Worker shortage, not bias, driving expat hires
Despite persistent public complaints that businesses are overlooking Virgin Islanders in favour of imported labour, businessman and political leader Mark Vanterpool has argued that the bigger issue is a shortage of locals willing to take up available jobs.
Speaking on Cindy Rosan’s Morning Facts show, Vanterpool was asked to respond to the criticism that the business community prefers hiring expats over locals. The businessman explained that hiring locals is actually the preferred option for employers because it is far less costly and less bureaucratic than recruiting workers from overseas.
“I used to tell the Labour Department that any local person you have who needs a job and wants to work, send them to me,” Vanterpool said. “If I apply for five persons to come in and Labour has five, send them to me, and I will hire them immediately.”
He added: “It’s so much less costly for us to hire a local person. You bring in people from overseas, you’ve got to pay and go through a lengthy process. It’s a lot simpler to hire our own local people.”
Vanterpool’s comments come against a backdrop of growing public frustration over the number of work permits being approved. At the same time, some Virgin Islanders and long-term residents remain unemployed or complain of being shut out of opportunities.
But Vanterpool suggested the reality on the ground is more complicated. He pointed to recent hiring efforts at his businesses, including a new restaurant, saying local response has been underwhelming.
“We advertised for workers, and I believe it’s one local person that applied,” he said, noting that management had a difficult time getting local recruits and said poaching workers from other restaurants was the next viable option.
“The pool of local workers who want to work is not there as much as we say,” Vanterpool argued.
He acknowledged, however, that the territory has a strong history of producing quality workers, particularly in hospitality.
“There weren’t any better hospitality workers in the entire Virgin Islands than BVIslanders,” he said, recalling a time when local workers were preferred in hotels both in the BVI and USVI.
According to Vanterpool, part of the challenge is cultural. He argued that for decades, many young people gravitated toward office jobs in the financial services sector, viewing them as easier and more attractive than service-based work. With declining opportunities in the financial services sector, Vanterpool said the territory urgently needs to retrain and redirect young people into hospitality and service industries.
“If you’re going to build hotels, who’s going to work in those hotels and new restaurants? So we have to get our people back to thinking that service is not servitude,” he said.
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pure bullsh**
It is time for us to put aside the rhetoric and have an honest, mature conversation about this issue. To borrow an analogy, it is like confronting a serious illness but insisting it is only a minor cold. Across the developing world, including here in the BVI, there is a well-established pattern: as standards of living rise, many of the most physically demanding and lower-paying jobs are increasingly filled by immigrant labour. These are jobs that often require long hours on one’s feet and difficult working conditions. The reality is that many of the same voices advancing this narrative about local not being hired would not encourage their own children to pursue these occupations and would be among the first to object if those children had to perform work they viewed as beneath their aspirations. And why is Mark Vanterpool being singled out? He may be the most visible example, but speak to business owners throughout the hospitality sector and they will tell you exactly what he is saying. This is not a secret; it is a reality that many acknowledge privately and that the country must address honestly.
This particular business person is part of the problem. While he was in government why does his record not show him lobbying for the MINIMUM WAGES to increase?!? I’ll tell you why; it hurts HIS bottom line. Why didn’t he lobby for the consumer protection act/bill to be implemented? Again, hurts his bottom line which is driven by pure profits!
I know of many belongers and locals who’ve worked for his establishments and they all say the same things about the environment they work in.
Let this be a warning to ALL those individuals that want to throw their proverbial hats in the ring this upcoming general elections- all your dirty laundry will be aired out for all and sundry to make a determination if you are suitable! No more mammaguying the public saying one thing and doing a 180 and not serving the territory interested before yourselves!!! Bag a lip service with nothing to back it up with proof!
So let us broaden this conversation, because at the moment we are focusing almost exclusively on the short-term impact of wages. We need to pull the lens back and look at the full economic picture. Where are these Filipino workers living, and to whom are they paying rent? What is the value to families across the BVI when food prices are kept lower through competition and when pressure is maintained on competitors to do the same? What about the truckers moving the goods, the accountants and professionals providing services, the Social Security contributions being made, and the taxes being paid into the public purse? Economies do not operate in isolation. There are multiplier effects and downstream benefits that extend far beyond the individuals directly employed and that touch the lives of Virgin Islanders throughout the community. Let us be careful not to adopt a view that is too myopic when examining this issue.
