Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur
THE number of Islanders registered as unemployed is likely to pass the 1,000 mark by Christmas – a figure that has been exceeded only once since the early 1990s.
The latest figures released today reveal that 997 people sought help from Social Security to find a job in October. However, that number is likely to increase significantly over the coming weeks as the impact of recently announced redundancies is felt.
Jersey Telecom has signalled that it intends to lay off 80 staff, while Jersey Water is letting 20 employees go. And Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur said that he could offer no guarantees that things were going to get better in the short term.
‘I do not have a crystal ball,’ he said. ‘I am not going to give false optimism because we always said that we were in a period of economic decline and that it would hit Jersey later than it has hit other places. This level of unemployment, particularly at this time of the year, was not unexpected.
Article posted on 19th November, 2009 - 3.00pm
43 Article Comments
any bets on reaching 2000 next year?
as the school leavers join the queue.
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What about the young ones that cannot find “decent” employment & have gone back to further studies,are they included in these figures,very much doubt so!
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If it was not unexpected can someone please explain to me why the states recently went to so much trouble to put in place a population growth policy. Why would we want to do this in times of rising unemployment. Would it not have been better to promote a policy of population reduction?
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Sorry, but if Tez and his cronies did not expect such a high level of unemployment, that surely shows how out of touch with reality they are, i’d keep quiet before you put your other foot in your mouth !!!
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Tell us something we didn’t know.
I wonder if Stuart Syvret will be awarded a certificate for being Jersey’s One Thousandth unemployed person?
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How was this figure reached?
There is no data record made of those unemployed nor those leaving the island, as if there was an offical record then the details would have to
be made public.
There has to be more people unemployed than that stated. Perhaps for a difinative accurate figue Social security should offer a Christmas bonus to ALL those unemployed if they go and register.
I for one was made unemployed, and dispite attending the job zone NO record was made of my status and NO follow-up has ever been made.
We can all pull figures out of the air and judging by recent fiascos within the States ie Incinerator, it is the policy most in use at present.
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It has to be more!
I am unemployed and I have visited the jobzone, NO record was taken of my status and No follow up has ever occured.
So am I or am I not a statistic? Me thinks NOT!
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More employment law, more regulation and more corporate employment decisions taken out of the Island are the issues
Clearly and regrettably the unemployment figure will in Jersey continue to rise. The Financial Service Industry in Jersey and its satellite associates are suffering from huge changes in the financial world and are no longer able to provide the large amount of jobs that Islanders have been used to in the past two decades.
Seeking investment opportunities in Hong Kong or India is displacement activity which simply cannot provide sufficient business that can create any significant extra employment in Jersey.
My observations are that the senior management of the Finance Industry are giving every impression of imitating the proverbial Ostrich – there is no evidence that they understand the huge changes that are about to impact on their industry, or why Jersey is becoming less attractive than the Middle or Far East financial centres.
Most senior Directors in Jersey’s Finance Industry remain locked into a thinking process that is primarily self focused beliving in their own mostly skewed statistics. (Compare independently produced figures to those of most of the Jersey based company’s and then ask why are there variences in the performace tables.)
Jersey’s future economic growth is to be found in the smaller to medium sized (non corporate, non financial) business community. Basic research confirms that tourism, IT, agriculture and knowledge based businesses require and deserve support and practical help.
Increasing amounts of regulation will continue to increase the levels of unemployment despite what the propaganda from the States and their agency JACKS tells us. Quite simply small businesses can not cope wth the extra liabilty that extra regulation demands and EU inspired laws impose.
When the thinking people in Jersey wake up to the essential fact that it is Independence from the EU not the UK that is the long term issue which will ensure Jersey’s prosperity then and only then will the Island’s effective rulers (the Civil Servants and the various agencies of the States) be held in check by public opinion and hopefully a less introspective corporate bosses from the financial sector.
In the meantime all the new employment, environmental and most importantly finical laws and regulations which will impact on Jersey in the next two years are EU laws; by definition these new regulations will act as a disincentive for employment creation and business growth.
There are two examples of the perils of ignoring the true engine room of the economy and blind acceptance of over regulation very close to Jersey, the UK and France.
This piece is well considered by the author, it is opinionated and thus I hope it generates a reaction.
Peter Anthony Troy – St Saviour Jersey.
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What a wonderfull government we have to help us in our hour of need.
They say however the government is a reflection of its people,and buy golly if this is true
get me outta here!
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if the states of jersey knew that the credit crunch would harm the islands ecomony later than the rest of the uk, etc, the question to be asked must be why did the states do nothing to prevent the unemployment happening. like polaticians all over the world there not intrested in the public.
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Great post No8. Can I précis it. Get rid of the present government and vote in people who know what they are doing.
