCI might be able to be employed as a porter to start. maybe.
Another completely fabricated story to support a false illusion. There is a difference between aspiring and achieving. Nothing wrong with finishing college wanting to be a manager, but most realise this is not instantaneous. You take one part and try to pass it off as a reality. I say this from experience. I left college with aspirations of moving up a corporate ladder and achieved it after some twenty years experience I landed a well paid senior position. I now encourage young Caymanians to have similar aspirations.
aspirations yes of course. if you don’t, you will be stuck forever, but expectations are a different thing. I have been interviewing potential employees here for 20 years. people expect the big job immediately, and do not want to work their way up in the hospitality industry these days
I’ll just jump in here and say that Caymanians also expect on the job training for MGMT and upper level positions.
You can only get so far with on the job training without an education.
Plus how many failed to show up for work!
How many interns have he and other tourism managers had shadow them over the past few years? How accessible are these marvelous opportunities?
Own them which means work the hours on their contract and follow the rules?
Reply to the Ritz again and again if she really want the job…..don’t give up!
Once the door is unfairly slammed in any Caymanian’s face, the next knock should be from immigration enforcement. No one else. Breaking the law of these Islands with impunity needs to stop, even if it means that permits have to be cancelled. Those responsible for poor treatment of locals in their own land should not be permitted to remain. Not for a second.
Well this explains the belief a lot of people have that Caymanians consider themselves privileged and worthy. Unbelievable attitude
It is only the law of the land. Anyone who comes here and is unwilling to follow it or have it enforced against them should simply F&(5 Off!
so only those that come here need to obey Cayman laws or have it enforced against them.
That sounds about right, as some of the Caymanian business owners are the worst offenders and don’t ever get punished
No. All laws should be enforced against everyone. This discussion is centering on the perceived mistreatment of Caymanians by a particular industry. Any mistreatment of anyone is abhorrent.
This is drunk talk. Sign it with your name coward.
She is not the original poster, but the requirement the post paraphrases (the original is more than 80 pages long) is signed by Zena Merren-Chin. Clerk of the Legislative Assembly. Hope that helps.
Well here is the kicker. She attended a job fair where worc was present. She had applied for a previous position some months before with no response. The same employer advertised again. The very nice worc lady called them to remind them they already had a Caymanian applicant. An interview was arranged and hey presto she was employed! This demonstrates to me that employers are just not even willing to give Caymanians a chance or even interview unless pressured.
Why would an employer who needs people NNOT employ a Caymanian if they fit? This idea that there’s a conspiracy not to hire people you don’t need to get permitted is kooky
In my case it was because I politely suggested they follow the law, which they refused to do (and to this day no one makes them).
Why? When there are other, better, employers out there. What Ritz and most of CITA fail to grasp is that the Caymanian’s don’t owe them our labour. We can choose to work for the employers who show they value us.
For the Cayman Islands to benefit from tourism (in the future) tourism needs to benefit Cayman, i.e.,employ, Caymanians.
If your business / industry does not employ (enough) Caymanians – for any reason – then we do not need your business. And so if you want to stay in business you need to figure out what your business / industry needs to do to employ more Caymanians. In this case its not just taking whoever is at WORC it is about making the employment package – the hiring process, training and advancement opportunities, the fair employment and wages, the retention packages to keep staff from going to other bussinesses / industries, etc. – attractive to Caymanians.
Think of it this way: Cayman has more business (employment) than we need. (A blessing.) Businesses need to compete for a limited pool of workers. The businesses that employ the most Caymanians we keep. The others we get rid of because they bring no benefit to Caymanians. If the tourism businesses / industry no longer bring maximum benefit to Cayman(ians) then it is on the road to being gotten rid of.
Yes, this is a massive oversimplification, but we also have a lot of businesses employing a lot of foreign workers so the system is clearly not working at this simplified level. It is, however, the approach that Tourism needs to take. They need to answer the question of why they are not employing Caymanians. Until they can do that the industry cannot move forward into the future of Cayman.
This is being seen around the developed economies with other industries that are struggling to retain local labour while that labour is choosing to work in other industries for a variety of reasons. There is nothing unique about it to Cayman(ians). The mistake being made is in industries who think that the socio-economy they exist in somehow owes them workers and profit like they used to get when the socio-economic reality (and expectations) of those workers is not what it used to be.
So if Caymanians can choose to work where they wish what is your issue with foreign workers. You completely contradict the argument with your basic definition
I have no problem with foreign workers. The problem is an industry that employs/benefits few Caymanians but insists that since we will not work for what they offer we must allow them to import poverty to prop up their profits anyway. If the industry does not benefit Cayman(ians) why are we trying to benefit the industry? That is the crux of the objection. Most people skip this to ‘the industry must pay Caymanians better to employ/benefit more Caymanians’ because we are trying to fix the industry not kill it. But that seems to get lost. Hence my deduction to the basic principle of basic national benefit.
If some industry – like medical tourism for the sake of argument – can show a net Cayman(ian) benefit even with 90% foreign staff no one has a problem. But when regular tourism can’t show that benefit … why do they think they get a pass?
Caymanians cannot “work where they wish”. They can only work where an employer wishes to hire them. If that employer has a foreign worker in a position you wish to have, it is unlikely you will be hired no mater how much you wish.
CITA. Ever since Ryan and Mac knocked down the Holiday Inn which employed large numbers of Caymanians, and the Radisson was built, importing North American derisory tips based employment schemes, the mainstream tourism industry has shunned Caymanians. You know it and we know it. The industry was in fact built on the welcome of the Caymanian people. That generosity was abused. Your members actively shut out Caymanians from meaningful participation. We no longer give a shit. This is called Karma, and it is going to hurt. Any government that gives you more concessions is going to be chased out of office. Better start training, and providing meaningful opportunity.
Close the hotel and move to a more attractive suitable area. Be honest, Cayman seven mile beach isn’t a place for a brand like the RITZ.
This is worldwide. Restaurants and bars in the uk can’t find workers and many can’t operate at pre pandemic levels as a result
What is happening in the UK is largely caused by Brexit – most of the hotels were staffed largely by people from the EU. What is happening in the US is largely caused by the poor pandemic working conditions. Not everywhere in the world is seeing the issue.
I heard there are major recruitment issues in the UK and the USA which is forcing wages to skyrocket. No mention about that from the tourism industry representatives so it seems they want ‘global permits’ to keep wages depressed and a vicious feedback cycle e.g. not paying fair wages.
In the US and UK we saw how that ended, the electorate chuck out the slack immigration policies and the industry gets crippled and wages, bonus spike to attract talent. Many have to close or provide poorer service.
But they can be excused for seeing no further than their own noses., they need to be properly guided so they don’t stick it in sh%T.