Bermudian employers should help expatriates feel comfortable at work – or risk losing money.

That was stark warning yesterday during a panel discussion on race, diversity and equality in the workplace.

Mr. Gil Tucker, Country Leader of Ernst and Young, said his firm attracted employees from all over the world.

"If you can't keep your people happy and don't find the best people you can, you will lose money," he told the National Workforce Empowerment Conference.

The panel, hosted by the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE), took place at the Fairmont Southampton Hotel with a panel of business leaders. As well as Mr. Tucker they included Philip Butterfield, CEO of Bank of Bermuda, HSBC; Andrew Carr, CEO of Marsh Management; Diane Gordon, executive vice president of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce; Cheryl Lister, former CEO of Bermuda Monetary Authority.

Mr. Tucker said in the business world it was not about being nice or good – it was about making money.

He added guest workers needed to feel comfortable in their workplace in order for employers to get the most out of the investment.

Mr. Tucker said Ernst & Young had 200 employees represented by 25 nationalities all over the world. In contrast, years ago the firm had expatriates from only the UK, the US and Canada.

Now there were workers from Pakistan, the Phillipines and Angola who could not go home when they wanted. It was important for them to feel comfortable otherwise money was wasted, said Mr. Tucker.

Mr. Carr explained most Bermudians only applied for entry level jobs in the company where qualifications or prerequisites did not matter.

But he added: "It looks like we're continuing to fall behind but in reality Bermudians are landing great jobs and great careers".

Mr Butterfield told the audience he'd rather have a "come to Jesus" conversation with them instead of using notes.

He said one of the challenges he faced since coming back to Bermuda was having fact-based and truthful conversations with people.

"When I took over this company, 72 percent of our population was Bermudian. As of today, we have 84 percent. By 2009, 90 percent will be Bermudian".

Mr. Butterfield also talked about education saying: "When people talk about fix education, they mean public education because the perception is private education is perfect".

During her time on the microphone, Ms Gordon explained she was very passionate about diversity and said her staff was entirely Bermudian and discussed stereotypes in jobs such as construction.

Ms Gordon said: "I believe CURE has already made strides of opportunity in equality in the workplace."

Mrs. Lister mostly discussed the changes the BMA had made since she began working there in 1999. She explained the staff was 90 percent black Bermudian and female with hardly any diversity. She went on to say the expatriates that worked there were specialists from the UK or Canada and now they had employees from all over the world.

Mrs. Lister added: "For us, this is the first time we have ever had such a mix of races and cultures."

The conference continues today.