Ten workers have been laid off at Paterson Contracting due to the sluggish construction industry.The local company, which employs 35 people and is based on Harbour Road, has issued lay-off letters to eight Bermudians and two foreign workers.Financial controller and acting manager Deverio Hassell told The Royal Gazette yesterday that the lay-offs were temporary and Paterson had not had to make anyone redundant.“They have been laid off for a couple of weeks while we are in between jobs. In another two to three weeks time we have another job coming up.”He said all ten were from Paterson's construction division. Its landscape and fit out divisions have been unaffected.“Construction is very slow on the Island,” said Mr Hassell.“Right now, there is just no major work out there for us. It's very quiet. We are out there looking for work [but] it's a very competitive market.”He described Paterson as a small construction firm with a 75 percent Bermudian workforce. “It kind of upsets me [to lay off employees] because we are mostly Bermudian,” he added.The company has just finished a job at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and has previously done work for XL, Ace and Orbis.In July, Paterson's general manager Brian Rowlinson, 64, suffered an aneurysm while on holiday in South Africa and was rushed to hospital.The former civil servant he served as Director of Planning and permanent secretary at the Environment Ministry has yet to return to work.Mr Hassell said: “He's doing better. We heard some good news about him today. He came back here for a little period of time but he is overseas in the US right now.”