News

Cabinet approved new Regulations which will introduce a requirement to advertise temporary job vacancies on the Workforce Opportunities & Residency Cayman (WORC) JobsCayman portal prior to the submission of a temporary work permit (TWP) application commencing 31 March, 2023,.

For employers, this change means that all local job vacancies either full-time or part-time will need to be advertised on the JobsCayman portal for 14 days prior to the submission of a TWP. This amendment will align the job registration process with that of full work permits.

The aim of the new requirement is to allow for increased visibility of employment opportunities for Caymanians. Deputy Premier and Minister for Labour, Hon. Chris Saunders, MP said, “We hope that this new regulation will encourage both job-seeking Caymanians and employers wishing to attract and retain talent to register on the portal now that it’s a requirement to post all available jobs whether full-time or temporary before a work permit is issued. We also hope that all employers will use the portal as a first line of resource when looking for employees. This PACT government is committed to making the necessary policy changes for Caymanians to be considered first for employment opportunities and this is another step forward in achieving this goal.”

For the year ending 2022, WORC reviewed and made decisions on 55,000 applications and of those, 21,040 were approved temporary work permits. For the month of January 2023, 1,830 were approved. The high numbers could be used as an indication that employers are using it as a first step to import labour instead of taking the time to find a suitable job seeker locally. Acting Interim Director of WORC, Jeremy Scott said “This new requirement means that more jobs will be posted on the portal therefore WORC will be better able to assess the employment industry, as well as forecast what required skills job seekers need in an effort to close gaps that are in particular employment categories. Having this data will be vital to building a strong and capable Caymanian workforce. Therefore we encourage all Caymanians seeking employment to register on the JobsCayman portal.”