Southlands jobs for locals  a myth
According to Chairman of the Bermuda Hotel Association, Mike Winfield, in an article published in the Royal Gazette on January 5th 2007, local staff are in short supply for the construction and operation of new hotels
Of greater concern to the Hotel Association is the question of finding hospitality staff – already a problem world-wide and a challenge in Bermuda as far as encouraging locals to enter this field.
“There is also a real question as to whether many of the support services – food importers, electricians, plumbers, transportation etc. can support the amount of new rooms that are being proposed,” Mr. Winfield added.
“We are already facing many challenges getting the levels of service from that infrastructure that we need to be able to sustain our levels of service.”He warned that Bermuda would need to generate that much more electricity and as a result suffer more pollution, while beaches, restaurants and shops would have to accommodate that much more people.
All of these, he felt, were issues that needed to be considered.
This should be worrying to Bermudians because while the Southlands developers are claiming the hotel will need 400 staff, their goal of a 5-star hotel will require more like 1,200 to 1,500 staff (two staff for every guest). This will further strain our already severe housing shortage.
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