The National Liberal Party (NLP) has come out in support of an ex-pat jobs register to ensure Bermudians are not overlooked in the labour market.

Vice-chairman Graeme Outerbridge said the NLP had always supported the creation of a print-out of jobs that were coming up for renewal at Immigration on a quarterly basis.

But he said the list of positions would not include names of the non-Bermudians holding the work permits or any other personal information. It would simply contain the job by category and employment address.

The NLP comments follow a suggestion by Government backbencher Arthur Hodgson that a register of ex-patriot workers on the Island be set up, containing the job, workplace, qualifications and experience of each non-Bermudian.

He said it would inform Bermudians of the qualifications they need to do certain positions, and would also show people why non-Bermudians had the jobs in the first place.

But equally, it would be another way to discourage employers from taking non-Bermudians over qualified locals.

Mr. Outerbridge said if the list was available at the Post Office, it would be easily accessible for Bermudians to refer to, and would ensure that locals were aware of jobs that are not advertised.

Mr. Outerbridge said: "The emphasis would then be on any Bermudian seeking employment to access all jobs that are up for renewal.

"The process would be much fairer and the essential right to apply for employment would not be secretly avoided by any particular job not being advertised by immigration during renewal.

"The applicant would have to meet the requirements in training and education for any particular job and if the application process was undermined by a company, the Bermudian applicant could object to the immigration board or take their grievances to the Human Rights board."

He said the present system was flawed because many qualified Bermudians were being overlooked during permit renewals and the large exempt companies were not creating enough entry-level jobs for young Bermudians returning from college.

"It is easy to see the growing problem when you have a 26 percent growth in the foreign workforce over the last four years," he added. "It is starting to appear that Bermudian employment opportunities are no longer for Bermudians and if you are qualified there is a good chance you will not be considered because the permit renewal was never advertised, and, let's be honest, your application would be surplus to requirements.

"Arthur Hodgson was right and we are certain this is the kind of jobs register that he and the majority of Bermudians would support."