More categories are to be added to Government’s list of jobs that are off-limits to work permit holders, Economy Minister Patrice Minors has announced.The planned limits, which could boost construction work for locals, were revealed during a media round table on the latest initiatives to tackle Bermudian unemployment.Referring to former Minister Kim Wilson’s 2011 work permit moratorium on jobs such as cleaning, landscaping and gardening, Ms Minors said “non-specialist construction jobs” could be added to the list, including “masons, carpenters, electricians and plumbers”.Government will consult with employer groups, as well as the Bermuda Industrial Union, to discuss which categories will be affected. The list will be made public, the Minister said, and updated in accordance with changes in the Island’s unemployment figures.Ms Minors added that waiters, servers and possibly secretaries and caregivers could go on a restricted list meaning employers “will have to first demonstrate that they have hired a certain percentage of Bermudians, including trainees, before a work permit is considered”.The Minister noted that last year’s moratorium had created “hundreds of job opportunities” for Bermudians though, in some cases, “guest workers have been asked to settle their affairs and leave the Island”.Introducing the discussion, Premier Paula Cox said: “All able-bodied Bermudians should be able to obtain a job before work permits are granted, particularly in the jobs that do not require specialised qualifications.”Adding that Government does not wish to impede business, Ms Cox said: “We cannot continue to issue work permits without ensuring that companies are doing all they can to hire Bermudians.”She continued: “While the focus is on the private sector, Government has also implemented changes to its processes to provide opportunities to Bermudian contractors, particularly those that have graduated from the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation.“The Project Management and Procurement Office have amended the criteria for evaluating bids, to give a higher weight to those companies that have mostly Bermudian workers. In addition, they have eliminated the criteria that had traditionally excluded the smaller companies.”Ms Cox told the gathering that Government was intent on “jobs, jobs, jobs ... not just focusing on international business and financial services, but across the realm of employment”.The discussion came in the wake of the Incentives for Job Makers Act, exempting senior corporate executives from work permits under certain conditions, published this week.Commenting on the latest hospitality job fairs, the Minister said: “While it is too early to comprehensively determine how many jobs will be secured by Bermudians, the hotels are committed to filling as many of the more than 600 positions as they can with qualified Bermudians.”Ms Minors said she has also requested, through the Bermuda Hotel Association, letters from hotel owners confirming they are “prepared to hire any Bermudian that is able and willing to work, whether trained or untrained, before any work permits are issued”.And the Department of Labour and Training is also to establish a hotline for job-seekers, along with “service standards for turning around applications from Bermudians and communicating to the Work Permits section those persons that may be qualified for jobs”.For areas where Government identifies an abundance of qualified Bermudians, Ms Minors said, the Work Permits section will not issue any permits until Labour has shown that no qualified or willing Bermudians are available.“Statistics regarding the status of the Bermudians registered together with the numbers who have found jobs will be made public on a monthly basis,” she added.Ms Minors reported that Labour and Training gained 140 new clients in the last quarter of 2011, with 480 re-registering.“There were 96 job placements made in October and November that were assisted by the Department of Labour and Training.”For Bermudians in need of retraining, the Minister said, the Department would work in tandem with the Bermuda College.Following on the Small Works Job Initiative, which Government used to employ 20 out-of-work Bermudians on Government Estates projects over a 12-week period last year, Ms Minors said Government also hoped to offer cleaning contract work for a maximum of four unemployed locals.The Waiter Server Programme, Government’s partnership with the Bermuda Hotel Association and the Chamber of Commerce’s restaurant division, has accepted 54 successful candidates, she said all of whom are “guaranteed jobs upon successful completion of the course work”.“Our collective goal is to retrain and employ 100 Bermudians as phase one of this programme,” Ms Minors said.And a One Stop Career Centre, formed by a merging of Labour and Training with the National Training Board, is expected to have its own location by the spring.Ms Cox promised that Government would be closely examining procurement of Government contracts, with a view to “empowerment for Bermudian workers”.Asked for projections on the Island’s construction industry, the Premier also hinted at a “major private sector initiative” now seeking approval in principle for a one-phase project with interest.Saying there is “decided interest” in the project, Ms Cox described the project’s backers as “bullish”.