Bermuda businesses will “start picking each other’s pockets to survive” if the island fails to ready for an impending surge in recruitment when its biggest resort reopens for business, the president of the Chamber of Commerce has warned.

Marico Thomas highlighted that close to 500 employees might be coming aboard at the Fairmont Southampton by the end of 2026, with staff up to 700 once the resort is in full swing.

“At a glance, this looks like a hospitality issue — but it’s not,” Mr Thomas said. “This is a national labour issue and a window into a much larger challenge across Bermuda’s entire economy.”

Mr Thomas maintained that workers were already thin on the ground in various industries.

He cited restaurants cutting back during the week from lack of staff, small retailers losing workers to bigger employers and “tourists and residents experiencing longer waits and thin service”.

Mr Thomas said the Chamber was “calling for serious, open and constructive dialogue” on “the real challenge, which is simply that Bermuda needs more persons in the workforce”.

Philip Barnett, the president and managing director of Island Restaurant Group and an active Chamber member, said the approaching finish line for the Fairmont Southampton was “fantastic, phenomenal news for Bermuda”.

However, on the employment front for hospitality, especially when it came to experienced staff, he responded: “It’s a longstanding concern.

“When the development plan for the Fairmont Southampton was originally mooted, the gaps of available individuals and the jobs available was noted to be very significant.”

Mr Barnett added: “I can tell you from factual experience, it’s a very tight labour market right now for restaurants.

“I can only speak our truth — it’s always very challenging for servers, bartenders and chefs.”

He emphasised the low unemployment rate reflected in latest employment briefs, released last month.

Mr Thomas said the figure was hovering at approximately 1.5 per cent.

“So where are these people going to come from?” Mr Barnett said. “The only place they can possibly come from is, frankly, away.”

He predicted “anxiety and stress on existing businesses in what’s starting to become a harder market”.

“We’re all trying to snap anybody up. It’s a great time to be a person looking for a job; you’ll have your pick of the litter.”

Mr Barnett said housing availability was “the biggest pinch point” for Bermudian and expatriate workers, with appropriate single-person accommodation on the island at a premium.

The employment briefs released by Jason Hayward, the Minister of Economy and Labour, showed a 1.8 per cent rise in jobs last year, but with nearly 95 per cent going to non-Bermudians.

Mr Hayward has praised the encouraging figures for jobs growth, but has repeatedly warned that the shrinking domestic workforce poses a risk of increased costs, economic slowdown and a rise in healthcare costs.

Mr Thomas said the diversity of jobs required for a major resort went far outside hospitality — and that “nearly every major employment sector will be impacted”.

He pointed to roughly a quarter of the workforce being non-Bermudian while “our population is shrinking and ageing, graduating class sizes are too small to fill the pipeline” and “Bermudians abroad aren’t returning in meaningful numbers”.

Failure to act, he warned, could lead to a breakdown in essential services and a stalling of productivity while “our young people will inherit instability, not opportunity”.