Canadian worker kicked off the island
February 18th, 2007Another foreigner has been kicked out of Bermuda after a dispute involving a government MP. Canadian building contractor Curtis Macleod will leave the island on Monday after an argument with Warwick North Central MP George Scott led to his work permit being revoked. In December Australian chef Anthony Reynolds was forced to leave after making a joke about poisoning Premier Ewart Brown.
March 2nd, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Dear Bermudians,
I was recently offered a job in Bermuda, so I set about researching the place; I quickly discovered that the country has an unfavourable climate with regard to how Ex-pats are perceived and treated. I have read numerous articles about how workers have been dismissed for little or no cause, by Government officials that took exception to something they didn’t like, e.g. the Canadian worker whose visa was revoked after he had a verbal disagreement with a Government official, or the British doctor that spoke out about a clinic closing, whose visa was also revoked. I read a very disturbing article in your local newspaper about the Minister for Immigration in Bermuda stating that “foreigners should not get involved in local politics” – I was shocked by the Minister’s xenophobic attitudes and his lack of education; as politics is not some commodity that is stored for use, it is freedom of speech, the right to representation, at work, or as a citizen; without politics, you have dictatorships – is this what Bermuda aspires to be?
My final word is that I shall not be taking the Job; so there you go, a Bermudian can have it, and your bigoted and ignorant politics too.
John
May 11th, 2007 at 8:00 am
So you want to work in bermuda…..PAY ATTENTION!!!!!
Firstly a little about me;
i work in Bermuda and have done so for 7 long years…i remain here for the money only
i work with Bermudians’ and it is a daily battle to maintain my sanity
im tertiary educated possessing two degrees and am working on my masters
i work in the HUMAN CARE field and possess 15 years experience. Having worked for government agencies around the world
i consider myself to be an objective person
i consider myself to be a nonracist (i am white)having enjoyed a number or relationships with BLACKS of the opposite sex!
I work with ‘black people’ from all over the world; who appear to be very well trained, it has also been a pleasure to work with them in general(jamaicans/nigerians etc!)
Please consider the following;
Dont sell everything you have to come here. it is a given that you will have a falling out/argument with a Bermudian who will make life hell for you! They infact can do it, and have done it. How you may ask??? Well for a start they are all either related / sleeping with /or working with someone that holds a powerful position or knows somebody that does! They will absolutely use these connections to cause havoc for you.
choose a job that keeps you away from the bermudian people.
examples; a woman was about to pull out infront of me from a side street…i shook my head at her…she began to follow me…i pulled over to let her pass… she pulled over…i drove on…she followed…i became alarmed and pulled into the supermarket , as did she. She said my husbands a detective i was going to call him and have him pull your plates to find out who you are…ive done it before she said!
implication; ordinary bermudian folk can and do use family connections to find out about you!
Problems in the work setting i think are caused by;
population; Bermuda has a very small populace. In my subjective opinion this has lead to a small pool of talent from which to draw a work force that is capable of performing to world class standards….(but dont say that to a bermudian they will crucify you).However problems arise as many bermudians ‘think’ they are up to par’…but as you will see when you arrive here….they are ‘not’
A recent consulting firm from America evaluated the management team at a major government institution and concluded the following
1/ small work-force that is unable to produce the level of talent you need to run Bermuda
2/that they (evaluating agency)have never seen a management team that knows so little about so much ; with respect to their departments! The managers, when i test them from time to time simply cant answer my questions…questions that any manager should be able to easily answer! (so many of my expat colleagues snicker at their ignorance)
They lie;i can verify this…the managers dont care about the expat.They lie through their teeth professing their support for the expat, but their actions dictate something different!
Power; They want the high jobs so they can tell people what to do, few have tertiary training. Many believe ‘life experience, their family name or their nationality ‘ to be enough to receive a job that pays $80k us tax free or to protect them against complaints! As i said they are ALL virtually related…….WHAT!!!!!!!!!! It is true that they live in another world. i personally know untrained bermud’ people that believe it appropriate that they be paid $60k tax free a year to hand out lunches/mop the floors etc…….yes they are serious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Housing; bermuda has a housing problem, rents are sky high 3k a mth for a 2bed room, the only people that can afford these rents are the high wage earners from overseas, bermudians are being displaced from their homes only to have expats move in…..this has infuriated the local people!
