Cyprus-Forum.com

[blondophile]

[quote="Z-07"]The unemployment rate in Cyprus is relatively low. The state of the economy is pretty good and the perspectives for the future are also good.
If there is "so many" foreigners working as plumbers, electricians... it 's just maybe because now ,with the raise of the standard of living, Cypriots don't wanna get this kind of jobs.
So i think it's useless to worry and to be afraid by the "invasion of foreigners". I think there is jobs for everyone in Cyprus.[/quote

Job for everyone !! I know people with PHD unemployment since 6 months... Its very hard to get a job overhere.

I m lucky, I found a job after 2 days, but if I tell you how much I earn and how much I had in Paris, and how much I m respect by my cypriot boss, you will be upset.

If you remove doctor, dentist all these job, the job who pay better here are like lorry driver, concrete specialist. ...

[coredump]

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.ph ... &archive=1

MINISTRY OF SLAVE LABOUR I only heard this announcement once on Sunday night’s news and since then have tried to find out if this is official government policy. Minister of Labour Dr Antonis Vassiliou stated the government’s desired aim to control non-EU nationals in Cyprus, who, for want of much more politically acceptable term, are still called ‘Aliens’.

According to the Minister, currently these people represent 10 per cent of the workforce and over the next few years the government will reduce this figure to 6 per cent. Quite ridiculously, people will be offered the same limited work contracts, with a salary that is about half or less of what a Cypriot earns. As short-term ‘migrants’ once their work contract has expired they will have to leave or face deportation. It seems like we still have not adopted EU principles on these matters and are continuing to abuse people’s human rights just for the sake of profits.

The other thing the Minister forgot to explain was how this would be done. I guess operation ‘Skoupa’ (Broom) by the immigration and police authorities will end up becoming a permanent fixture. Anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant can be detained and deported on the spot. Of course it is up to the discretion of the officers concerned as to whether someone is illegal or not. Many people who are here with 'papers', such as students from overseas, have become accustomed to these discerning practices.

In most countries, such heartless and deliberated state actions would be termed ‘racist’. In Cyprus 2006, the government claims to be multicultural with one hand and is deliberately discriminating with the other. We blame people from non-EU countries for not making an effort to integrate but what efforts are we making for their integration when the minute they arrive in Cyprus they are given a dictated departure time?

[coredump]

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.

Well, I have to disagree with your post.
I've spent a week in a hotel in Dubai in October. Apparently 99% of staff were foreigners, I've never had such an excellent and professional 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.

So what do you want to say? That all Polish girls are retarded and all Cypriots become perfect waiters when they are born?

Turns out that it's Cypriot business owners (hoteliers, restaurateurs etc.) who are to blame for nonexistent service quality because they do not bother to invest in personnel training and maintaining high standards of service.
[sarcasm on]: Why bother if Cyprus has and will always have some natural lures like "sun&sea" so there always will be some tourists to rip off. And anyway Cypriot airports are unable to accommodate any significant increase in tourists flow so again, why bother?

[coredump]

Thats all well and good but what is the future for Cypriots, who on earth is gonna employ a young Cypriot Electrician or Plumber for example when there are Indians and Russians doing the job for half the money and quite often do a better job too.

It is what is known as a "free market". Why would you want to hire somebody who charges more and does worse job?

[coredump]

Well I thought that Australia was the only country faced by this issue. It happennning in Australia also. The difference is that we take the jobs out of Australia, into India especially IT jobs and call centre work. This way we don't have to face foreigners, see we have a miuch more calculating system, where not only we get rid of the jobs we do not wish to do, or wish to do cheaper and we don't allow foreigners to enter the country. How is that for racism?? And you guys think you have problems.

Surprise, surprise
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/09/0647211

"India is becoming more attractive to information technology workers from Western countries. Some local IT companies, such as Infosys Technologies in Bangalore, are now able to offer salaries and other perks that are comparable to what Western IT talent would find in their home countries. Infosys, which is currently training 126 Americans at its cutting-edge complex in Mysore, expects to employ 300 Americans by the end of 2006 and add a large contingent from Great Britain next year."

[coredump]

Meanwhile the business's need typists and translators, painters and plumbers, and of course waiters...and are paying good money for them.

My 18 yo son is making close to £1000 a month as a painter, the GC boss was desperate for more staff, in the end he took several TCs and a British guy, I needed a plumber to plumb in a washing machine, not a chance until I got hold of a TC, he charged £70 for a couple of hours work.

