Cyprus-Forum.com

[GG]

The east europeans are so eager for cash that it shows through their work. They are so thorough and efficient in their work, I sat back and watched 4 Russian women run around like clockwork to run this restaurant while the cypriot owner sat back and admired their a$$es. The girls were doing the work of 10 cypriots and succeeding.

Its great news for the rich cypriots as labour prices go down and general prices go up making profitability go sky high but for the regular cypriot waiter, cleaner, barman, labourer its real bad news. I suppose its a natural progression when the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

[raymanuva]

Well, i will have to disagree with some posts above.
I've spent 2 weeks in a hotel in AyaNapa in August.
70% of staff were foreighners, i never had such a bad and unprofessional service.
On my 4th day i had enough and openly and loudly requested CYpriiot waiter and refused to be served by a retarded Polish girl who been messing up my orders. In the end, i only paid 25% of the tour after having a scandal with a travel agency regarding overall service etc...

Tourists coming to Cyprus needs to be served by Cypriots, i've seen the difference... forget about small private resaurants etc.. I am talking about big hotels. For example i had a dinner at 4 seasons 2 days ago, again the same story happened with foreighn waiters. No charisma, no this special extra something... fucking robots...and thats a 5 star hotel for god's sake.

[Kikapu]

its both a good thing and a bad thing. cypriots will have no other chance but to drag their ass to school and educate themselves. is it better to work for a respectable company as.. an IT specialist, or fix people's shitters?

somebody mentioned america having the same "problem". well its no problem as its proven that illegal immigrants and cheap labor actually help the economy rather than drag it down. the real problem is that the government's welfare program is taking a beating, as they are giving out money and all sorts of benefits to legal/illegal immigrants who live in poverty. as long as this doesnt happen in cyprus, its all good.

i mean think about it.. you have a bunch of low wage immigrants working out in the fields and/or doing all sorts of everyday jobs.. providing cypriots and others cheap everyday living expenses. so its more money for the cypriots/others to spend elsewhere. cyprus also doesnt allow educated foreign labor in the island that easily, europeans excluded.

the more they come, the cheaper the low end labor will be, and we'll eventually reach an equilibrium

First of all, lets not compare Cyprus to America. You're comparing oranges and ah, ah, ah, well, perhaps Jupiter. Cyprus, from what I understand is primarily an "service based" industry country, catering for the tourist, along with agriculture and state jobs. When you bring in cheap labour to work the "service sector", what else is left for the young Cypriots to earn money on. If there were plenty of other good paying jobs for the Cypriots, then your post would make sense. Since restaurants and hotels charge the "Tourist Rate" which is much higher than your local food establishment, these would be the places for Cypriots to earn above average wages to improve their lives, by spending their money on buying other goods, for example, cars, furniture, clothes and other durable goods, which will improve the overall economy of the island.

So, the business owners are making the money with cheap (slave) labour and spending it as I mentioned above also, but they are a small drop in a bucket, in comparison to the general public. If for an example, a person has £1 million pounds, only a fraction of that will be spent, to buy what his family needs and the rest will be sitting in the bank. Now, if 20 people had £50,000 each, most of this money will be spent, which helps the overall Cypriot economy. And as for the foreign cheap (slave) workers, the money they earn, is mostly sent abroad, so they do not buy any of the items I have mentioned above. Sorry friend, but as time goes by, you will find, if they can, most young Cypriots will move to another country to make a living. The only problem is, they may become the cheap (slave) labour somewhere else, the very reasons that drove them away in the first place.

[souroul]

cyprus is 70% services and so is the US, but thats not the point.

as for the second paragraph, nobody saves, everybody invests, and thats how economies grow, and as economies grow, jobs are created. of the jobs created, the foreigners get the low income/labor intensive spots, and hopefuly the locals get the managerial/marketing/finance/IT positions. is theres illegal immigrants, yes the government loses out on taxes, but the employer gets some sort of tax break. the money is still thrown back into the economy.

lets say we have a hotel with 70% foreign waiters, and all local office personel. out of the money "saved", they offer more competative prices, (which means more tourists to pour money into the economy), and in the end expand their business. ok so now they built a second hotel, and yes they hire 100% foreign waiters, but again, all the office/management personel is local (decent paying jobs added). also, more supply, prices go down, so more tourists, so more hotels, so more money, so.... get it?

[simonwjones]

There is a very old and very famous saying about paying low wages...you all know it.

Its about low wages, monkeys and peanuts!!!!

[G.Man]

All these foreigners will become a rod for cyprus tourisms back...

