Surrey businesses having a rough time hiring, keeping staff
November 9, 2021
Surrey businesses are having a rough time finding and retaining employees, particularly in the realm of jobs involving lower pay.
“We’re trying to drill down on what the reasons are for this immediate, significant skills and labour crunch during the pandemic,” Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, told the Now-Leader on Thursday. “Every single day at least one phone call is received from one of our members, or even a non-member, saying, ‘We need help trying to find labour.’
“This is a real test of the economy, to see if businesses can survive without that wage subsidy that they relied on,” she added.
The Surrey Board of Trade is one of Canada’s top 1o largest chambers of commerce or boards of trade, with 6,000-member business contacts.
Huberman is hearing from employers large and small who report hiring employees only for them to be “poached” by another businesses within a few months. Surrey businesses are experiencing “such significant challenges,” not only trying to find employees with the right skills, but also keeping them.
“They’re having to pay them more in order to compete,” she said. “They have to pay some kind of a bonus signing fee prior to starting their employment, as a lure to join that business or that organization. It really is a competition for talent.
“The cost of living continues to escalate in Metro Vancouver, so it is a common issue and our whole work force program has escalated during the pandemic in terms of bridging that supply and demand, whether it’s with people on EI, immigrants looking for jobs, up-skilling and re-skilling programs, so it is a huge issue.
“Honestly, how can you live on $2,000 a month in Metro Vancouver? We have the highest cost of living in Canada, here, and that includes Surrey.”
Source: Peach Arch News
