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WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE CHIEF MINISTER BY DEPUTY G.P. SOUTHERN OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 11th MARCH 2008
Question
"Does the Chief Minister consider that the option of growing the proportion of workers in the finance sector by a further 5% to occupy 30% of the overall island workforce, as considered in the Oxera contribution to Imagine Jersey 2035, is a viable and realistic one given that Oxera suggests that for every additional high- skill immigrant worker there will also be a requirement for a low-skilled service worker?"
Answer
Over the course of the next 25 years it is realistic and viable to think that the future growth of the Jersey economy could be managed in such a way that more people are employed in high value added sectors such as finance and fewer people in low value added sectors. The extent to which this is achievable will depend on a whole host of factors including demand from outside the Island for the goods and services we produce, the ability to achieve productivity growth within low value added sectors but also the policies the States pursues for example in applying the Regulation of Undertakings Law.
This type of structural change within the existing workforce and population level does not actually require more people in the Island. It is therefore a different type of economic growth to that which would involve more people coming to the Island and Oxera make that clear in their analysis. Oxera do also consider how it would be possible to maximise economic growth from bringing additional people to the Island. It is this work that shows that for every additional worker in high value added sectors such as financial services, an additional worker is required in the rest of the private sector to supply support services.