While the on line Help Wanted listings at the local Job Bank or ads in the local papers don’t really show any massive upswell in the demand for workers just yet (Friday’s Daily News still features almost as many out of town job listings as it does local opportunities), it is said that soon the wave of opportunities will crest in Prince Rupert as it has in the rest of the province.Rupert isn’t yet like Grande Prairie or Fort McMurray in Alberta, where employers are regularly seeking ways to entice workers to sign up for a shift, and it seems that local businesses seem to be getting caught up in the excitement of the container port start up, suggesting that everyone has abandoned job seeking in the small business world to wait for the Port Jobs to come. Considering the real boom in Port related jobs probably won’t arrive until after 2010 or later with phase two, that should still give local businesses the pick of the crop should they offer competitive wages and reasonable working conditions.
However, all of that aside, the government of BC is predicting that over the next twelve years, there will be a need to fill over a million new jobs in the province, a situation that is expected to lead to a huge labour crunch if not addressed properly. With that statistic staring down BC’s employers, the Prince Rupert District Chamber of Commerce is looking to help ease the strain on local employers.
Included in their plans is the need for local business to fill out a survey on employment issues in the area to help with their planning for a fall seminar. You can look it over here.
In an article in the Friday edition of the Daily News, The Chamber outlined it’s thoughts on the potential skilled labour shortages that could be coming our way.
CHAMBER TACKLES SKILL SHORTAGE
Survey out to determine how businesses can keep their most talented
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, August 31, 2007
Pages one and three
With the job market opening up and local businesses scrambling to retain a skilled workforce, the Prince Rupert District Chamber of Commerce is taking action to help its members.
The chamber will start by first assessing the situation and then organizing a work shop to help member find and retain the labour force they need, said Wendy Prystay, chamber president.
“The Chamber sees this as an area where it can provide real value to its membership and to others in the business community, said Prystay.
The Daily News reported earlier this summer that managers at local businesses were struggling to retain workers due to the lucrative job possibilities being offered with the opening of the container port.
The high-paying, unionized jobs that have opened up in the city are proving too tempting for many residents to pass up.
The Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce recognizes that this is an extraordinarily exciting time for Prince Rupert, but that economic growth is not without challenges.
In response, the Chamber, together with B. C. Ferries and other community partners, will host a one-day seminar/workshop designed to assist smaller businesses, in particular, attract, retain and retrain workers.
The seminar is slated to take place this fall.
Prystay recognized replacing members of staff, who move on is extremely difficult. Smaller businesses do not have full time human resources and marketing departments they can rely on.
However, the shortage of skilled labour is not unique to Prince Rupert – it is a problem currently faced by communities across B. C. Over the next twelve years, the Ministry for Economic Development predicts that more than a million new jobs will need to be filled in this province. The snag is there are currently only 600,000 children in the B. C. school system.
Businesses will, therefore, have to be creative if they are to meet their labour needs.
One option, she said, is to tap into sectors of the population that are traditionally underutilized – including skilled immigrants, people who are untrained, people with disabilities and seniors, providing these groups with the skills employers need, she said.
To begin to address the challenge, the chamber is asking its members to fill out a short survey on the chamber’s website.
The survey will help the chamber determine what type of seminar will best help its members.
“We will be proactive in providing our members with access to the skills they need to meet challenges associated with this amazing time in Prince Rupert’s economic history,” said Prystay.
The chamber’s website is located at http://www.princerupertchamber.ca/. People are requested to complete and return the surveys to the chamber by fax (624-6105) or mail (100-215 Cow Bay Road, Prince Rupert, B. C. V8J 1A2).
Copies of the survey are also available at the Chamber office.
For more information contact Lynne Graham at the Chamber office (624-2296)
CHAMBER TACKLES SKILL SHORTAGE
Survey out to determine how businesses can keep their most talented
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, August 31, 2007
Pages one and three
With the job market opening up and local businesses scrambling to retain a skilled workforce, the Prince Rupert District Chamber of Commerce is taking action to help its members.
The chamber will start by first assessing the situation and then organizing a work shop to help member find and retain the labour force they need, said Wendy Prystay, chamber president.
“The Chamber sees this as an area where it can provide real value to its membership and to others in the business community, said Prystay.
The Daily News reported earlier this summer that managers at local businesses were struggling to retain workers due to the lucrative job possibilities being offered with the opening of the container port.
The high-paying, unionized jobs that have opened up in the city are proving too tempting for many residents to pass up.
The Prince Rupert and District Chamber of Commerce recognizes that this is an extraordinarily exciting time for Prince Rupert, but that economic growth is not without challenges.
In response, the Chamber, together with B. C. Ferries and other community partners, will host a one-day seminar/workshop designed to assist smaller businesses, in particular, attract, retain and retrain workers.
The seminar is slated to take place this fall.
Prystay recognized replacing members of staff, who move on is extremely difficult. Smaller businesses do not have full time human resources and marketing departments they can rely on.
However, the shortage of skilled labour is not unique to Prince Rupert – it is a problem currently faced by communities across B. C. Over the next twelve years, the Ministry for Economic Development predicts that more than a million new jobs will need to be filled in this province. The snag is there are currently only 600,000 children in the B. C. school system.
Businesses will, therefore, have to be creative if they are to meet their labour needs.
One option, she said, is to tap into sectors of the population that are traditionally underutilized – including skilled immigrants, people who are untrained, people with disabilities and seniors, providing these groups with the skills employers need, she said.
To begin to address the challenge, the chamber is asking its members to fill out a short survey on the chamber’s website.
The survey will help the chamber determine what type of seminar will best help its members.
“We will be proactive in providing our members with access to the skills they need to meet challenges associated with this amazing time in Prince Rupert’s economic history,” said Prystay.
The chamber’s website is located at http://www.princerupertchamber.ca/. People are requested to complete and return the surveys to the chamber by fax (624-6105) or mail (100-215 Cow Bay Road, Prince Rupert, B. C. V8J 1A2).
Copies of the survey are also available at the Chamber office.
For more information contact Lynne Graham at the Chamber office (624-2296)
No comments:
Post a Comment