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Jersey school leavers,not be going on to further education in the UK, will also be adding to the unemployment list, as parents will not be able to afford tuition fees etc. etc.
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Its a great pity for all of those on the unemployment roll, and suggest that Terry, Phil and Alan ensure that all the money being used to stimulate the economy from the credit crunch fund makes use of local employers only and no sub contractors from outside the island are used on these projects, if they say they are making sure , i say they are not checking, all the floor tiling at the new airport departures shops were carried out by firms from the UK, as was the water drenching systems for fire prevention were.and if no one is sure i suggest they phone up the airport director and ask
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The states are cmpletely backwards!! They continue to allow companies to bring over foreign labour etc and increase our population meanwhile letting down those residents who already live there!! The statistics do not seem to be the real number either!! They need to reduce in incoming onto the island and increase the support of local workmanship!
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#8
I take your points in. You seem particularly critical of Jersey’s relationship with the EU. Have you considered the effect on the Jersey economy if Jersey were to terminate its relationship with the EU and thus no lonmger benefit from the common customs tariff? Would Jersey businesses cope with a massive increase on tariffs when they export goods to other European jurisdictions.
Nope, just another oversight from someone who doesnt understand all the factors, but who feels they can slag other people off.
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I recently left school after my first year of A Levels and have only been able to find appropriate work ‘temping.’
Many of my friends are unemployed and have not been into social as they can search for jobs on gov.je. This means they have not been included although I just wanted to know if any one could answer the following question:
If so many islanders are unemployed then why, with so many of these having decent grades in english and maths, is it still hard to find an english speaking/writing waiter, builder, shop assistant? the list goes on!
It angers me and is also upsetting to know just how usefull/honest our government actually is!
Why cant we bring in a legislation on employment? never mind population growth!!!
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Jaime 14 completely agree with you,but never mind Phil and his entourage are sampling the mysteries of the East and will probably bring another mobile supplier back with them , just what we need to boost the workforce !!!
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.
There is no reason why Jersey cannot have trade and customs agreements with the EU – as indeed it can with any country in the World.
In effect the EU is now a Federal State which comes into full effect on 1 December when the Lisbon Treaty is adopted by the EU. There are many reasons why Jersey should not be dictated to by the EU. Many people assume that if Jersey does not comply with EU regulations and directives it will somehow suffer. It will suffer, lose its independence if it succumbs to the will of Brussels.
I am not not ’slagging off every one’. I am particularly criticizing the Finance Industry in Jersey who is unable to provide the large number of jobs it once could because the finance industry globally is changing – the days of having it so good are no more and the senior figures in the industry are reacting with classic displacement not pro-active behavior.
To criticize Jersey’s finance industry is, I know, akin to complaining about the sacred cow in India. However, the essential facts need to be discussed not avoided.
Within two years Jersey’s finance industry will be in terminal decline unless it wakes up to the realities of change. This is difficult I accept since in the main Jersey Finance Industry is owned and managed from outside the Island by corporate institutions that care not for Jersey’s long term wellbeing outside their own corporate balance sheet.
Jersey needs to developed other business sectors outside of finance, resist over regulation (particularly more employment law) and understand that banking and financial centers outside Jersey are becoming more attractive to the serious wealthy clients that Jersey once attracted. Failure to understand and react accordingly will result in the Island living with high unemployment with the crème of its work force leaving the Island to find decent employment.
Sensible informed debate, an understanding of change and less apathy will, in my view, insure a brighter future for Jersey’s economy.
Peter Anthony Troy St Saviour Jersey
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What about all those people not registered but nevertheless unemployed and living on benefits instead?
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I find it hard to believe that these figures are anywhere near accurate. My partner was made redundant but because he hasn’t been here for 5 years (just the four and a half) and isn’t entitled to any job seekers allowance he has become lost in the void…he doesn’t visit the jobzone and as he isn’t entitled to any income support so he doesn’t exist as far as social security are concerned. I would imagine the same applies to many others – of course that doesn’t include those who have been forced to leave the island as they aren’t entitled to any income support. I would imagine it is far higher than 1,000 especially if you were to include school leavers. More plucking figures ot of the air – got to love the States of Jersey!
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all people who find themselves unemployed, should register at social security.
to claim ,u credits, it may be required on a weekly basis.
if you are unemployed ask about , u credits.
also ask about job seekers allowance( it is not called this in jersey), this will , i belive be of more use to those, who still live at home.
(13(14) could not agree more.
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Would a student, returning from Uni for xmas be able to claim the “job seekers allowance”? If they can not find work as a result of the recession and banks cutting back? As they will need to work to help them through the next term.
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Unemployment is just so destructive…Fiscal stimulous….do not give it to non local co’s….wait for it…real rocket science….re introduce the winter work scheme.gives jobs ,dignity,self worth and is an honorable use of the tax payers dosh many of whom would have contributed their tax quids to it in the first place………….Nah…why do the right thing.
get that finger back on the destruct button before someone else comes up with a workable idea.
