And Mr Dunstan urged potential workers to make sure they help themselves as he revealed half didn’t even turn up for interviews as part of a programme to find jobs for masons.Mr Dunstan, the Construction Association of Bermuda president, said there aren’t enough jobs to satisfy the number of young Bermudians seeking basic labour; meanwhile there’s a shortage of qualified Bermudians for the jobs that are available, meaning they often go to foreigners.The construction industry is losing hope new jobs will emerge by the time the hospital and Waterloo House projects finish, he told The Royal Gazette, leaving many owners “extremely concerned about the future of their businesses”.He warned: “Without these entrepreneurs the economy stifles, and job creation diminishes.“The construction industry doesn't generate its own work though. This comes from developers who have the incentive to invest their money in Bermuda, whether they be local or otherwise.“We see other jurisdictions getting creative in their attempts to attract new business, creative approaches to property ownership, tax incentives, residency.“These are the things that factor into the decision of where to invest, and are some of the reasons behind the large undeveloped tracts of prime development land in Bermuda over the past 15 years or so.“We need people moving into the Island, turning some realtors recent statements of optimism into real sales and rentals, and this will generate development opportunities, and real work for local firms.“There are local construction companies withering on the vine, while sites such as the old Club Med, Sonesta and Morgan's Point sit virtually idle. It's time for action, but who is prepared to provide it?”A database of 130 unemployed people classifying themselves as masons was compiled after a construction job fair organised by Labour and Training and the construction industry in April.A masonry assessment questionnaire was then set up to determine their suitability for available jobs, with Construction Association volunteers and National Training Board officials lined up to carry out half-hour interviews.But Government and the Construction Association were left frustrated as only about 40 interviews were carried out, with many of those turning out to be less suitable than they made out.Mr Dunstan said: “Labour and Training contacted about 80 or 90 of those on the database; some did not return the message, and almost half of the interviews actually set up were no shows.“While we found a handful of very capable masons through these interviews, there was a wide range of abilities demonstrated.“Many did not have the knowledge originally purported, which is the frustration employers encounter when taking on new hires for resourcing their project requirements.“The risks associated with undertaking a large, or indeed any, construction project are not a game. Construction businesses cannot be run as a social service.“Applicants for work need to figure out their real value to the company and the project and perform accordingly to make the system work successfully. When it does, all reap the rewards: the worker, the economy and, yes, the employer.“The Construction Association has been working intimately with Government to do what we can to address the unemployment problem.“When Government departments and groups of dedicated employers put in considerable time and effort to provide opportunities, as with the recent masonry assessment initiative, only for half of the applicants to not bother showing up for an interview, the process breaks down.”Earlier this week, Greymane Contracting president Alex DeCouto warned many small and middle-sized firms are facing a scrap for survival while a handful of elite companies have enjoyed the few remaining lucrative contracts.Health Minister Zane DeSilva, the president of Island Construction, urged firms and workers to prepare for leaner times ahead as the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital and Waterloo House developments begin to wind down.Pointing to gloom in the industry, Mr Dunstan said: “When these two projects came on line and absorbed some of the 2,000-plus construction labour force, we all hoped this would provide time for other projects to appear and get off the ground.“That hope is slowly diminishing as these projects progress, and no meaningful large scale work materialises.“We hear comments about tourism development every so often, but the reality is nothing of any significance is being produced by the developers to indicate any real drive to commence.”He said the two projects had not be enough to keep the industry moving in any case.“Those not involved in the hospital or Waterloo House projects are fighting over scraps to stay in business,” he said.“There are many opinions being expressed about how these projects are being managed, most by those without a realistic view of what is actually transpiring.“At the end of the day, these are not social service programmes. They are run with a view to managing considerable risk to the stakeholders and, forgive us for saying it aloud, some level of profitability.“Without the latter element, there is no incentive for the principals, who are driving what little economic output there is, to take on this risk.“We are very fortunate to have the few individuals who are committed to Bermuda enough to be willing to take on these risks.“While some attempt to score political points by decrying the foreign worker, this needs to be balanced with comment on the lack of qualified Bermudian labour for some tasks in the industry.“The problem cannot be solved in mere weeks with fast tracked training programmes. There is no substitute for the experience required to establish a truly qualified and productive tradesman.“Our robust Immigration process patrols the use of foreign expertise in an effective manner. Projects like KEMH and Waterloo House are highly technical construction developments, with many specialisations required to effectively and efficiently put them in place.“There are only so many bricks and mortar jobs within the total scope of work on these developments and the number of young Bermudians out there applying for jobs as basic labourers is not in line with the market demands.”