A report has been released by the Four County Labour Market Planning Board shining a light on the low unemployment rate in the region over the last 10 years.
The report released in February says based off data from federal, provincial and economic regions, it explains why employers are finding it hard to recruit and retain workers.
Across the Stratford – Bruce Peninsula Economic Region, the report says the low unemployment is a result of an acute labour shortage, an aging labour force, and barriers in attraction and retention.
Last year, the region hit a historic low in its unemployment rate of 3.7 per cent, compared to the provincial rate of 5.6 per cent. The jobless rate has increased since then. Most recently, the board found the unemployment rate in the region increased to 4.6 per cent in February.
Through interviews with businesses across the economic region, employers identified a number of issues for attracting and retaining workers:
-Rising cost of rent and leases makes it difficult for employers to purchase housing for employees, and drawing candidates to the area is challenging
-Finding employees for front-line customer-facing positions remains at critically low levels
-Attracting youth is difficult, as the age group is less interested in frontline jobs
-Recruitment is changing and employers are looking at their internal workers to train for positions in hard to find trades
-Employers and service providers report customers have become angrier and more belligerent since the pandemic
“Housing was identified as a central problem. Housing costs have doubled or tripled in some instances. Building, buying, renting, or leasing housing has become so expensive that employers are unable to draw qualified candidates from outside the region. Some employers have bought or leased houses, bought out B&B locations, or hotel rooms to house new employees. For other industries operating in the region, such as tourism, attracting workers for seasonal position become difficult,” says the report.
One idea expressed through the interviews, however, is immigration remains an option to help combat these issues.
“The Four County Labour Market Planning Board will continue to focus our projects based on the data we are seeing to work with our partners to provide the resources and tools they need for sustainable workforce that supports employers and the communities that exist in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region,” says the report.