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It causes one great concern that so many hard working Jerseyfolk should lose their livelihoods at this time through no fault of their own. It is an intolerable situation, and one which must be addressed forthwith.
If these people are left to their own devices idleness and all its concomitant evils threaten to take root on a far wider basis in community.
Moreover many of those of previously good character may become more vulnerable to the siren calls of Senator Syvret and those ghastly Anarcho-Bolsheviks of the JDA, thus threatening the stability that has been such a feature of island life.
Therefore I propose that the island’s authorities should provide work and accommodation for all those who are currently unable to support themselves, similar to the workhouse system of previous times, shorn perhaps of its harsher characteristics and the unfair stigma attached to it.
Now that the police have wound up their enquiries Haut de la Garenne would seem to be an ideal venue, as would the soon to be decommissioned wing at La Moye prison.
Of course we have moved on from the days of picking oakum, but womenfolk could still be usefully employed in its 21st century equivalents such as filing and data inputting, while the men could provide labour for States capital projects or be leased to private contractors such as Dandara, thus easily covering any costs incurred in setting up the scheme.
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@chrissy
Non English speakers come over to do the jobs that your peers will not do for £6.08p an hour. Up until recently you could dress a monkey in a suit and it would get a job in finance, so ‘locals’ didn’t want to dirty their hands with ‘menial’ jobs. Now things have got a bit tougher your unemployed friends might just have to lower their expectations.
Feel free to contact me via this forum as I think I can sort you with a job in the hospitality industry. £6.50 an hour. No benefits. Split shifts. Minimum statutory holidays. Uniform provided.
This will help you/your friends into the world of work and go some way to solving your issue of non-english speakers in service related roles.
When I advertise at the job centre, I simply don’t get responses from people who speak English as a first language. Actually I’ve had ONE CV from a Jersey person this year…
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(22) rozel joe. i am no expert here , but if the sudent is on a grant, i would say no.
also they may be classed as in full time education. i also do not know what happens to their social contributions whilst in further education in the uk.
as many know if you miss your payments, then you cannot claim for 6 months, so no sick benefit, (boy is it expensive to be ill in jersey) you may be lucky if sick benefit covers your rent.
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Hey! lets not worry too much yet, the time for concern is when the island is facing 20% and beyond. This is a rich little island, which is only just beginning to fee the pinch. I mean lets be honest, any place that can afford to resurface roads evey 6 months, build an LAX style control tower and scatter cash like confetti on mindless lighting schemes so that the locals can see their own vomit an night is not in trouble just yet.
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And this coming from a government who doesn’t even know what the actual population figure is????
My fiancee is unemployed but not allowed any jobseekers benefit because i’m in work…..why when we both pay SEPARATE taxes and national insurance?? I bet she’s not one of these statistics!
Why when so many other jobs are going are there none being made redundant from the government….trim the fat as they say because we have a lot of blubber up in those seats!
Far too many politicians for such a small island.
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Comment # 18 said, ‘inter alia’:
“To criticize Jersey’s finance industry is, I know, akin to complaining about the sacred cow in India”.
As a person who was born and educated in India may I tell Mr Peter Anthony Troy that Indians often complain bitterly about “sacred cows” – especially when they lie in the middle of the road and hamper the free flow of traffic!
On the other hand, “to criticise Jersey’s finance industry” is a demonstration of democracy.
Mr Peter Anthony Troy seems to be talking through the seat of his ‘dhoti’.
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Quite right BSD we don’t even know the true figure for how many are over here, so how are we to know the true unemployment figure? I would say both are a lot higher than is officially acknowledged.
Government needs an overhaul. I would trim the Constables out for a start, as well as the 5 unelected members of the states. A complete overhaul is required. The winds of change are gathering pace.
As per finance why the necessity to travel further and further afield for business? Why the need to do business with certain regimes? To me this shows that things are changing and that the good times are now behind us. I believe it is a case of battening down the hatches and riding out the storm.
As I have said before diversification is no longer an option.
The problem with Jersey’s position is that it is neither beyond the pale nor within the pale. At some stage it will have to choose. Since the world is now amalgamating into super trading blocks, like North America and the EU, I would say that the remaining few without, will find it harder and harder to do business, due to protectionism and bureaucracy from within these super trading blocks.
Eventually unless these super trading blocks fracture due to internal stresses I expect to see them amalgamated still further into a One World Government. If this stage is reached there will be no room for those outside the pale, not even good old Jersey.
One factor that could yet scupper these super trading blocks could be nature. It appears that natural events could yet overtake man’s self created bubble world. A natural event such as Earth Crust Displacement would destroy modern civilisation in one fell swoop. Then it would be back to ground zero yet again.
