Beautiful Virgin Islands

Friday, Oct 31, 2025

Plans underway to have 70% locals, 30% expats in workforce- Hon Wheatley

Plans underway to have 70% locals, 30% expats in workforce- Hon Wheatley

Government legislator and Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley said plans are underway to change the current employment ratio, which sees at least 70 per cent of expatriates versus 30 per cent locals in the Territory’s labour force.

Minister Wheatley made the pronouncement during an interview on the Honestly Speaking Radio Programme on ZBVI 780AM on Tuesday, August 18, 2020.

He said: “In terms of the workforce, we as a government want to localise our workforce more. It is a more sustainable way to go about it. It took the hurricanes of 2017 and COVID-19 to bring that point home to us, that we should not continue on the path that we were on, where the workforce was kind of skewed when it came to local talent versus outside talent.”


Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley (R9) said draconian measures could be implemented if business owners do not cooperate with Government's wishes for more locals to be hired.


He added: “The pattern we saw was not sustainable and studies show that pattern from past records is never sustainable. When you have a local population unemployed and the outside persons so to speak happily going to work, collecting checks and money and doing things, it always ends bad, every single time and we are trying to avoid that situation, and we are trying to find a better balance.”

He said, while the task is not easy, the process has to start at some point.

“You cannot tell me that all those persons on work permits are doing jobs that no BVIslander is qualified to do. If you recall, last year we renamed Labour to Department of Labour and Workforce Development because we are going through labour and immigration reform. One of the things we are going to do is we are automating the work permit process because right now that process takes up most of the manpower in the department. When we are through automating that process, it’s going to free up a lot of manpower to then start doing inspections.”

He explained that while business owners are supposed to hire more locals, this is not being done.


Having the majority of workforce comprised of expatriates in the Virgin Islands is unsustainable, says Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Honourable Vincent O. Wheatley


Locals are cheaper


He pointed out that locals should be more cost effective for the business owner.

“You don’t have to pay rent, insurance and travel and all these stuff. It is cheaper to hire local persons, and we expect that to happen, but is it really happening? We are moving towards a higher ratio of locals and belongers in the workforce. I think right now it is probably 30 per cent locals, 70 per cent expats, that 30 needs to move to 70, and 30 per cent expats.”

Appeal to business owners


In the same vein, he called on the business community to assist the government in their goal.

“Let’s make this a priority, let’s start shifting that ratio around because the current model of 30 to 70 is not sustainable,” he remarked.

Hon Wheatley also warned that there could be drastic measures if businesses fail to comply.

“If there is too much resistance we will be forced to do things like places like Cayman do, which is after five years, pack up and leave and never come back. That’s how they have solved their problem, and to me, that’s an extreme way of doing it. I don’t want to start there; if it is going too slow, it will force us to go draconian and say “you know what? You don’t want to move, so we will force you to move by limiting your work permits. I don’t want to go there like that because we know we must have outside talent, every country in the world must have outside talent.”

He said he wouldn’t argue if businesses hire specialised jobs that are hard to come by “but to sell ice cream? Or something as menial as to pack a shelf? To welcome somebody into your office? You cannot find anybody here who can do that? I'm really sorry, but I can't accept that.”

He informed that there is a consultant that is scheduled to come to the Territory to take on this task as soon as the border is open.

“The consultant should be on board, she should have been onboard already, but because of COVID-19 it had to be pushed back... Actually, we wanted it to be in place after the regularisation, but it didn’t happen, but sooner rather than later.”

Workforce Assessment data


Hon Wheatley said, currently, there are approximately 942 operational businesses and 171 that are non-operational. Of that figure, 972 are on Tortola, 94 on Virgin Gorda, 24 on Jost van Dyke, 13 on Anegada and on the surrounding cays, 10.

He said of the businesses that reported, the employment status of employees that have been retained stands at 8,962. The number that has been released stands at 294 while 1,263 have been laid off with 175 persons that are unspecified.

Hon Wheatley said, of that figure, 6,186 are work permit holders, while 3,161 are VIslanders/Belongers.

The number of work permit-exempt holders is 926 as of July 31, 2020.

As of August 17, 2020, there are a total of 8,053 work permits, and 789 represents work permits pending or processing.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×