The current economic slowdown in Bermuda is expected to lead to further job cuts, but the Island will not suffer from big unemployment as a result.

That was the warning from Doug Soares, founding partner of Expertise Ltd., who will be talking about 'Readying your Organisation for Tough Economic Times' at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess on Thursday.

Mr. Soares said that while a number of redundancies had already been made, there could be more to come, however, because Bermuda is able to export its employment, any cuts would not be truly reflected in the employment figures.

"There is no question that hiring has slowed down and there is no question that in certain industries redundancies are being made," he said.

"Obviously they are not on the scale of perhaps XL Capital a few months ago, but two or three positions here and six or seven there all add up.

"It is a steady trickle and we expect more to come."

Mr. Soares said that the Island was in an unusual position that traditionally when the economy contracts it has the opportunity to send much of employment overseas, particularly in the hospitality and construction industry.

He said that at the moment there are approximately 11,000 work permit holders in Bermuda, with a prolonged recession possibly resulting in hundreds or even a couple of thousand jobs being exported abroad.

"In the UK, US and Canada in particular the unemployment rate is a good barometer for the economy, but in Bermuda our rate of unemployment may not shift significantly because many of those losing jobs actually leave the country."

Expertise has more than 250 organisations on its books at any given time, according to Mr. Soares, and he reckons many companies are in a "wait and see" mode, with some more concerned about the financial turmoil than others.

He said that demand was higher than ever for Expertise's Outplacement service, a counselling and career coaching product, as firms sought advice during these tough economic times.

"The biggest difference for many is that in Bermuda we have had the opposite problem from a recession, which means our economy has been overheated for a long period of time and so we may be going from one extreme to the other," he said.

The conference, which will be headed by Mr. Soares and is expected to attract more than 50 attendees, including employers from the international business, hospitality, retail, telecommunications and non-for-profit sectors, will cover the issue of tackling loss of business by raising standards and providing good value versus slashing costs, focusing on learning high-impact strategies for reducing people costs and boosting workplace productivity during recessionary periods.

Topics will range from why traditional cost cutting measures are often counter productive and establishing plans to meet the unique circumstances of individual businesses to managing people in times of economic uncertainty and how to build employee engagement.

"When people start asking us for advice and with this economic recession looming, a seminar is in effect an opportunity to get advice out there to as many employers as possible," said Mr. Soares.

"Employers want to be conscious about using any across the board cost cutting strategies, for instance, hiring freezes and salary freezes if it could shut off the potential for taking advantage of other opportunities.

"The principles and controls that we are giving a presentation on can be applied just as easily in retail as international business.

"I think what is interesting about the seminar is that the timing of it is probably just about right.

"Bermuda has not yet seen the full brunt of what is to come, but it is a good time to start to prepare for what may be coming down the road — retail and hospitality are starting to feel the pain first and foremost, construction will not be far behind and international business, from the point of view of what is happening in the financial markets, is experiencing a significant impact, but we are still in the front end of this recession."

The conference takes place between 9.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. on Thursday.

To book your place at the event or form more information contact Expertise at 296-0336 or visit the website at www.expertise.bm.