Chamber issues warning that we are not ready to fill 700 jobs at the Southampton Princess
Statement by Mr Marico Thomas, President of The Bermuda Chamber of Commerce
This Is Bigger Than Hospitality
The upcoming reopening of the Southampton Princess Hotel is expected to require approximately 500 employees, followed by another approximately 200 soon after. At a glance, this looks like a hospitality issue. But it’s not. This is a national labour issue and a window into a much larger challenge across Bermuda’s entire economy.
Why? Because the roles required won’t just be waiters, chefs, or front desk agents. They will include:
• Landscaping crews, IT support, and accountants
• Massage therapists, nail technicians, and barbers
• Valets, dishwashers, bakers, warehouse workers
• Transport providers, porters, and supervisors.
Nearly every major employment sector will be impacted, and this demand is coming at a time when:
• Unemployment is only approximately 1.5%
• About 25% of our workforce is already non-Bermudian
• Our population is shrinking and ageing
• Graduating class sizes are too small to fill the pipeline
• Bermudians abroad aren’t returning in meaningful numbers
• Recruiting from overseas is getting slower and far more difficult
So what happens when 700+ new jobs open up and there are insufficient people? Businesses will start picking each other’s pockets to survive. This creates a predictable chain reaction:
• Disruption of service
• Rising payroll costs
• Overburdened employees
• Safety and Health issues
• High employee turnover
• Brain drain in essential services
This isn’t hypothetical. It’s already happening:
• Restaurants closing during the week from lack of staff
• Nurses and police officers working back-to-back overtime shifts
• Small retailers losing staff to bigger employers
• Tourists and residents experiencing longer waits and thin service
Bermuda has warning signs and they should not be ignored. The Employment Brief recently released by Government reinforces the concern:
• Total job growth: +1.8% in 2024
• But 94% of those jobs went to non-Bermudians
• Bermudian job growth: only +0.1% (just 18 new jobs)
• Average wages for Bermudians trailing 21% compared to other non-Bermudians
Another recently release from the Government is the Revised Work Permit Policy. The Chamber commends Government for the reforms, which:
• Increase employer accountability
• Strengthen recruitment transparency
• Allow ministerial discretion for critical industries
•Introduce penalties for non-compliance
But while these are solid improvements, they don’t yet address the real challenge which is simply that Bermuda needs more persons in the workforce.
It’s about facing facts—and getting ready.If we don’t act:
• Essential services will break down
• Productivity gains will stall
• Our young people will inherit instability, not opportunity
The Chamber is calling for serious, open, and constructive dialogue.
This is about immigration.
This is about education.
This is about housing, productivity, and national planning.
This issue may look like hospitality, but it is more, and it is not just Chamber business, it’s everybody’s business.
