Government backbench MP Dale Butler has raised concerns about the future of Bermuda's workforce, after revealing numbers showing Bermudians are not making claims to jobs when they become available.

Mr. Butler, who is a member of the Immigration board which oversees permits granted to guest workers, said of the 1,200 jobs which had been advertised by employers last year, only 75 Bermudians applied for the positions.

He highlighted the statistics during Friday's House of Assembly debate on the 2002-03 Budget, unveiled last week by Finance Minister Eugene Cox.

Mr. Butler suggested that Bermuda's immigration woes will continue if Bermudians did not take advantage of opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills through training and education.

"It just makes sense if Bermudians were more aware," he said. "Bermudians honestly feel that of those 1,200 permits, 2,000 Bermudians applied. That would be great if that were the case, but of those 1,200 issued, only 75 Bermudians went for these jobs. That leaves 1,125 jobs that had nobody apply."

Mr. Butler theorised that making Bermudians privy to this knowledge on a quarterly basis would work towards alleviating tensions between Immigration, ex-pats and locals.

He suggested further investigation should be done by Immigration to find out why Bermudians are not chasing up opportunities.

"It's no secret that we have a shortage of Bermudian applicants," he said. "The community is frustrated because we are bringing in more people for more jobs. But it's not the ex-pat's fault, we have created this cycle. It has become the norm."

He added another solution would be for Bermudians to opt for careers in areas of international business, insurance and economics, with exempt companies being more committed to providing apprenticeships to locals.

He also said that guidance should start when Bermudians are young.

"Now more than ever before, we need to take advantage of educational opportunities," he said. "I believe that every child in school should have a computer in their home. Every ingredient for success is here. All we need is the commitment of Bermudians to take advantage of it."

He added: "The Immigration woes will only get worse if we do not have more dialogue about this," he said.

"We are generally very good citizens. But decent Bermudians are finding it hard to live in our own country. And we need to ensure that political disharmony does not lead to more polarisation and social disharmony."