The president of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce looked to set the record straight about Bermuda’s job market, after receiving “confusion” from the public.

Marico Thomas said reactions to his earlier concerns about the lack of people in the workforce reflected public “confusion,” with many being “based on older assumptions about how Bermuda used to work”.

He added: “These comments point to a bigger truth — we cannot address today’s challenges if we are still thinking in yesterday’s terms.

“We may need a mindset reset because the world we are living in today doesn’t operate the way it used to.”

Mr Thomas on Wednesday warned that the Fairmont Southampton resort could need as many as 700 people once it’s fully up and running — a tall order, he said, for an already anaemic workforce.

In a statement published yesterday, Mr Thomas clarified that Bermuda no longer lived in a time where “hospitality roles were the foundation of prosperity” and that “our expectations must change”.

He explained that international business made up about half of Bermuda’s economy as hospitality took a back-seat.

Mr Thomas added that young Bermudians were choosing different career paths and that, while artificial intelligence was expected to change some roles, it would not outweigh “the people shortage we are facing”.

Mr Thomas said that the Government’s 2025 Employment Briefs showed jobs grew by 1.8 per cent and that 94 per cent of it went to non-Bermudians, showing Bermudians receiving only18 jobs.

He added that the briefs showed a continued wage gap and that certain sectors relied “heavily” on guest workers.

Mr Thomas said: “Perhaps the clearest indicator of long-term change is that the percentage of Bermudians in hospitality — hotels and restaurants — has declined from 70 per cent in 2000 to just 56 per cent in 2024.

“This is not a sudden shift. It has been unfolding for almost 25 years.”

He said: “Someone asked ‘if hundreds apply for a government job, how can we have a worker shortage?’.

“The answer — the jobs people apply for in government are not the same jobs that go unfilled in hospitality, healthcare, construction, or essential services.

“These are different job markets with different requirements, expectations and realities.”

Mr Thomas added: “It should be noted that ‘hundreds of applicants’ can easily point to people wishing to change their job — not hundreds of unemployed persons applying. This distinction matters.”

Mr Thomas said several factors went into this problem, including Bermudians moving off-island, young adults having different expectations and overseas wages making certain professions more appealing.

He said that some positions no longer came with financial stability, the cost of living forced people to make labour decisions and that behavioural and reliability concerns led to “hiring challenges”.

He said: “The has also been years of societal shaping, grooming and influencing of how we think, what we expect and which types of work are seen as acceptable of ‘beneath us’.

Mr Thomas said that success had to come from “a different mix of industries, skills and career paths than in the past”.

He explained that schools and training programmes must prepare people for “Realistic expectations” and that people should pursue “long-term growth” over “short-term survival”.

Mr Thomas added that businesses should invest in professional development and that the immigration and workforce systems must reflect the island’s needs and sectors.

He said: “This is a shared responsibility. Employers must improve training, structure and support. Workers, families and communities also shape the behaviours and reliability that show up in the workplace.”