Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
Jasper鈥檚 labour shortage has begun to lessen with more entry-level positions being filled this tourism season, but there is still a strong demand for skilled labour.
鈥淚 would say that we鈥檙e in better condition this year than definitely we have been in the last number of years,鈥� said Ginette Marcoux, executive director of the Jasper Employment and Education Centre.
鈥淥ur job postings aren鈥檛 as high as we鈥檝e seen them, especially last year. They鈥檝e come down.鈥�
The employment centre had 457 job postings in April, compared to the 677 job postings a year prior in April 2022.
Marcoux partially attributed this decrease to the reopening of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program for unskilled labour; the program reopened in April 2022, and it took six to 10 months for employer applications to get processed.
Jasper also had an influx of between 80 and 100 Ukrainian workers, and 12 local employers have been approved for the Rural Renewal Stream, which supports the attraction and retention of newcomers to rural Alberta.
Although entry-level positions are being filled, the employment centre is seeing many postings for government and management positions.
鈥淎nd those are going to be more difficult to find, so that is something that I鈥檓 hearing from the employers is that entry-level workers are much more easy to find than a skilled workforce,鈥� Marcoux said.
In the past, kitchen positions had been difficult to fill.
However, the employment centre had 133 positions posted for kitchens last year, whereas there were only 57 kitchen postings this year.
鈥淭hat was really notable to me, so less than 50 per cent of the job demand for kitchen positions from last year,鈥� Marcoux said.
鈥淲hat does that tell us? Does that tell us that as employers applied for temporary foreign worker positions, they applied for kitchen workers鈥攕o, cooks and chefs鈥攕o that they could fill those positions? Because typically, historically, kitchen positions have been one of the most difficult positions to recruit for.鈥�
In addition, there were 71 postings for light cleaners last year but only 48 postings coming into this season.
While the labour market is still in better condition than last year, the tourism sector will continue to deal with the impact of the pandemic.
Marcoux cited a survey from Tourism HR Canada that showed while 67 per cent of participants agreed that work in tourism provides valuable work experience, 59 per cent said the pay was too low for most jobs in the industry, especially when considering the long hours and workload.
Marcoux confirmed that the employment centre had heard a similar sentiment about wages.
鈥淲e鈥檝e certainly experienced rental increases in Jasper, the cost of living has gone up and the wages have not followed suit,鈥� she said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to continue to be a barrier for attracting people to come live and work in Jasper.鈥�
Marcoux noted that many workers preferred their own living space, rather than having roommates or staying in dorm-style accommodations.
Employers should also be able to offer training, avoid constantly changing work schedules, be aware of labour law and provide opportunities for promotion.
This article originally appeared in Peak Jasper, the 51暗网鈥檚 annual business magazine.聽聽or request your own copies for your home or business at聽[email protected]
