Increasing retirements and a hot economy are combining to leave small-business owners throughout British Columbia unable to find the skilled staff they need to run their businesses, according to a BC Skills Force Initiative sponsored by the BC Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures Development Association.
The survey, presented to Economic Development Minister Colin Hansen at a meeting today, canvassed more than 1,800 small businesses across the province. These businesses were located outside of the Greater Vancouver and Victoria regions.
John Winter, president and chief executive officer of the BC Chamber of Commerce, said businesses around the province are finding it difficult to carry out their operations in the face of increasing worker shortages.
"We are not at the Alberta stage, but it's not far from that in the northeast . . . in the Peace area, it is probably there," said Winter, referring to significant labor shortages in Alberta that are affecting industries across the board. "And as we start to ramp up all this construction in this part of the province, we're short too."
Paul Wiest, project manager for the BC Skills Force Initiative, said the shortages are blocking opportunities for small businesses.
"They are not able to take on more work," he said. "We have heard all kinds of examples, like the construction contractor from Fernie who said, 'I would double my business tomorrow if I could find the workers'."
Wiest said in another case, an electrical contractor had a message on his voicemail to tell callers not to bother trying to reach him because he is booked for the next six months.
"A lot of this is driven by the very hot economy right now, but what we see as the bigger issue down the road is when people get to retirement age, which is just around the corner for a lot of baby boomers, where will the employers find workers, and who is going to buy their businesses when they retire," said Wiest.
Winter said small businesses need the support of government in policy issues and areas such as lobbying the federal government to make it easier for workers to come here for jobs, but he said the there is no single answer to the dilemma.
Rural communities have trouble attracting people to work, and even if they find people who don't mind the isolation, often their spouses or partners may not want to move away from urban areas.
Immigrant, aboriginal, disabled and older workers are seen as a resource for workers but small businesses pointed out they often lack the time and the wherewithal to go through the bureaucratic hoops to sponsor immigrant workers. On other non-traditional workers, employers said they lack familiarity with the agencies and processes that would help them tap into this source of labour.
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Readers of this item may be interested to know that we are currently accepting requests from foreign nationals seeking to live and work in Canada on an expedited basis for immediate full-time employment in the B.C. trades industries.
Canadian employers in many of the trades industries offer remunerative benefit packages which can exceed C$70,000 – US$60,000 – GBP £35,000.
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