A shift in labour market has employers on the hop

Workforce Planning Board introduces new resources that looks to help companies connect with new employees

Bill Atwood Observer Staff

THE WORKFORCE PLANNING BOARD OF Waterloo Wellington Dufferin (WPB) has launched a new “Employer Resource Corner” at findyourjob.ca with the goal of helping employers connect with new employees.

The website aims to help employers in three areas: Finding workers, workforce planning and accessing grants and bursaries. The idea for the site came from the WPB’s annual local labour market plan.

“There was a lot of talk about employers not having one place to go for all of their recruitment and retention. They don’t know where to find the resources when they’re thinking about recruiting people or retaining people,” said WPB executive director Charlene Hofbauer.

There is a “tight labour market” in the region just now, she noted.

“[There] are a lot of employers looking to hire and not as many people actively unemployed. Some are inactively unemployed so they’re kind of thinking, ‘well, if the right job comes up I’ll go back to it or the right job comes along I will leave my current job and go to it,’” she said.

In January, the unemployment rate in Waterloo Region was six per cent. This is above the national rate, which was five per cent, and the provincial rate, which was 5.2 per cent.

Julie Gibson is a career and work coach and employer liaison at the Conestoga College Career Centre. She provides help to local residents via Woolwich Community Services every other Monday. Gibson said she often hears that jobseekers are not just looking for a job but one that is a good fit and pays a livable wage.

“If they’re going to

If spend the time at work, they want to feel like it’s worth putting their time and effort into it. So they’re looking for something back from the employer as well. Coming out of the pandemic there’s been a really big labour market shift or labour market trend, that employees are now looking for a quality of life when it comes to employment and not just a job.”

The cycle of employment has changed from one that gave an advantage to employers to a more even playing field, Gibson said, pointing to the historic period when employers held all the →

Most Canadian employers (69%) say wages will increase again this year, according to a survey from The Harris Poll, a steady increase from 66% last year and a significant increase from 55% in 2021. Half of employers (49%) say they are increasing their number of employees in 2023, up from 44% last year and 33% in 2021.