Number of Bermudians in workforce tumbles

An ageing population and lower birthrate means this is likely to tumble further, according to Charles Brown, director of sustainable development.

The number of jobs available has increased from 33,000 to 40,000 in the last 20 years.

Mr. Brown said: “This kind of job growth may not seem much but the percentage of growth we’ve seen is important in planning for our future economic sustainability.

Quality

 “The number of people aged between 15-64 is expected to go down. That translates into more jobs we may not have the people on-island to fill.

“That creates an equation — we need to be very certain of what it means in terms of environment and quality of life.

“Although Bermudians are generally fully employed, there is a reduction in representation. The pool of jobs has got bigger but the number of Bermudians hasn’t.”

Since 1991, the percentage of non-Bermudians in the workforce has risen from 17 to 25 per cent.

This has a negative impact on tourism, Mr. Brown told delegates at the Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development at Fairmont Southampton Resort on Wednesday.

He said: “The experience of tourism is heavily influenced by locals and the extent to which we don’t have Bermudians in the tourism market raises questions about the mix — we have to sustain our product.”

Mr. Brown said another impact on tourism is our environment and that despite a declining birthrate we are becoming overcrowded. Bermuda has one of the highest density of population in the world — at 3140 people per square mile, we are eighth in a global table. This figure is expected to “start to taper off” by 2024.

Despite having just 124 miles of roads, there are 52,000 vehicles in Bermuda.

Mr. Brown said: “If we lined up each one of these vehicles there wouldn’t be much room left. The number of vehicles influences the quality of the product we are offering and the quality of life.

“Our ecosystem is vulnerable to the number of vehicles we have on our roads.

“Despite the declining birth rate and an ageing population, the number of dwellings has increased by about 50 per cent since 1980. Bermuda is a great place to live but it is at a crossroads — 3140 people per square mile is a lot of people.

“It is difficult to quantify but population density influences the quality of life.”