Chief executives view Independence as a negative path to take, according to an extensive survey of Bermuda's international business sector. The survey also found dissatisfaction with the public school system and concern about the work permit process.

On the other hand, the Island's business chiefs generally rated Bermuda highly as a domicile to live and work. David Ezekiel, chairman of the Association of Bermuda International Companies, yesterday unveiled the findings.

The survey, which was conducted from September to November 2004, was launched to gather information on sustainability issues, as a result of continuing community and Government discussion on international business, and its affect on the Island.

Of ABIC's 140 members, the overall rate of response was 47 percent, which Mr. Ezekiel said, statistically, was high enough to count as a reliable take on the views of Bermuda's international business sector.

International business contributes more than $1 billion to the Bermuda economy each year, and employs 3,800, or ten percent, of the total workforce.

The survey found about two-thirds of those employed are Bermudian.

The survey questions were designed to uncover the employee makeup at Bermuda's international businesses, as well as hiring, training and promotion practices, as well as economic impact.

PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted the survey, which was designed to protect the identity of participants' responses but not the identity of companies that took part.

Both senior management and employees were surveyed.

Mr. Ezekiel said questions to the chief executives of companies sought to find out "what does the average CEO look like in terms of background, age, experience and education," and what senior management thought on issues now, and five years ago.

"We wanted to track how their point of view has changed," he said.

Chief executives were asked questions pertaining to Bermuda's attributes as a business domicile, and to express their level of satisfaction on living and working in Bermuda, today and five years ago.

They were not asked any questions specifically racial in nature, instead being asked for their views on equal opportunities in the workplace.

All respondents were asked to say whether they were white, black or other, in keeping with the format of the Coalition for Unity and Racial Equality (CURE) questions.

Ninety-one percent of executives were white; 87 percent at the senior level and 75 percent of middle managers were, while 51 percent of professionals in non-management positions were white and 34 percent of non-professionals.

Sixty-six chief executives took part in the survey; a 49 percent response rate.

CEOs were generally negative on the subject of Bermuda going Independent, he said, and work permit processing was "clearly one of the items high on the radar screen".

There was also "dissatisfaction" with the state of Bermuda's public education, while most were fairly positive in their views on private education.

Independence registered as the prospect chief executives were least satisfied with.

ABIC has previously submitted to Government that a move to independence of Britain would have "no positive aspects" for international business.

Mr. Ezekiel said when considering what views the survey uncovered on Independence, bear in mind that "when ABIC responds, it responds from a narrow business perspective".

Only this group, not the employees surveyed, were asked for their view on Independence, as the issue was being looked at only one level: impact on business.

Most, 90 percent, of the senior managers surveyed said they were generally optimistic about prospects in Bermuda, in the short and medium term.

The survey found that about 1.2 million square feet, or about one-third of the total office space in and around Hamilton, was occupied by international businesses.

Most company heads said they would not seriously consider moving their companies outside of Hamilton.

In terms of Bermuda's housing crunch, ABIC revealed that approximately 1,500 housing units, or six percent of the Island's total residential stock of 28,000 units, were likely taken by non-Bermudians employed by international business.

Large companies said they did not expect to see significant growth in Bermuda, while small and medium businesses did expect to grow the size of their Bermuda-based operations.

Of the employees asked to participate, there was a 42 percent response rate.

Employees indicated a need to enhance training and promotion opportunities for Bermudians working in international business. Of those surveyed, 66 percent of the employees were Bermudian.

While the survey found more training dollars were spent on Bermudians, this had not resulted in a meaningful number of promotions into the senior ranks of companies.

In total, three-quarter of the companies surveyed said they had in-house training programmes and 78 percent of the employee respondents said they had received training.

"The profile really hasn't changed over the years," said Mr. Ezekiel, with the survey fining that the upper management levels were dominated by non-Bermudians.

He said enhancing the work experience, and training and development opportunities was clearly an area where work needed to be done.

Size and infrastructure constraints also need to be considered, with the view to developing a 'smart growth' strategy for international business.

ABIC will not make public the identity of those companies that took part in the survey, but said it included 30 insurance and reinsurance companies, ten investment firms and eight from the financial services sector.

Of the insurers who participated, there was a strong showing from Bermuda's highly capitalised 'class four' insurers, Mr. Ezekiel said.

The cost of the survey, which is to be shared with Government and business associations, was around $50,000, a cost borne by ABIC members.

The survey will not be an annual exercise, but could be repeated in another two years time.