and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. J. Irving Pearman told a group of human resource managers and training officers yesterday.

And that number, he said, does not even include the jobs lost in the fall and winter months.

Mr. Pearman, guest speaker at a Bermuda Training and Development Association luncheon, was quoting August 1991-92 figures in the soon-to-be-released 1992 Manpower Survey.

The Minister said most of the 971 jobs lost were in the retail sector and hotels.

He said the Island had the capacity to retain a work force of 35,000-plus, but was currently down to one of 33,650, of which 26,358 jobs were filled by Bermudians.

In an effort to boost the local work force, he pledged to work hard to establish a much broader programme than Government currently had of assisting employers and promoting the training of Bermudians.

Having "come off the shop floor'', and climbed his way up the ladder to head Holmes, Williams and Purvey Ltd., he said he especially wanted to concentrate on helping young people with technical potential.

He said he was looking to hire an officer to coordinate a technical and craft training programme.

"Bermuda has a lot of young people who are very capable with their hands, but who lack the skills and motivation to continue along the academic plane,'' he said. "In my opinion it would reduce the ills of this society if we reached out to these young people sitting on the walls. They could be trained as mechanics, technicians, masons and so on.'' Training and retraining are a prerequisite if Bermuda is to continue to be successful and the high standard of living Bermudians enjoy is to be maintained, he said.

"I know the value of training and retraining,'' he said, conceding that in his opinion "it was now late in the day'' to be focussing on it.

He said the Ministry already had a policy of issuing and renewing work permits with a must-train-a-Bermudian condition attached.

He could not give a percentage of how many job categories had this condition, but said a "broad range'' of occupations were covered.

Mr. Pearman appealed to employers to go the extra mile to train a Bermudian if they lacked just one or two skills required for a job.

He noted the US economy was showing signs of recovery, however, it would be a "lag of about six-nine months'' before any positive effects were felt here.

The UBP last night returned to the attack on the PLP's proposal for a means-tested unemployment benefit scheme.

UBP chairman Dr. James King said PLP leader Mr. Frederick Wade should "hit the books'' and come up with more detail on the organisation, benefits and costs of the plan.

Dr. King said: "Is this just another example of the PLP's push for change for change's sake? "Something like this for Bermuda would have to mean that there was a proven benefit to Bermudians at a reasonable cost. The little that Mr. Wade has promoted so far comes nowhere close to doing this.''