The results of CURE's first annual work force survey obscure as much as they enlighten the dynamics of Bermuda's work force, international business leaders said yesterday.

By neglecting to include all of Bermuda's employees and excluding factors such as education levels and experience, the results do not necessarily represent a true picture of the workforce, it was said.

The survey -- which details significant gaps in terms of income, benefits and workplace rank between racial groups -- was released last Friday. Among the more shocking statistics was that only two percent of executive managers in the international business sector are black.

Yesterday, however, David Ezekiel of the Chamber of Commerce International Companies Division said people within the industry were unsurprised by the results of the survey.

"All of us in the industry pretty much knew the composition of the industry as a whole,'' said Mr. Ezekiel. "It's been pretty clear to all of us for a while and it's not something we've not been working toward and trying to take steps to address.'' However, he said the survey was only representative of CURE's early efforts and that as the survey continues from year to year it will be possible to determine whether beneficial change is occurring.

But he said that the survey did not tackle some of the bigger questions with regards to successful employment in international business such as education levels, `preparedness' for the job, the quality of the public school systems and whether applicants were actually ready for high level positions.

"The international business sector is one that is highly demanding in terms of expertise,'' said Mr. Ezekiel. "It's a challenge to start with getting people with sufficient expertise. In terms of providing upward mobility -- that's number one on the agenda of most employers in terms of providing opportunity for Bermudians.'' However, even given a limited scope of data considered, the numbers were said to be difficult to counter for those companies posting absolutely dismal records in terms of race equity.

Mr. Ezekiel said that the numbers in the CURE survey spoke to those companies very loudly.

"I certainly think that the statistics provided by CURE will be a staging point because, they can at least ask companies to match the composition of their peer group,'' said Mr. Ezekiel. "I think the survey will eliminate or limit the argument that `that's simply the best we can do'.'' Charles Gosling of Gosling Bros., said the report seemed to support Government position on the extent of racial inequality in Bermuda. Mr. Gosling said he was speaking only from a personal perspective as a businessman. "It certainly does confirm the whole situation out there in terms of the inequality along racial lines as it goes up the economic ladder,'' he said.

But he added that more companies on the Island should have been included in the survey.

"One of the surprises for me was the large amount of companies on the Island that had less than ten employees, which meant that only two-thirds of the employees on the island, were actually a part of the survey,'' he said.

While 26,441 employees in 426 organisations completed the survey, according the Bermuda's 1999 Employment Survey there were 37,489 employees in the work force.

"I think I'd like to see included in the survey more employers, all businesses,'' said Mr. Gosling. And he said that the management committee of the Chamber of Commerce would be meeting today to discuss the report in full.

Gerald Simons, the president of the Bermuda Employers Council, told The Royal Gazette that one of the surprises he found in the survey results was that blacks represented only 54 percent of the work force.

"I usually think of it as 60 percent of the population,'' he said.

And he added he was also surprised to learn that blacks held the plurality -- 46 percent -- of jobs in the professional and technical category. Mr. Simons said he was looking forward to hearing how Government planned to move ahead with the next step in the CURE process.