Expats are provided housing because we are valuable commodities to our companies…it infuriates the locals who ask ‘why cant i have free housing?? They dont understand the response; ‘because foreign expats are more valuable than you…and to attract them we must reward them highly’
uneducated and unwilling to be educated; i have met hundreds of expats and they all say the same thing; that the Bermudians are the dumbest people they’ve ever met!I have used words that are commonly used in my field of expertise, and my Bermudian colleagues will look at me blankly. Further, and i kid you not, Bermudians actually make up words ; “contubler”(?) ..i think thats what they meant!!! Truly you can be in a conversation with a bermudian, and to sound intelligent they will make words up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!No im not joking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Their command of the english language is poor
Recent headlines stated a 60%-70% failure rate at high school (FINAL YEAR)/ 30% of Bermudian adults are illiterate. This is one of the real reasons why employers dont want Bermudians working for them. In general they are poor achievers
Other berm’ colleagues of mine told me they care little about academic advancement…jus’ give me the $$$$$$’s
dumb; i have some psychologist friends who regularly comment that there are a great many Bermudians with low IQ. Imagine what it would be like for you to work with someone that has a 50 point lower IQ.My IQ is 140…trust me whan i say that the locals do not value intelligence, it is not important to them. Conflict abounds here due to intellectual differences. Bermudians can not understand why i/other colleagues have performed my/their job a certain way, despite having being trained to do it this way. They simply dont have the ability to critically examine within their own minds ‘why i/we did what we did’
Implication; they report you (even though you’ve correctly performed your job!!!)
the bermudians think they are up to world class standard…this is not the case. you will meet locals here that are only good for ‘flippin burgas’
Bermudians are focussed on obtaining power; they want the position without putting in the effort to obtain real credentials…credentials that are a necessity in the real world ; in reality Bermudians turn up late, fall asleep on the job, leave early without seeking permission to do so! (becoming upset when told to remain on duty), are racist and manipulative whilst remaining blissfully ignorant to so many things that are well understood outside of the island
down right evil;whilst professing to be ‘christian”
nationalistic; which is understandable, however the country needs foreigners to do the jobs bermudians are unable to or simply dont want to do
insubordinate ; patently insubordinate at just about every opportunity
envious of your wealth education and authority over them; they often will say;’you are my equal’ when in reality they have no university training and it is likely the expat will. Still they feel that they are your equal!
untrained staff feel they are your equal regardless of your level of formal training. They will tell you to your face that they dont have to take direction from you, even when its written into their job contract to follow your direction
i realise these are broad examples and are simply ‘my’life experience which may differ from another persons experience. And yes every community around the world has its ‘quirks’. But listen to me when i tell you….it is very very VERY hard work to deal with these embiciles day after day, year after year. if you are wavering regarding which way you should go…’accept or reject the job’………….REJECT IT!!!!!!!!!!!! i freakin hate this place and the people. Like my mother says ; if theyre paying you lots of money…….theres always a catch!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 25th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Lovelover, If you feel all of that then leave.
May 6th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Lovelover, It’s so sad you have lumped all Bermudians together. I am Bermudian and have never esteemed myself above or below anyone. My Mom taught me never to look for handouts and always strive to do your best. It’s very obvious you spend much of your time thinking about how much you abhor us. I have travelled and lived in Europe for 3 years and had some bad experiences with certain idividuals in various countries but I didn’t declare all Europeans idiots because of my experience. Hatred is such a deadly emotion . . . toxic to the heart and no amount of money could keep me in a place I detested so much.
September 4th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Lovelover seems to have a major attitude problem. My family and I lived in Bermuda for almost 30 years. I went to school there and had many, many Bermudian friends. None of them felt inferior, superior or otherwise. Perhaps lovelover needs to take the venom elsewhere.