Monday, July 13, 2009

Home National Sports Business Lifestyles Religion Arts & Culture Pulse Spice Editorial letters Opinion Foodie Sportscope Real Talks Weekend Report PDF's Classifieds Contact About Us Archive Weather

Not exactly a news flash: Bahamian resignations plummet By INDERIA SAUNDERS ~ Guardian Business Reporter ~ inderia@nasguard.com: A top Labour official is confirming a trend many Bahamians still holding jobs already know: Resignations are declining, no matter how unfavorable the working conditions. "Yes I would say (the number of people quitting has declined) because people usually do not quit their jobs unless they are going on to another job," Dorothy Godet, deputy director at the Department of Labour told Guardian Business last week. "And right now jobs are scarce." Her is statement may back up the obvious but it also reinforces fears about just how worried Bahamians are about the economy. Globally, the level of worker-initiated terminations is seen as a barometer of economic health or the lack of it. This country's employment data suggests it's not exactly in the best shape of its 36-year life. Experts assert that unemployment levels have now risen well above the 12 percent 14 percent recorded earlier this year for New Providence and Grand Bahama, respectively. Their guesstimates, in the absence of a new government reading, is based on the continuing rise in layoffs not only at hotels and other tourism-facing businesses but across the construction and other key sectors of the economy. All are the direct result of a dwindling number of visitor arrivals and a drop in foreign direct investment. Just last week, GB's Old Bahama Bay confirmed as many as 20 new layoffs, although resisted attempts to attribute them to the poor economy. All told, the prospects on re-hiring coming on strong before the middle of next year are remote, say analysts pointing to the global situation all but dictating the local outlook. That gloom has created prime conditions for the kind of drop off in job resignations Godet is confirming. In fact, she is now pointing to reports from Atlantis, for example, as proof Bahamians are working harder than ever to hold onto a steady paycheck. "They are trying to hold on to their jobs," she explained. "Employees are recognizing that their job is valuable to them and my attitude needs to change [and] they are changing their attitude to keep their jobs." The comments echo the hopes at least of accounting exec Ray Winder, who told Guardian Business earlier this year that the current downturn would like result a significant uptick in worker productivity. Still, Godet cautions against extrapolating too much from Labour's reports of resignations. In a good or bad economy, she asserts people will only come into Labour to report a resignation if there is some lingering dispute over pay. Otherwise, she explained it would be hard to track the number of people who are leaving their jobs on a regular basis. "We find that most times person resign and go into their own businesses or they go to another job," she said, "and that's the most we would hear." Still, she concedes that in recent months she's seen less reports of resignations coming through the department. Her statement comes as new survey data in the U.S. point to a total of fifty-four percent of employed Americans with plans to look for a new job once the economy rebounds. It's a situation that may also reflect the sentiments of Bahamians, now willing to grin and bear it until better economic times. Monday, July 13, 2007