Many employers failed to attend a conference aimed at boosting job prospects for Bermudians.

But organisers yesterday were still hailing the two-day event a success.

Said Government training officer Naomi Schroter: "The overall impression and feedback I got was that this was an exciting process.'' She added she knew of one employer who had already recruited somebody following the Ministry of Labour's conference.

Ms Schroter believed a similar conference should be mounted for employers.

Another organiser, Arnold Minors, told The Royal Gazette : "It would have been interesting had there been more employers.'' Mr. Minors, however, pointed out he was not dismayed by the absentees.

"One of the guiding principles of the conference is that whoever comes are the right people.'' Mr. Minors, a Bermudian who holds a Master of Business Administration from Queen's University and has run a consulting company in Toronto since 1983, thought it unlikely employers did not know about the "employment solutions'' conference.

"They should have been aware. There is no reason why they would not have been.'' Last week's conference at Pier 6 on Front Street was designed to promote dialogue and an exchange of ideas among stakeholders in the labour economy.

It attracted a wide cross section of the community -- from white collar executives to single mothers and the unemployed. Some 188 people registered to attend.

Delegates set the agenda by floating jobs-boosting ideas and placing them on a bulletin board.

They then broke into smaller groups to examine the proposals in greater detail.

Speaking from his Canada home, Mr. Minors told The Royal Gazette he did not have figures for the number of employers who attended. But he believed there were not many.

Asked why, he replied: "That's a good question, probably better put to employers.'' Mr. Minors said a "wide range of projects'' flowed from the conference.

"I call them projects because people said they were going to work on the ideas.'' Ideas included: Increasing the work permit fee from about $500 to $5,000 in a bid to deter employers from taking on non-Bermudians, such as those who arrived on the Island on holiday; Working with employers to find placements for former prisoners with specific skills; Allowing a greater range of students to be admitted to Bermuda College; and; Giving the jobless a chance to boost their employment skills by doing voluntary work.

Among other ideas were more business support for CedarBridge Academy, training young Bermudians to join emergency response crews, a beauty therapist training programme and a self-managed BMX bicycle track.

Mr. Minors, who once worked for the City of Toronto and Imperial Oil Ltd., said he would be writing a report based on the conference.

He would be sending it to the Ministry of Labour in a few weeks.

"I will put all the projects together and make some comments,'' he said.

Asked whether the conference left him optimistic, Mr. Minors replied: "I came away pleased that the process works.'' Mr. Minors said the conference was designed to be a catalyst for solutions to employment problems.

Ms Schroter said she would be briefing Labour Minister Quinton Edness and the Labour Ministry's Permanent Secretary John Drinkwater today about the conference.

GOVERNMENT GVT