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We are almost reaching full employment, with the registered unemployed being around 6% (out of this number at least 30% are actually employed as black labour i.e. paid with cash no receipts while declaring themselves unemployed).
At the same time the building industry is on the up, not only because of the towers development and new large-scale projects (e.g. casino, marinas) but also due to the extensive hotel renovations and extensions.
We are now reaching the level where good craftsmen and even labour are difficult to find.
At the same time, we are now experiencing renovations/extensions of existing housing units since new ones are becoming very costly (by comparison) whereas finding the various trades is becoming almost an impossibility.
So, new opportunities are opening up for small-scale contractors who can manage to get together the various trades (woodwork, plumbers, painters, builders, aluminium) who can provide an all-in-one job for these renovations/extensions.
The lack of such contractors has attracted the attention of small Greek (from Greece) building firms, who are now operating at an increasing scale.
So far, a good percentage of the Cyprus building industry workforce, are Pontian Greeks and Romanians, now we are experiencing technicians from Albania (very good stonemasons), all of whom are eager to work hard so that they can support their families back home.
Most of this labour have Greek passports, so there is no major issue regarding work permits, whereas the others (such as Syrian and other refugees now may be entitled to work) are good quality painters and wood craftsmen.
Running such teams is a business opportunity especially for young engineers, who have the technical and managerial capabilities to manage these jobs and with the new developments coming up, expected to need such maintenance in 4-5 years after completion, it offers further prospects for business.
As project managers (back in 1980-1990) there wasn’t a single buyer not wanting “something extra” after delivery, such as extending the patio, installing a pool, new-extended kitchen, B.Q. with bench, lighting for the garden, pergola and security system installation and so on.
At the time we set up a team with a small but good quality contractor who was looking after such requests.
The cost (be it 25%-30% above the norm) was not so much in question, but to provide what was required at “reasonable” quality.
The younger generation who want to deal in this type of business must bear in mind the quality of the sub-contractors and if they cannot find one, they can apply to the labour office for assistance in finding or even import such skills from abroad.
The building industry apart, try to find a reliable gardener, pool maintenance and cleaner (who understands why the pool is not working) plus cleaning equipment.
Some people need their lights fixed, someone to cut the grass, to extend kitchen cabinets and an occasional inspection of their holiday villa.
The problems with such small jobs are that they do not happen in one location and need different expertise, so one cannot get organised properly if one property is in Paphos and another is in Protaras.
At Platres when the sewage system was overflowing, we had to use a Nicosia-based small contractor to put the matter right – although it cost around 3 times more than the norm, I was very happy to find him despite the cost.
The building industry apart, a knowledgeable gardener to inspect and look after a garden is also an asset.
At some point, our own sub-contractor gardener was so overwhelmed that he decided (partly due to his age and lack of help) to give up on an average income from us alone at €5,000 p.m.!!!
Handymen able to repair electrical goods (a/c, refrigerators, ovens etc) are also essential.
These and other jobs make life easier for residents, like providing food delivery, dog walking and security inspection.
There are so many opportunities around that one cannot believe why we stick to the old and traditional professions.
A friend of ours whose son studied law at Oxford but realised that he did not like the profession (he is a dog lover), has started a dog training school.
His father told us that not only is he very happy with what he is doing, but he cannot cope with demand adding that he makes more money than a good lawyer!!
For these odd jobs, the difficulty is to get together all the different trades and other professionals since the name of the game is to guarantees the job will be done in a timely fashion.
As such, it requires capital to cover the initial risk and reliable staff to be responding during the boom period.
Demand is also coming from banks which acquire property in place of debts, but these properties need maintenance and regular inspections (and that alone can produce a hefty and steady income).
So, the jobs are there, but it needs good organisation and managerial capabilities and from there on it is up to those who can get it done.
