Isn't a large part of the proposed solution to the budget crisis an increase in work permit fees? Won't the gains from this revenue source only be realised if employers hire more foreign workers over Caymanians?

When McKeeva wakes up May 2013 after electios ;and realize that Ezzard Miller is the new premier
of the Cayman Islands, then maybe he will have gotten the message that people are fedup with this WORK PERMIT MADNES!
This new announcement of so called concern is nothing more than political postering.......it wo't do THE OMOV  is the thermometer Mr. Premier that our young people are sick of old folks giving away the country and the YOUNG WILL TAKE BACK CAYMAN!
Rest asured. this is a new generation that has been abused by government and disenfranchised to the max.
MCKEEVA, YOU ARE THE MAN TO FORCE BUSINESSES TO HIRE YOUR PEOPLE
OR CANCEL THEIR BUSINESS LICENSE!

I was an expat in Cayman, working in a white collar job, back in the 1990s.   I was happy to enjoy a couple years, and after the boredom and top-to-bottom dysfunction got to be too much, leave with no regrets.  You could see even then that the island was going in the wrong direction.  Despite being handed the substantial gifts of tourism dollars and banking sector jobs, courtesy primarily of the USA, Cayman is not in a good position.  The uneducated locals still don't get that you have to go to college for years - pay your dues - if you want positive employment prospects and a good-sized paycheck.  How is a bank supposed to give a job that involves managing millions of dollars to a barely literate person?  You have to be willing to consistently get up in the morning and apply yourself, and learn how to conduct yourself in a professional office environment.   No, too many of the locals simply want to cry racism, act belligerently, and play the victim card.  And the politicians, in the interests of getting elected, just spend, spend and spend.  Within 20 years, Cayman is going to deteriorate into nothing.  

Question. Would any private sector employer hire McKeeva Bush or is he one of the "unemployables" who needs the government teat?
 
Just asking.

Mr Bush there is no one to blame for Caymanians not having jobs but the Immigration Department.  They are the one who are giving out these work permits.  Blame them and no one else.

Mr. Premier,
 
YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO STOP ISSUING THE WORK PERMITS SO
STOP THIS MADNESS!
 
You are the blame for not enforcing the labor laws! And the UDP is passing labor laws claiming to protect jobs for Caymanians WITHOUT ANY ENFORCEMENT OR REGULATION!
what a mockery!
The people will vote Ezzard in who WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE WORK PERMITS
so the UDP will lose if they do not get people into those jobs instead of govt. continuing to collect work permit fees, is that what you are going to continue to do?

 
I am an expat (been here many years) and I am about to employ a Caymanian this year and probably two more next in my small business - if everyone does their bit it will help the situation. There are a lot of good Caymanians needing jobs give me your e-mail if you want some great resumes. 

The work permit board just renewed my permit but stated in the conditions that in their opinion two of the Caymanian applicants were suitably qualififed for my position.  I don't know how they came to this conclusion, because other than having average typing speeds and accuracy (high speed and accuracy are required for my job, and moreso the latter to ensure we are not sued for professional negligence), none of them had ever worked in my line of work before and none of them had even a basic understanding of the work I do, the international clients we deal with and the various different legalities and procedures depending on which country you are working with, and which jurisdiction the deal will be closing in.  My boss delegates a lot of his work to me - something entirely usual in my line of work.  However, had we taken either of these girls on, none of the work could be delegated as neither of them would have a clue how to do it, thus my boss would have twice as much to do because he would have nobody to delegate to.
Seriously, what I do took me 20 years of working from the bottom of the ladder to the top to learn, and I am still learning something new most days, and other skills I learnt at college and couldn't possibly teach to someone else.  I don't know what criteria the work permit board use but they seriously need to understand that having a qualification doesn't automatically mean someone can understand and perform another person's job.  If they are going to make decisions that affect another person's business, then perhaps its time the work permit board took time out to fully understand that persons business before telling them what to do with it.
I apologise if I come across in any way conceited - that was not my intention.  I just think the way the work permit board operates is fundamentally flawed.  They are giving permits and key status to people doing jobs that many Caymanians are trained for, and refusing permits for specialised positions that really do need specific international skills. 

Whe hes say's "Caymanians" is he also referring to the thousands who stood in like for 3 hours and instantly became citizens and now sit on Eastern Avenue playing Dominoes and drinking beer all day?
I say search the background of every person that was issued status that way and if they are not working, revoke their status and send the home.

Where are these overqualified, "Caymanians who are looking for work and prepared to do anything," Mr Premier?
After working through numerous candidates who had apparently graduated but actually couldn't read, write or do basic math (many would be struggling to pass the English test required for a work permit) we took one young Caymanian on and by the end of the first week he was demanding that we buy him work clothes and pay for his lunches. When that request was fairly politely refused he decided the job was beneath his standards and quit. Another apparently promising recruit simply never turned up and ignored our phone calls. We recruited an ex-pat.
It doesn't seem to be a case of employers refusing to recruit Caymanians but more of Caymanians making themselves unemployable. It's not the employers attitude that needs to change but the propective employees.
Two simple message -
1. Being Caymanian does not guarantee you a job - particularly one you have never bothered to get the required qualifications for.
2. Being an employee means exactly that - you go to work and get paid for that work. You goof off, take sick days just because you can't be bothered to get out of bed, spend all day texting your friends or doing your email and you will get fired.
There are many good, well educated, hard working Caymanians out there but very, very few of them are unemployed and there's a moral there.
 
 

Okay would someone please explain to the Premier that the private sector isTRYING to hire Caymanians but when you run ad after ad, try reaching the DER, try and get them in to interview it is near impossible then when you tell them they have to work weekends or evenings or public holidays, forget it!  Try and get a Caymanian to apply for a kitchen helper job or a food and beverage server or a dive instructor or a housekeeper or someone who works on commission only, try it for years and see how successful you are.  I talk to HR Directors all the time and they are so frustrated because they are trying everything to hire Caymanians in to such roles but they rarely get an applicant and when they do it's like hiring rabbits you barely get the paperwork processed before many resign without notice and go to the next job
Of course it makes sense to hire Caymanians but the generation that had good work ethics is dwindling rapidly and in the private sector not all jobs are 9 to 5 Monday through Friday.  So I suggest the Premier spend a few weeks with those in private sector HR and see how he gets on!

I suppose he will now say that he has no control over immigration policies too and that this is the remit of HE The Governor.
 
How quickly he forgets that it was his bunch that gave away 3000 status grants in 2001-2005 which crippled the majority of caymanians (young and old) and who were looking for work, from getting any of those jobs that the 3000 new caymanians were occupying.
 
It must be nearing election time because now he is talking (not doing) about things to help caymanians.