I know a bank in Limassol that needs drivers, the main requirement is excellent English, wage...£1000 pm plus overtime.

An acquaintance of mine who is in the construction industry and works for several companies (as a contractor I guess) says all the time that this and that company is having very hard time finding more qualified staff or contractors despite offering good pay.

[coredump]

Hi anastasia

MOst Cypriots leave the less desirable jobs to cheap imported labour and have moved to property development/graphic design/marketing/banking/insurance, all of which seem to be growth industries, at least in Paphos.

Lana

thats fair to say for generation x and y but when I was living there most were Cypriot and say in their 30's...they are now i assume 40+ so still young and need to work
Im sure those people didnt have skills to go into blue collar jobs - does the govt support training for middle class people - I dont think so? i was just wondering what those people are doing now........

I always laugh when I hear people saying "why govt does not care(pay) about doing this for us?", "why govt does not care about doing that for us?". When you are saying this do you ever think who will pick up the bill anyway? (hint: taxpayers) Or do you think that money grows on trees in govt's plantations?

[coredump]

Another related article: http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.ph ... &archive=1

What are the unions on about?
(archive article - Friday, November 3, 2006)

THE SEK trade union on Wednesday called on the government to “take action” to halt the slide in falling living standards.

One wouldn’t think that living standards were falling, judging by the various consumer figures regularly released: registration of motor vehicles was up this year, as was credit card spending and overseas travel, to name but a few.

SEK points out that the price of bread has risen in the past couple of years, but this only reflects the lifting of controlled prices and subsidies, now illegal under EU trade regulations. One could equally say that communications, cars or electrical goods are now cheaper than they were five years ago, and that’s before inflation is taken into account.
The union admits that the economy has seen steady growth, but insists this has been achieved on the back of workers’ sacrifices, pointing to the ongoing wage freeze in the civil service – a wage freeze, which, incidentally, does not freeze the regular adjustment of wages under the index-linked cost of living allowance. Few in the private sector will have any sympathy.

It also points to rising unemployment (unemployment in the second quarter of this year actually fell, but let’s assume they didn’t have those figures at their disposal), yet with the number of jobless at less than five per cent, Cyprus is actually considered to enjoy conditions of full employment.

Yes, there are people who fall through the gaps, but a significant proportion of the registered unemployed are seasonal tourism workers claiming benefit in the winter, retired civil servants who have the ‘right’ to claim six months’ worth of unemployment benefit or people made redundant who have access to generous state assistance. Very few are long-term unemployed, and the union’s suggestion that rising numbers of immigrant workers are impacting on local jobs is simply dishonest.

Yet even if one were to take the union’s analysis at face value – and for some sectors of society (but hardly the public sector) there is no doubt that life is difficult – one wonders just what it expects the government to do. Rewind globalisation, which SEK identifies as one of the contributing factors to the problem? Take us out of the European Union and restore a protectionist command economy? Forbid the sale of real estate to foreigners, speculators and developers to halt the spiral in property prices?

In fact, if the government were really serious about spurring growth, it would slash the outrageously preferential treatment of public sector workers, whose disproportionate salaries and benefits drain private enterprise of its greatest potential talents. That would deliver sustainable growth, the kind of growth that competes in the globalised economy of which we are so afraid. Perhaps SEK should consider it.

Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2006

[unique_earthling]

I look at the cypriot girls here dressed to kill 24/7 and i know that they would not be interested in half the jobs cyprus has on offer, they wouldnt want to get their hands dirty, neither can they walk in the shoes they wear, so please dont tell me, we are taking their jobs, the only jobs we take are the ones they dont want cos they are too stuck up their own backsides to do them.. And i know for a fact they wouldnt work for the wages we get.

[Great White]

I think this will create a lot of racism in the future if people start losing their jobs because foreigners accept much lower salaries.

Welcome to the real world.... this is not only the problem in Cyprus. It is true in every country : locals do have problems accepting certain jobs. Low cost labour exists the world over.

Racism already exists in Cyprus. A fairly large category of Cypriots are not exactly foreigner friendly, unfortunately. Again, it is not a typical Cypriot problem.

And to be very honest, I prefer to be attended by a friendly foreigner than by a grumpy local ! A friendly local being of course the best solution. Again true everywhere.