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Canada is heading for a talent crisis. In his 2014 Canadian
labour force report, The Great Canadian Skills Mismatch:
People Without Jobs, Jobs Without People, Rick Miner
showed that by 2031, Canada is expected to have a shortage
of nearly two million workers.
You might be looking at this number and thinking: so what? And
isn’t the word “crisis” a bit too dramatic? In reality, it isn’t. A talent
shortage is an issue not only for recruiting professionals, but for organizations,
our entire economy and our quality of life in Canada.
History can help us to prove this point. We’ve already experienced
a talent shortage in Canada in the mid-2000s, prior to the
2008 recession. Alberta was the province most affected by the
shortage, and as expected the impact on HR and recruiting was
alarming. With double-digit turnover came predatory recruiting
practices – recruiters and staffing agencies were calling people up
on the job and offering them substantial increases to leave their
jobs and go work for a competitor immediately. Organizations
were jumping through hoops to develop innovative compensation
and benefits packages to attract and retain employees. Many
unlikely companies were offering signing bonuses. For example, a
grocery store chain reported it was paying $1,000 bonuses to parttime
employees who stayed for six months.
The impacts for the general population were even more startling:
since there was a talent shortage in higher paying corporate
jobs, the retail and food service industries were having a difficult
time attaining and keeping minimum staffing levels. Grocery
stores and other retailers would have long lineups, and many fast
food establishments couldn’t get anyone to work the late shift and
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ MAY/JUNE 2015 ❚ 23