Bermudian workers need to be better trained to fill job categories, ranging from chefs to accountants, that are currently dominated by overseas staff.

And the local workforce needs better “soft skills” when it comes to presentation on the job, according to part one of the Island’s new National Training Plan, which was debated in yesterday’s Senate.

Opposition Senate Leader Diallo Rabain commended the report, calling it “a watershed moment for our country”.

However, Sen Rabain questioned why current and former workers hadn’t been consulted, noting that much of the Plan “relies on chastising potential employees” when it came to shortcomings.

“How can we have a conversation with all stakeholders in a group that does not include employees and former employees?” Sen Rabain asked the Upper House.

Acknowledging that it was a sensitive topic, he also said the report “didn’t begin to touch” the lingering effects of racism on the structuring of the workforce.

“Another barrier that exists, and that prevents some of our young people, specifically young black Bermudians, from even wanting to enter some of these fields, is such things as structural discrimination, covert racism, and nepotism, and that does exist,” Sen Rabain said.

The long-awaited report, unveiled last month, pulled no punches when it came to the need for Bermudian workers to get more competitive in basic skills like timekeeping and conduct.

The report also advised that schools adopt “a soft skills curriculum beginning at preschool and ending at S4”.

Home Affairs Minister Michael Fahy told Senators he was frustrated by having to issue work permits for jobs that more Bermudians should be qualified to obtain.

Some areas, such as the hospitality trades, have struggled to gain local workers because of a “stigma” — but in the financial and insurance sectors, Sen Fahy said, “there is no question — there is a huge need for qualified Bermudians in this area”.

He also hinted at imminent changes to the Island’s work permit policies when it came to entry level positions for young local workers.

Degree holders were returning from university but finding it impossible to secure a job, he said.

“There will be a requirement, in certain circumstances, for those very specific categories of employment that have a high proportion of work permit holders, to make sure that they participate in National Training Plan programs to have entry level positions for Bermudians,” Sen Fahy added (see sidebar).

The plan, stewarded by the National Training Board (NTB), was split into two phases — the first of which is online at the Government website.

Sen Rabain said the National Training Plan had been long in the making and deserved bipartisan involvement.

“The one issue that should keep us focused is that we need to get our Bermudians employable as well as finding employment for them,” he said.

The recommendations in the report didn’t cover young and unskilled employees working two or three jobs just to make ends meet, Sen Rabain said, noting that the previous administration had sought a residential programme, Job Corps, to address that category.

As for structural racism and nepotism, he said: “It’s very, very important that we be as brutally honest as possible when talking about this topic.”

Calling Sen Rabain a role model in the community, Government Senator Nalton Brangman said he was familiar from his own NTB experience with concerns over how the plan would be managed.

“I want to encourage every single Bermudian to get a copy of this,” he said. “It’s that important.”