A call for action on Bermuda's unemployables is getting support from the Bermuda Employers Council.

Executive Director Malcolm Dixon says however, that a survey of employers' perceptions should be off the agenda.

"Employers are already overburdened with surveys," Mr. Dixon told The Royal Gazette. "We need accurate figures, not perception." Mr. Dixon was responding to a report this week on the perception among employers that there is a corps of unemployable Bermudians.

Government backbencher Dale Butler said the matter should be studied to determine the extent of the problem, starting with a survey.

Mr. Dixon said Government already has the information - through the Government Employment Office and social services. And he said it should be clear from those agencies the people who employers are unwilling to employ.

"We have people registered at the Employment Office - they then send them out to get jobs. . . But then you have the repeat people who employers just won't employ for various reasons. And these people will invariably be passed on to social welfare to be sustained."

He called on Government to require people to be registered if they are unemployed. "If it's found out that they cannot get jobs or are deemed to be unemployable, then the Government has the statistics."

The issue of unemployable Bermudians is perennial, said Mr. Dixon. "Certainly it's been an ongoing issue that obviously we're concerned about."

While a number of employers have expressed their concerns about what they see as a significant problem of low motivation and poor work ethics among some Bermudians, the complainants are quick to point out that their own workplace does not experience such problems and the vast majority of locals in the workforce are excellent workers.

One human resource manager did tell The Royal Gazette that her company employed people with "social baggage" who would otherwise be unemployable. She said the company bends over backwards to accommodate them and work with them in addressing their social issues in order to improve their productivity.

She also said a poor work ethic tended to be more likely among young locals who had never lived abroad.

What is not known is the extent to which employers keep locals with a poor work ethic on the payroll because of Bermuda's chronic labour shortage or as a result of pressures to Bermudianise the workforce.

Mr. Dixon says that a survey wouldn't help there either because it would be too nebulous.

"I wouldn't class those people as unemployable - that's just a poor work ethic. What we certainly encourage our members to do is obviously have good policies in place. . . Then it's for management to make sure those policies are enforced."

He added : "If a survey said `yes, we have people who are continuously absent on Monday and Friday' my answer to that is you should have your policies in place to keep that from happening. . . I just don't know if you could structure a survey to get accurate information because there is a lot of speculation."

Mr. Dixon agreed, when asked, if he sensed that it was an issue but had no idea how big.

"Yes. Employers and certainly our membership which is very large will talk about poor work ethics that goes on and so forth. But what we do is work with that employer to help set up the policies and we run workshops. . . for management to reinforce the policies."

He said : "I firmly believe that certainly the majority of Bermudians in the workforce are good employees. Otherwise we would be hearing of very high turnover figures from companies."