Bermuda faces bigger problems of labour force shortage because of its size compared to larger counterparts such as the US, UK and Canada, according to an employment expert who will be visiting Bermuda next week.

Linda Duxbury, who is a professor at the Sprott School of Business at Carelton University and will be the guest speaker at the 22nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) of Bermuda held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel on Wednesday October 28, has also warned that businesses should not use the recession as an excuse to downsize or restructure their workforce.

She said that the Island had a much smaller pool of workers than some other countries, making it harder to bring people in to fill a skills gap left by a shrinking population, adding that it needed to offer some form of post secondary education in order to nurture its own talent.

Ms Duxbury, whose presentation is entitled 'Short Term Pain for Long Term Gain: Dealing with Human Capital in a Recession', will be talking about how the economic downturn has resulted in lay-offs, unemployment and contingent work and how many companies have overlooked impending labour shortages resulting from an ageing workforce.

She will look at why employers have to manage this crisis differently to the downturn of the 1980s and 1990s and give tips and advice on what action organisations can take to stay competitive in the future.

"I am offering attendees a cautionary note not to manage short-term because of the recession and to use it as an excuse to downsize and restructure your workforce," she said.

"The message is - do that at your own risk because when we exit this recession, as has been predicted in 2010, we will be entering into a very tight labour market."

Ms Duxbury said that many businesses had cut back or reshuffled their workforce at the end of the millennium, while most employees in today's workplace were of the older population and approaching retirement.

But she added that due to But she added that due to companies reducing their staffbase, a lot of managers were under more pressure having to take on additional responsibilities and working longer hours, while some duties they had performed previously were not being fulfilled at all.

On top of this, Ms Duxbury, believes that the 'Baby Boomer' generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) were also feeling the strain of the extra workload, while being expected to produce top quality work and maintain a high level of loyalty and commitment.

"The labour force shortage is projected to start in 2010 when we get out of this recession," she said.

"It is going to happen because of an undersupply of youth, a reduction in young talent and no skills and knowledge transfer between the generations."

Ms Duxbury reckons that many organisations face the problem of attracting and retaining younger talent and having to pay higher salaries to get employees back, pointing to a study carried out in Canada which revealed it would take 21 years to offset the looming labour shortage, and more worryingly, the fact that most businesses have no idea how to deal with the situation.

She said that downsizing should be used as a last resort and that companies should instead look at job sharing and reduced working weeks to keep their best workers.

Ms Duxbury, who is a pioneer in the field of organisational health and has earned a number of awards for her research, teaching and contribution to public and private sector work places focused on managing a changing workforce, will be speaking at the EAP's annual event for the fourth time and is expected to draw an audience of between 100 to 200.

The EAP's AGM takes place in the Harbourview Room, with a reception at 12 p.m. and lunch at 12.30 p.m., with the keynote speech between 12.45 p.m. and 1.45 p.m.

Entry costs $85 for members and $95 for non-members. Deadline for registrations is Friday October 23.

To book a place or for more information contact Joan McRonald at 292-9000 or e-mail info@eap.bm