Newsbot Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 A declaration of the Isle of Man's identity and interests will give confidence to businesses on the island, the chief minister says. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/6614991.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Last Bulgam Miner Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 A declaration of the Isle of Man's identity and interests will give confidence to businesses on the island, the chief minister says. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/6614991.stm Well Chief Minister, I am sure your words will reassure the staff (ex) at the Castlemona Hotel, Imperial Hotel, Ronldsway Airport, Mannin Hotel School, and the staff at the several financial companies whose names I cannot remember at the moment, who have been put out of work during the last six months. Their seems to be a willingness amonst Ministers to believe what they are told by their well paid manderins instead of actualy finding out facts for themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Well yes, but the actual data is telling them this: At the end of March unemployment stood at 552, 1.3% of the economically active population, and 63 fewer than at March 2006. During the month of March 100 claimants signed on the unemployment register but 164 signed off. Of the total, 345 are males and 207 are females. These figures include 34 persons who require work permits and 55 who were signing on for National Insurance credits only. A total of 719 job vacancies were notified to the Job Centre during March and at the end of the month 404 jobs were held on file. Registered Unemployed Total Rate % Current (March 2007): 552 1.3 -1month(February 2007): 616 1.5 -1 year (March 2006): 615 1.5 I know its tough to be out of a job, but an unemployment rate of 1.3% causes big problems in an economy because businesses cannot find suitable candidates and people job hop. Retaining staff is a big issue for companies on the Island and a disincentive for companies to relocated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Yes, China, but you have to be more analytical than that (demographics don't really tell the story); which sectors have the unemployment and which have the need for more people? The two may not marry up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinahand Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Totally agree with you there Gladys, and that is a big big issue for the Islands continuing development. The issue is flexibility and ensuring people have the skills to move as circumstances change. However the lay offs the Last Bulgam Miner highlighted aren't in jobs without transferable skills and so for the Island as a whole I do not think that the current lay offs will create a mismatch between the unemployed and the employer. Is there a genuine skills gap on the Island with people being squeezed out? Bernard Moffatt certainly thinks so? I just find it ironic that at a time when there are rumours that the manual trades can command £40 an hour on the Jurby Prison he's complaining about cheap foriegn labour - isn't the issue massively overpriced local labour - something that is also influencing other employment sectors! I'm getting conflicting messages on how successfully the Island's labour market is adapting to the huge changes its gone through since the 1970s. On the one hand I believe the Island's schools are pretty effective and are producing talented people, we're developing (slowly) the institutions for providing on going career training and the economy is more diverse - people who leave can come back (just like you Gladys!), and people can train and get a career without leaving. But many of the topics on the Forums talk about the failure of people to deal with a complex world - the Forums are full of topics about Chavs, spongers, and delinquents. Is this just a normal anxiety you'd get in any culture - name any culture or historical period: the Romans, the Victorians, the Edwardians, the 1950s, 1970s they all feared social break down. Are today's circumstances any different? Or is globalization and the fact that your work colleague is a Pole, or a Francais making for different concerns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Yes, it is a conundrum. But the problem is that we do not have a breadth of economic acitvity which can absorb losses in one sector into another. Take the Ronaldsway engineering facility. The engineers there are highly specialised and trained to maintain aircraft. They are surely able to take up other types of engineering jobs, but how many are around? Can they, and would they want to, take a job in the finance sector? The likelihood is that, because all the engineers must earn a living, and support their families, many will have to look outside of the island. At a stroke, not only is a substantial employer removed from the economy, but also the reservoir of expertise that we had. (Engineering was an unsung strength of the IOM, just look at the profession of many of the more serious posters on here!) Don't know the answer, but one thing is for sure, we do not operate in an isolated capsule; we need to make sure that our workforce can respond to the opportunities that the outside world can offer us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grant Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Just what is keyboarders profession then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Just what is keyboarders profession then? Trolling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyboarder Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Just what is keyboarders profession then? As red herrings go, this one would kickstart the Peel smokehouses back to the glory days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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