Mark is correct. I know lots of people who manage businesses, including those who were raised here. They say the same thing. There are simply not enough people available and willing to take on these roles.
SO TIRED OF SEEING THIS MAN. CHUPPPESS
He’s right…financial services work looks peachy until you look at the effort required to qualify for those jobs. No one wants to bus tables for minimum wage but many start off there and work their way up through hard effort, diligence and a desire to learn. Plenty of successful people out there who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. Problem seems to be that these qualities do not seem in evidence among those who feel entitled.
don’t be an eady yacht, you can attend the graduation and award ceremonies right around the corner and see the excellence of our students and the accomplishments of those that are across industries in the UK, and US.
That is rubbish. The financial services jobs are no different to the others. Those are being taken over by expats as well. Locals with more qualifications and experience have to train them and work under them.
All talks
Mark tell the truth it’s all about cheap labor and taking advantage of the Philippinians that work for you there’s some many young people looking jobs but you and others willing to fly in someone from thousands of miles why rite way and Bobby is the only supermarket that’s holding it’s grounds.you a sell out that’s your nature. You can’t win no seat again.
This!!!
Cost ofl iving in the BVI is high af, locals aren’t applying casue you are offering next to nothing for these jobs and it’s the same with almost ever industry in the BVI expect which one?
There is NOTHING CHEAP about hiring a Filipino or others from Far East. You can tell that you have never owned or ran anything except your mouth. It’s far cheaper and easier to hire a local but the reality is that there are some jobs locals do NOT WANT and nothing is wrong with that
we know there are expenses for bringing in non local help for your service industry based jobs but the pay rate for locals vs the outside help are the same, now maybe if you offered locals more then your results will improve. this is not unique here, how many americans are lined up and willing to perform the hard back labor of harvesting crops that are performed by undocumented workers?
Mark can dress up his response all he wants, but we as a country must acknowledge that BVI businesses will likely continue to face challenges filling certain roles for quite some time. However, the conversation shouldn’t end there. The BVI, albeit a melting pot of nationalities, is a small country with a small population, so rapid growth in work permits affects us differently than it would larger countries.
This is not about blaming any one nationality or attacking people who come here to work hard and build a life for themselves. The real concern is whether the current pace and scale are sustainable long-term. When the local population is already small, and businesses increasingly rely on imported labor because it is easier, cheaper, or more available, there is a genuine concern that Virgin Islanders are slowly becoming economically and culturally sidelined in their own country.
Looking ahead, the country cannot focus only on filling jobs for today without also thinking about the future of its people. If locals are not properly trained, encouraged, recruited, and retained, it will naturally reshape not only the workforce and consumer base but also large parts of our national identity over time.
This issue has nothing to do with race. Countries all over the world openly discuss immigration, labor dependency, housing pressure, and demographic change. The BVI should be able to have those same conversations openly, honestly, and respectfully, without people immediately assuming xenophobia.
What many people want is a balance: A country that remains welcoming to outsiders while also protecting opportunities, stability, and a strong future for Virgin Islanders. Currently, it’s unclear whether there is a long-term plan to achieve that balance. It’s overwhelming to see a country just change before your eyes, and no one addresses it.
These are conversations worth having now, not years from now when the problems may be much harder to address. We need action NOW, not later!!!
Nothing but hot air. Where there is no vision, the people perish.
Just like he could go out campaigning to solicit votes on election day, he could do the same when looking to hire. However, we all know how the game plays. Whoever, comes to the BVI has someone to bring and the game goes on. Then the businesses create a position for the.
Jobs must be advertised, is it that the BVI is now advertising in Asia?
I know the recently outed airport guy advertised mainly on Caribbeanjobs.com.
The BVI had better take a serious look at how things are going. I for one stop shopping at those places that only hire Asians. Let them support the businesses like the businesses support them.
So Mark as an employer should go out begging for workers? Do you realize that this is exactly the problem that we have?
