"Ministers are holding back tourism recovery"

Monday 02 November 2015

Ministers are discriminating against non-finance firms by not allowing them to employ skilled staff from outside the Island in a way that is holding back growth and economic recovery, according to a Freedom of Information request by a business lobby group.

The Chamber of Commerce say that while 89% of applications by finance firms to bring in new staff from overseas are approved, just 32% of requests by bars and hotels get the green light.

They say that the figures show that the States are not really supporting the tourism industry, and that the policy is holding back the chances of the sector making a comeback because non-finance firms can’t grow without hiring people with the right skills and experience.

The situation is made more complicated by the confusion over the States’ population policy, which expires in December.

The current target – endorsed by the States last year – is for 325 newcomers per year.

That target was initially set in 2009 but in every single year since it has been broken, even though the Island for part of it the Island was going through the worst recession in living memory – on average, 575 newcomers have come to Jersey every 12 months since the target was set.

That amount of immigration has been a cause of serious concern for Islanders – the Island’s statistical annual opinion survey showed that reducing immigration was the number one political priority across the community.

The Chamber of Commerce took the unprecedented step of using the Freedom of Information Law to force the States to reveal the proportion of license requests by different types of businesses that are approved.

The licenses for immigrant workers are handled under the work licensing policy, which means that a board of politicians and civil servants decide which requests by businesses for more staff should be approved, and which should be rejected.

And Chamber President Kristina Le Feuvre says that the results of the FoI request show that there is much less political support for tourism than for the dominant finance and legal sector.

She said: “At a time when the Island is actively seeking to revive its tourism industry, it would seem counter productive to not provide support to those businesses on which the sector depends.

“Chamber of Commerce members feel that the process of application and the lack of clarity regarding the application procedure highlights the unpredictability of the process.

“Businesses do not apply for work licenses on a whim, the application is often a last resort after being unable to find local skills or having tried unsuccessfully for some time to fill a permanent position.

“It will always be in the best interests of a business to employ someone who is already settled in the Island, but in some cases this option is not possible.”