Dodging the pink

How do you avoid being laid off from the work force? "Work hard, come in early and stay late." This is what Bermuda's Royal Gazette has been preaching. The harder you work, the less likely you are going to laid off.

Layoffs are now a thing of the present and neither Cayman nor Bermuda has been a stranger to this situation. I've heard of many being laid off here in Cayman and companies are not mincing words about it. Regardless of where you are, if you've always been a slacker then consider yourself lucky to have been employed for this long, but not anymore. Companies are changing the way they operate and it doesn't matter if you are a local or an expat. If your performance hasn't been improving, then expect a pink slip sometime soon. This is the one thing that has become glaringly obvious when it comes to layoffs - those that aren't cutting it are getting the axe.

The article goes on to say: "Some Bermudians have a sense of entitlement and I would like to not only discourage that but completely wipe it out." This sense of entitlement is not just prevalent in Bermuda, but also in Cayman and I am sure, in many other countries with a strong expat population. That's not to say that expats don't slack off either, but the main emphasis on the article was how locals should now be willing to compromise when it comes to job offers and such. Why? Because much like the renter's market, it is an employer's market and there are dozens other waiting in line to snap up that job and keep it.