Small improvements were seen in the numbers of black employees holding management positions between 2001 and 2002, but whites continue to hold a disproportionate number of top jobs, according to a report from CURE released yesterday.

Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler warned, as he unveiled the Annual Review of the Workforce Survey, that if the current trend continues ?it will be a ?be a long time before there is better representation in all aspects of the workplace?.

Mr. Butler called on on companies to open the doors of promotion to blacks and mixed race workers.

?Businesses are encouraged to promote equal opportunity and to develop strategies to increase the presence of Bermuda?s under-represented racial majority at the senior and executive levels,? he said.

The report, which combines the old CURE survey and the Employment Survey, showed that black employees represent more than half of the Bermuda workforce but they continue to hold more jobs in the non-professional sector than whites.

The 2002 report surveyed 27,204 employees representing 424 companies. The surveyed work force was found to be made up of 55 percent black employees, 31 percent white employees and 14 percent mixed and other race employees.

Statistics indicate that white employees have continued to hold nearly seven in ten, 68 percent of all executive jobs, a statistic which has not changed since 2001.

Blacks held 67 percent of all non-professional jobs.

Although the climb for blacks has been slow, it is improving.

In 2002 at the executive level, black employees held 22 percent of jobs, compared to 21 percent in 2001, while black employees held 30 percent of senior management jobs, compared to 29 percent in 2001.

One level of the job market where blacks and whites are on the same footing is the middle management level where blacks hold 44 percent of all jobs and whites hold 43 percent of all jobs.

Mixed and other races make up the remaining 13 percent.

Blacks also make up the majority of public sector workers, holding 79 percent of jobs at this level compared to just over one in ten jobs held by white workers. According to the report, white employees also dominate at the technical level where they held nearly four in ten or 37 percent of these jobs and only two in ten of non-professional jobs.

Compared to white employees, blacks continue to hold nearly seven of 10 non-professional jobs, and are more likely to be dismissed from their jobs while white workers were found to leave, more often, voluntarily.

Income levels between blacks and whites indicate that black employees? share of incomes in the various categories is disproportionate to their representation in the workplace.

Of all persons earning less than $25,000, 68 percent were black. In the $25,000 to $55,000 salary range, 63 percent of jobs were held by blacks while in the $55,000 to $75,000 range only 44 percent of jobs were held by blacks.

In comparison, 16 percent of those earning less than $25,000 were white. In the middle income group, 23 percent were white. In the higher income categories, earning between $55,000 and $75,000, 45 percent were white.

Whites also received more benefits than blacks in 2002, with white employees more likely to receive car allowances (74 percent), housing allowances (66 percent) than blacks who received 19 percent and 13 percent of these benefits, respectively.

Mr. Butler, the Minister of Community Affairs and Sport, told parliamentarians yesterday that the survey presents critical data on the status of race issues in employment, the outcomes of which are used to develop programmes and guide policy.

He said: ?Industry standards for equal opportunity and racial representation will become more apparent as the survey moves into its fourth year,? he said.