It’s been almost five months since Chris Stephani posted the job and he hasn’t been able to hire anyone for the $18- to $20-an-hour position.
Stephani handles maintenance at Wildwood Park, a mobile home park in Coquitlam, and in April advertised for an assistant groundskeeper to cut the grass and do other outside jobs until the fall.
“It’s not a hard job to do,” Stephani said, “but we’ve tried everything — classifieds, word of mouth — nothing happens. And our contractors are in the same boat. They may get somebody but, a week later, they’re gone somewhere else.”
The signs of a possible labour shortage are common in the Tri-Cities, with Help Wanted postings at many businesses, from hospitality and construction work to high-tech and professional careers with School District 43.
Michael Hind, CEO of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce, said he has noticed the recent shift in the labour market and attributes it to changing demographics: Simply put, there are not enough people to replace retiring baby boomers.
Hind cited a report by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which, in 2012, called on employers across the country to train more workers to make up for a future labour shortfall.
“I think the issue has been out there for a while now,” Hind told The Tri-City News, “and we’re just starting to see it here now regionally.”
The high cost of living in Metro Vancouver also plays a part in the labour crunch, he said, as people can’t afford to live and play without a good, steady salary.
In turn, business owners and operators are struggling with fewer staff and may be forced to alter schedules to close earlier and open later in the day.
The Vancouver Regional Construction Association is feeling the pinch, too. Its website lists more than 25 jobs open, including some in the Tri-Cities, and predicts there will be 15,000 unfilled construction jobs in B.C. by 2025.
Last Tuesday, WorkBC, which has service offices in Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam, hosted a hiring fair in PoCo to attract workers to Wesgar Inc., Phoenix Building Maintenance and SilverLine Exterior Solutions.
The next day, it held a hiring fair at the Coquitlam Public Library to draw applicants to 16 firms and organizations in Metro Vancouver.
And last Thursday, BC Corrections had a hiring booth at the Port Coquitlam Farmers Market, hoping to draw interest.
WorkBC spokesperson Diana Delgado, general manager of Avia Employment Services in Coquitlam, said the Tri-Cities are feeling some growing pains and she attributed this year’s growth, in part, to the arrival of the Evergreen Extension.
Business owners and operators are hiring students and new Canadians — if they can — to fill in their time slots. But this week, as students return to school, employers will need to replenish their rosters and that’s becoming more and more challenging, she said.
“All you have to do is walk into any store around here and there’s a ‘We’re Hiring’ sign,” she told The Tri-City News, noting WorkBC partners with chambers of commerce and immigrant groups to get the word out about employment.
Still, the city of Coquitlam’s manager of economic development said the Tri-Cities are well-positioned to meet demand compared with municipalities in northern B.C. (Coquitlam’s population is expected to swell from 138,000 residents to 176,000 by 2021 and 224,000 by 2041).
And while some specialized jobs — like those in the information technology sector — may take longer to fill, “we’re pretty well-off overall,” David Munro said. “We have a professional, highly educated base, our city is growing and the job market is competitive.”
He suggests if businesses and organizations are having a hard time attracting staff, they should look at offering additional benefits besides a higher wage such as flexible work hours or fitness passes.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
