Bermudians, according to a new survey.

And unless there is a change of attitude towards them, more foreigners may take their expertise to rival jurisdictions, Bermuda banker Mr. Thomas Davis told Hamilton Rotarians yesterday.

Mr. Davis revealed details of the Bermuda International Business Association survey in a speech he gave as chairman of a BIBA sub-committee set up to analyse if Bermuda was fully utilising its skilled foreign work force, which he described as a "scarce resource''.

Over 240 foreign workers participated in the survey, which Mr. Davis called an "amazing response rate''.

"When analysing their comments, what came through more than anything else was a feeling that the non-Bermudian does not feel either appreciated or wanted by Bermudians,'' he said. "Whether the basis for this feeling is real or perceived does not really matter.

"What is of paramount importance is that if non-Bermudians, a scarce resource, feel unwanted or unappreciated then we may lose this resource, or part of it, and find it difficult to replace.

"If other jurisdictions adopt a more positive and welcoming attitude to their guest workers than does Bermuda, then we are in danger of losing our brightest and the best to our competitors,'' Mr. Davis said, which could result in a loss of international business and a lower standard of living for Bermudians.

As a Bermudian, Mr. Davis said he understood why there were "negative feelings'' towards non-Bermudian workers.

Overcrowding and a feeling of being economically exploited were among the concerns of local people.

The last Census indicated that 12,313 of the 58,460 people living on the Island on May 20, 1991, were non-Bermudian.

"This means that one out of every group of five people living here was born somewhere else,'' said Mr. Davis. "This is a very high percentage of a non-indigenous group. "Overcrowding is one of the main concerns. Twenty-one square miles is not a lot of space. To have to share it with additional people can be perceived as a reduction in the quality of life.

"Another concern is economic. Some have a perception that non-Bermudians generally enjoy a standard of living much higher than theirs. This leads to a feeling of being exploited or of a group having an unfair advantage.'' Mr. Davis said Bermudians and non-Bermudians have different expectations. The Bermudian position was: "This is my home and I have a right to that job,'', he said.

This contrasted with the non-Bermudian view that: "I've given the best years of my life to help build this business or profession and I don't think it's fair to be kicked out just because a Bermudian thinks he or she is ready to take over.'' He added: "Both sides have legitimate expectations. What is needed is a management of those expectations. This can only be done through education.'' Mr. Davis admitted that some of his own preconceived notions about foreign workers had been dispelled by his sub-committee's study.

One of them was that not as many expatriates are employed directly by international businesses as he had assumed.

"I knew generally that there were about 11,000 jobs (including secondary jobs) connected with international companies,'' he said.

"I didn't know, though, that there were actually 1,900 jobs created within those companies.

"And what I certainly didn't appreciate is that of those 1,900 jobs held by non-Bermudians, only 630 are held by non-Bermudians.

"If you had asked me what the figure was before my involvement, I would have said there were well over 1,000 jobs held by non-Bermudians within the international companies.'' Mr. Davis said that for every one non-Bermudian employed by international businesses, at least two Bermudians are also employed by those same businesses.

"In the larger context, the 630 non-Bermudians employed by the international companies help support over 11,000 jobs in the Bermuda economy -- one third of all the jobs in Bermuda,'' he added.

"The Bermuda populace needs to be educated so that we are aware, accept and understand that non-Bermudians working in international companies are an asset rather than a liability.

"If these non-Bermudians left Bermuda, not only would our international business industry suffer an enormous and probably irretrievable setback, but a large number of other Bermudian jobs would be at risk.

"I invite you to join me in giving our non-Bermudian colleagues the recognition and support they deserve.''