Vexed Bermoothes

If Government now employs 5,600 people that means that it employs nearly 10% of all Bermuda residents (local and expat) over the age of 21 based on the 2000 census.

Strike out the non-working adults and retirees and that statistic gets even more frightening. Here’s why it’s so bad:

• Presumably Government enforces hiring preferences for Bermudians, meaning that fewer are able to work for our “real economy.” It gets even harder for international companies to find qualified Bermudians, and increases the numbers of expatriate workers required.
• The Government collects 34.1% of its revenue from payroll tax. If Government is the largest employer (and pays no taxes), it puts more and more tax pressure on the private sector. Just who is working for whom?
• In the event of an economic downturn, Bermuda’s international business (and its tax revenues) are mobile; Government’s expenses are not.
• With a burgeoning headcount, quality management controls are paramount to ensure responsiveness, transparency, accountability, and financial restraint. The Bermuda Government does not have those controls commensurate with its size, and in recent years has little political will to pursue them.
• And worst of all, all those civil servants have to do something. Of course they aim to provide better public services, but along the way that often translates to more intervention in your life and more bureaucracy. Civil servants have an active union, citizens do not. As a result, sometimes government becomes more about serving government than the populace.

I’m starting to sound like Ronald Reagan, but you get my point.