Guernsey Press

Staff shortages a problem for States to solve

HOME AFFAIRS’ announcement it is extending exemptions on the so-called 9/3 work permits enabling seasonal staff here to remain instead of leaving for three months is to be welcomed.

Published

Under president Rob Prow the committee has demonstrated a greater willingness to listen to business and industry over staffing and industry needs despite immigration remaining a sensitive topic in the island.

However, this latest flexibility, helpful though it is, is not a complete solution.

Unnoticed, the island’s economy is running hot. The bounce-back from Covid containment is strong and is bringing with it labour shortages at the same time as there are significant supply issues with cement, timber, steel and other commodities.

Lead times for getting some jobs done are extending and the scene is quietly being set for inflation to return – with serious consequences for public sector wage costs.

More immediately, businesses and the States itself are struggling to get the staff they need. Apart from the problems for the organisations themselves of unfilled posts, each vacancy represents a loss of tax to the island’s exchequer.

Home Affairs says, correctly, that some of the immigration issues and costs are beyond its control. While true, that is not helpful if it is used as an excuse for government to sit back and take the view it has done all that it can.

This newspaper has argued for years that immigration is a solution for many of the island’s issues rather than the problem itself and that the population and migration regime introduced in 2017 was out of date even before being approved.

These views are now long validated. The post Brexit and, hopefully, post Covid reality is that there are many easier, cheaper and more accommodating places to work than Guernsey, while Britain itself is experiencing staff shortages because of its immigration rules.

Home Affairs, for all its efforts, cannot fix the problem on its own. It needs the support of the States as a whole – and that means responding positively to the problems being reported by all sectors of the economy.