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Wow Quentin! somebody who speaks sense. I’m not local but i’m happy to earn the minimum wage, and live in diabolical accomodation, paying extra for a shower and being treated like filth and a seconmd class citizen because my name sounds different. Perhaps a few locals should come to my home country and taste reality….my god do you guys live in an air conditioned, centrally heated, fur lined, ocean going bubble. Get a life!
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Udupi
The point is that India’s sacred cow is allowed to hinder the free flow of trafic in India because it is sacred. The finance industry is treated as ’sacred’ in Jersey, there may be moans about its practices from a few from time to time but that is the extent of it.
The future of Jersey’s economy is too important to be left in the hands just of the senior managers of Jersey’s finance industry.
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With all do respect No.31, on behalf of those i speak for, i am not trying to get to you personally. I am just saying that Jersey born folk should have priority as this is our Island. I would expect the same in your country! It is only fair and with the encomic climate in the state it is in, it seems that those who moved over here for that reason no longer have a reason.
J-CAt No.25- in response to your reply, unfortunatly i already have a job which pays 3 pounds more an hour however had i not been lucky in finding this i would be more than happy to wokr in the hospitatliy industry. i believe that this is where jersey has gone wrong. The island seemed to wrok a whole lot better when tourism (not finance) was our main industry. Many of my friends have worked as kitchen porters and waiter/waitresses however it seems that when many emplyers are rung regarding these jobs on gov, they have already been taken!
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chrissy I have found it is an all too common occurance for people in any given country to look down on immigrants into their country. However this attitude often changes when they emmigrate elswhere and then it becomes either racist or unfair. I wonder why that would be?
As per your job well done for getting paid a half decent wage. I am sure J-cat will find many desperate immigrants who will work for these poor wages. I have nothing against these types of jobs, however people should get properly rewarded for their work.
Immigrant, people regardless of origin should have decent accommodation. My decendents had the same if not worse to contend with as you and I am gratefully they made the sacrifice for their childrens’ sakes, otherwise I would be somewhere else and a lot worse off. This is often the way of things not that I am saying it is right, just that it is.
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I suspect the figure is considerably higher. Jersey is an island completely based on status, that’s why we have a quallies system. To admit you’re unemployed in Jersey and needing help from the States is akin to admitting you have leprosy.
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Immigrant:
You sound like you come from the Third World judging by the way you speak of this little island of ours.
Is that the case; what is your territory of origin?
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Immigrant- just out of interest,if you are from a country in the European Union why don’t you choose to live in the U.K rather than Jersey? You would have no accomodation restrictions and no employment restrictions and presumably would not have to put up with diabolical housing or being treated like a third class citizen.
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I’m from Romania but my when my family came over they all felt the same way. We will make Jersey our home we are only 4 of us but the benefits make it us worthwile to stay.
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to Immigrant;
I’m not local but i’m happy to earn the minimum wage, and live in diabolical accomodation, paying extra for a shower and being treated like filth and a seconmd class citizen because my name sounds different. I’m from Romania but my when my family came over they all felt the same way. We will make Jersey our home we are only 4 of us but the benefits make it us worthwile to stay.
Interested in what your benefits are??
and just because your name sound different doesnt make you filth or a second class citizen,
If you haven’t got money in Jersey, your ALL a second class citizen!
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Immigrant:
I can well understand where you’re coming and, yes, I mean that in more ways than one!
Life for minimum wage immigrant and even, local, workers isn’t easy without access to acceptable/affordable accommodation.
However, compared to post-Stalinist Romania, at least you have a guarantee of work and the ability to sustain yourself financially.
In relation to being a second class citizen, I hope you won’t suffer any more xenophobic discrimination if the current unemployment trend continues.
A lot of the idiots who hate foreigners are quick to forget that the island’s social and economic structure would collapse without folks like yourself – how many islanders are capable of doing back-breaking physical work in agriculture or catering in 10 or 12 hour shifts?
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what bothers me is the number of people actively discouraged from “signing on”….i perceive this as a attempt to massage the figures.
i know for a fact this occurs as it happened to my painter and indeed colleagues in the finance industry
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(41) john, they must insist.
all information regarding social security , should be available at the department(it used to a trip to the greffe, to find out) failing that citizens advice.
good luck all and hope you all find work.
how bad will things get will we see, people outside the social with a placard stating”job wanted”.
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Thank you Alexi, my families choose to live here because Mr Lemain has given us generous benefits and told us we rank equalise to local immigrants. The family are doing well and attend local college to obtain STEP, FSI and investment manigement qualifications, we will soon get equal housing treatment and perhaps social housing. My sister makes a good contibution to local investment management brokerage house as bond dealer.
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