What you are not understanding is it is a cycle. Nothing is advertised. Not sure how it goes through Labour without this. No one knows when these businesses are hiring. All we know is we see a sea of faces from the Pacific working in these businesses big and small and children are graduating from high school left and right. There are also students and graduates from HLSCC.
The long and short is, if you are doing business in a country and you have 20 employees and you have a hard time finding 5 nationals employed there, well nothing left to say. It cannot be about lazy locals. There are lazy expats as well, but they are here and working two, three jobs. Nuf said.
He is out begging for workers already! He is begging for votes too.
cause you would hire a young person, they would work for the season or the event they saving for and gone as you blink again.
i have been advertising for chefs and servers and did not get any replies, now they ask how to apply and where to apply but never even bother sending a resume or tuning up for an interview , yet my mailbox is full of applications from expats, and im not talking entry level im talking jobs paying $36k to $48k plus accommodation yet still nothing, so Mark is right
The government also needs to address the declining employment opportunities in the financial services industry.
Although AI is playing a part, the bigger issue is the numbre of people employed, working on BVI files outside of the BVI. If the government mandated more roles being in the BVI then there would be an employment boom!
I know the above is simplistic and there are more issues but there needs to be a plan.
Locals wouldnt put up with having to work way over 40 hours but not getting any overtime pay. These filipinos are being abused in these stores. Working very long hours and no overtime pay.
This is truly beautiful and very accurate
The people who own NOTHING or run NOTHING are always the loudest. The people that own and operate businesses understand and that is all that counts. A for profit entity does what is in the best interest of its stakeholders and to survive. No amount of emotions can change that. If you do not want to work for a certain business that is your right as a local. It is not your right as a local to tell businesses who are best suited for the business that they are taking risks to set up and maintain.
To the ones talking nonsense, get a trade license, start a business, get a business loan, rent premises, hire 5 or more people, operate for at least 6mths and then come back with your views.
There you go trying to deflect. The point is businesses cannot decide they are operating in a country, their country and not interested in hiring locals because of bottom line. Yes. Things are tough for businesses. Things are tough for everybody. What if locals who do not see local employees in your business do not support your business? What would be the outcome of that?
However you cut it small businesses, large businesses, they are all deciding cheap labour is the new fad. Locals are in need of part time jobs and full time jobs. You have 20 and at least 10 aren’t locals, that is unfair. And that is being generous. Most don’t have 1. Mark, his family and one other that I know about work for One Mart even though they are in every village. You all should let them vote for him.
Dont want him any where near the HOA. But finally some truth and not racist bigotry about workers in VI.
RITE AWAY WE CAN SEE ITS ONE AND THE SSME PERSON ( WIGGIE ) BOI YOU ARE EVIL, EVERY LITTLE CHANCE ŸOU GET YOU SPEW BOUT YOU XENOPHOBIC MENTALITY IN YOUR ARTICLES & BLOGGINGS USING DIFFERENT NAMES TO DECIEVE US ,,ALL YOUR KNOWLEDGE IS WASTED ON , RACISM / HYPOCRISY AND EVILNESS – THE DEVIL HAS A PLACE IN HELL FOR YOUR ARSZ . REPENT A D CHANGE YOUR EVIL WAYS . ( YOU IS NOT USING YIUR KNOWLEDGE TO HELP THE TERRITORY INSTEAD YOU PROMOTING HATRED TO ALL OUTSIDERS / DIFFERENT DAY ~ SAME SH*T , AND YOUR EGO HAS CONVINCED YOU THAT YOU ARE THE GREATEST “TING ” TO COME OUT OF THE BVI – SINCE STOUTT ▪︎▪︎▪︎ YOU NEED TO REMAIN IN YOUR FANTASY WORLD SND PLAY WITH YOUR PRECIOUS * W I G *
He should be ashamed to go on the show of the woman who single handily tried to destroy his sister Lorna. It say’s desperation. He would stoop so low just to campaign and win election. No morals at all!
i dont have a problem with my CARIBBEAN EXPAT brothers and sisters but you see those from ASIA that you bring in every month now that is a problem, we the people hope ALL THEM ASIANS CAN VOTE FOR U ON ELECTION DAY BECAUSE AINT US YOUR FOOLING