It’s been a tough few years for Bermuda’s construction workers but, as Rajan Simons found out speaking to those within the industry, there remains hope that better times lie ahead.

With jobs increasingly hard to come by during a dark era for the construction industry, some firms have found the fairest option is to share the unemployment burden.

According to the most recent figures from the Department of Statistics, just $116 million worth of work was put in place in 2014, compared with $147 million in 2013 and $190 million in 2012.

And since the completion of the hospital redevelopment and Waterloo office block in Hamilton, only the announcement of projects connected to the America’s Cup has been keeping hopes up for the future.

Hewitt “Ricky” Caines, a partner at AJW Construction, described business as “rough” as there are several construction firms on the Island looking for the same work.

“The jobs can all depend on who you know and who knows you sometimes,” Mr Caines told The Royal Gazette.

“Our firm has come down to sharing the work between our employees. If things are slow we give some of our workers three to four days on a job and then they’ll have three to four days off so we share all the work so everybody gets a little piece of the pie.

“In the past couple of years we had to let many, well a lot, of our workers go due to things being slow and not having enough work but that’s the economy. A lot of it comes down to the banks and them not being able to loan money to the customers that are essentially looking to build.

“The up and coming America’s Cup hasn’t really created any jobs for our firm in particular but it will definitely create a lot of renovation jobs for many firms because a lot of people are going to want to renovate their homes to accommodate or for rent.”

Gail Marshall, labour superintendent at BCM McAlpine, the company responsible for the hospital rebuild, said she feels grateful to do the work she loves.

She said: “We were lucky to get the hospital job for three years in which we also hired a lot of other small sub-contractors. Jobs do not come as easy as they used to — before we would be working on five or six projects at a time, but it’s been a blessing that things have been picking up lately.

“A lot of this is due to the America’s Cup. There are definitely some good things going on in Dockyard which require at least 50 different trades, meaning more jobs for multiple firms.

“West End Development Corporation (Wedco) has decided to make repairs in Dockyard, fixing buildings and restoring the historical things that have been in need of repair for a long time now, making them into useful facilities like offices and a gym — things we couldn’t do a few years ago because of the slow economy.

“At the end of the day Bermuda wins from this. Repairing and constructing things that can be enjoyed by our children and will benefit the island in the future.”

Ms Marshall, who’s been in the business for 15 years, added: “There will be major work going on for the next two years before the America’s cup with all the hotels being built, especially Morgan’s Point which is a huge project for Bermuda. If anyone is essentially unemployed in this industry there has to be a reason for it. There is more than enough work out there at the moment and we should be grateful for it.”