Bermuda has become the place to be for those who wish to make and further their careers in re-insurance. Thus more of them are staying on longer. As early as 1991, 55% of non-Bermudian employees in the international companies had been in Bermuda five years or more. In 1991, 45% of hotel workers on work permits had resided in Bermuda for five years or more. Currently there is a worldwide shortage of experienced hospitality industry workers especially chefs and top class waiters. In industries where there is a worldwide shortage (hospitality, information technology, insurance specialists) it would be suicide to insist that these scarce human resources should be forced to leave Bermuda within five years. Businesses would close or leave Bermuda.

In light of concerns about sustainable development and fears that Bermuda has overdeveloped to the extent that there is very little scope for any significant influx of new business, given physical constraints of the Island, based on its size and related factors, consideration is being given to what options remain for Bermuda to have further development. There may have to be a decision taken at a more formal level which recognizes that those physical presence companies wishing to establish a base in Bermuda must be for a niche business like e-commerce, which do not require additional infrastructure and which place less pressure on Bermuda's existing infrastructure. These factors become especially relevant, when one considers housing stock, our transportation system, and general quality of life issues. The thinking of the Government, as articulated in its draft work permit policies, is that there would be mixed signals transmitted if as Government we did not indicate that, linked with the whole issue of limiting the continued creation of long-term residents, there is also the issue of preventing the creation of future generations of long-term residents by reviewing our immigration policies.

Work Permit Statistics

The 23% of Bermuda's labour force which is non-Bermudian calculates to 8,000 foreign workers on work permits in Bermuda. Permits are valid from one year up to five years: most are for one year. Of the 8,000 foreign workers about 1,200 leave and are replaced each year with new arrivals and a similar number change jobs in Bermuda. 4,000 foreign workers have their work permits renewed every year. Each year there are 6,500 applications for resident work permits. In addition there are 2,500 short-term permits to allow non-residents to work for short periods on the Island.

With these 9,000 work permit applications every year, the challenge is to process them as quickly as possible while maintaining a high standard of due diligence. Employers require initial work permit applications to be processed as fast as possible. Bermuda is in keen competition with other jurisdictions in both of its main pillars of the economy - the hospitality industry and the international business industry. Bermuda finds itself competing for the same skills and talents as Dublin, Vermont,

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