When I first came to cyprus, i was served by friendly cypriots, more recently its been by pretty but dull eastern european girls...

At least in Nicosia, I still mainly see friendly cypriots... once I drove past Browns in Nicosia in my kit car, the cypriot waitress there said to on sunday, Ah once I saw you in a srange little car... never seen one like that before...

Thats what I can tell is different about the cypriot hospitality, they remember me, and treat me well...

Hasnt changed in 18 years... you just cant find it as much these days

[Kikapu]

cyprus is 70% services and so is the US, but thats not the point.

as for the second paragraph, nobody saves, everybody invests, and thats how economies grow, and as economies grow, jobs are created. of the jobs created, the foreigners get the low income/labor intensive spots, and hopefuly the locals get the managerial/marketing/finance/IT positions. is theres illegal immigrants, yes the government loses out on taxes, but the employer gets some sort of tax break. the money is still thrown back into the economy.

lets say we have a hotel with 70% foreign waiters, and all local office personel. out of the money "saved", they offer more competative prices, (which means more tourists to pour money into the economy), and in the end expand their business. ok so now they built a second hotel, and yes they hire 100% foreign waiters, but again, all the office/management personel is local (decent paying jobs added). also, more supply, prices go down, so more tourists, so more hotels, so more money, so.... get it?

You keep believing, that by importing cheap (slave) labour, so that Cypriots can land all those high paying jobs, and you will end up at the end of the que one day, hoping to get a job, at £10 pounds a day, just like "doglover" stated earlier. Capitalist elites know no loyalty to their citizens.

Unless I'm mistaken and that all Cypriots are home owners (no mortgages) and business owners, then they can indeed rely on foreign labour. However, the fact that you feel comfortable importing cheap (slave) labour, so that you can have a better life, on the sweat and tears of another person, should make you live in shame. When few members on this board, reported of people being paid "peanuts" for a long days work, and 4-5 living in one room, just to get by. Just remember, when a country, such as Cyprus, which mainly relies on tourism to remain economically health, with no other major industries, apart from farming, it can fall on it's face faster than you can sneeze, if there was a major storm, outbreak of disease, or a war.

If Cypriots are economically happy (according to you), I wonder why so many have springboard to other industrialise countries.?? I guess they just can't handle the sun "360 days" of the year.!!

[G.Man]

cyprus is 70% services and so is the US, but thats not the point.

as for the second paragraph, nobody saves, everybody invests, and thats how economies grow, and as economies grow, jobs are created. of the jobs created, the foreigners get the low income/labor intensive spots, and hopefuly the locals get the managerial/marketing/finance/IT positions. is theres illegal immigrants, yes the government loses out on taxes, but the employer gets some sort of tax break. the money is still thrown back into the economy.

lets say we have a hotel with 70% foreign waiters, and all local office personel. out of the money "saved", they offer more competative prices, (which means more tourists to pour money into the economy), and in the end expand their business. ok so now they built a second hotel, and yes they hire 100% foreign waiters, but again, all the office/management personel is local (decent paying jobs added). also, more supply, prices go down, so more tourists, so more hotels, so more money, so.... get it?

You keep believing, that by importing cheap (slave) labour, so that Cypriots can land all those high paying jobs, and you will end up at the end of the que one day, hoping to get a job, at £10 pounds a day, just like "doglover" stated earlier. Capitalist elites know no loyalty to their citizens.

Unless I'm mistaken and that all Cypriots are home owners (no mortgages) and business owners, then they can indeed rely on foreign labour. However, the fact that you feel comfortable importing cheap (slave) labour, so that you can have a better life, on the sweat and tears of another person, should make you live in shame. When few members on this board, reported of people being paid "peanuts" for a long days work, and 4-5 living in one room, just to get by. Just remember, when a country, such as Cyprus, which mainly relies on tourism to remain economically health, with no other major industries, apart from farming, it can fall on it's face faster than you can sneeze, if there was a major storm, outbreak of disease, or a war.

If Cypriots are economically happy (according to you), I wonder why so many have springboard to other industrialise countries.?? I guess they just can't handle the sun "360 days" of the year.!!

Yes well hypocrisy is rife really...

Import workers, import prostitutes, save a few bucks, so you can afford the TC casinos and the cabarets...

[Davinski]

would that mean i'd find it hard to find work over in polis?

[anastasiaC]

I was suprised to see so many foreigners working as well - all the waiters/waitresses, petrol attendants, supermarket staff etc were foreighners - so what are the cypriots who used to do these jobs doing now??
i feel cyprus has lost its identity.......its just not the same.