Landscape firms facing upheaval

Dozens of firms have received government letters stating initial work permit requests will be denied while workers seeking a renewal will have their permits terminated 45 days from receipt of the letter.

Bosses are reluctant to speak on the record because they plan to go through the appeals process.

But speaking to the Bermuda Sun on condition of anonymity they said government had drastically underestimated the skills needed by landscapers. And they warned the moratorium would send many firms out of business.

Last night Kim Wilson, Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, offered them a glimmer of hope.

She said: “The appeals process is there to provide firms with the opportunity to show they can not do without a skilled worker.

“I have met with the Landscape Association and made it clear that they need to outline fully what skills their employees have when they make their applications and appeals. It was a frank discussion and I am now more aware of the different levels of skills that these workers have.

“No appeals have been filed with me yet although I believe around 80 people are affected.

“During the meeting I was able to hear of a dozen examples where individuals had much higher levels of skills and expertise.”

Landscaping firms still fear the worst.

One concerned boss, who has run his landscaping firm for 10 years, told The Bermuda Sun he was looking to sell the business. “We are fighting for our lives but it’s doing no good. I feel so overwhelmed I do not even know how I am going to go about it.

“We will be losing several skilled workers at the end of April and when that happens we are going to be out of business. We’ll lose 80 per cent of our business because we won’t have the skilled manpower. We cannot just replace skilled landscapers with novices from the Department of Training.

“We have taken on three Bermudians as trainees but they cannot be expected to do skilled work that needs experience.

Complaints

“And we have already had complaints because the work has not been up to the previous standard.”

Another boss of a firm that has been around for more than 20 years added: “It’s pretty drastic and we have had to shut down certain operations.

“The government has belittled us by putting us in this category and thinking each person can be easily replaced.

“It’s not about just mowing a lawn. It’s about understanding the plants, the trees and the seasonal trends. I will have no choice but to shut down the landscaping side if they follow through on this.”

The manager of a small firm added:  “My problem is, if I lose my experienced and skilled workers they will not be able to teach the trainees and the novices. If they think I can hire four Bermudians to replace my foreign guys they just don’t understand how the industry works.

“What this will do to the industry does not bear thinking about. Companies will downsize and that will not help Bermudians get jobs. If I lose my four guys I am out of business.

“We cannot be expected to get rid of people with years of experience and replace them with someone who has no idea about the industry and provide the same level of service to clients. It’s really quite dangerous.

“Most of us are fighting tooth and nail to stay alive. It’s like being on my back gasping for air and having government putting their foot on my throat.”

The owner of one of the island’s biggest landscaping companies said the repercussions or the moratorium would be “very serious”.

“The problem we have come up against is that Bermudians come in and then leave within a few weeks. We are professionals but I don’t really hold up much hope that the guys we have whose permits are up will be able to stay. We will lose our Portuguese workers and our Filipinos. Just receiving the letter from government saying we have 45 days for them to be out was horrific.”

Minister Wilson told the Bermuda Sun she would hold a press conference today to outline measures that could help to address concerns.

She said: “The moratorium exists to ensure that qualified Bermudians are given the chance to hold down these jobs.

“It is a balancing act but employing qualified Bermudians is my paramount consideration.”