The year 2022 is off to a bad start for the business community in terms of the labor shortage, exacerbated by the rise in COVID-19 cases. And the situation is unlikely to improve in the next 12 months, according to the almost unanimous opinion of employers.
“We expect it to be similar in 2021, so we will repeat the same strategies,” said Patrick Lavoie, vice-president of marketing and communications for Point S Canada, a large network of tire and mechanic retailers. .
These strategies consist of fighting to attract workers.
“We try by all means to find new employees. We need mechanics, delivery people, accountants… It’s very broad. The season tire installers are what is most lacking, ”says Lavoie.
Increased wages, social benefits, anti-stress measures, Point S will stop at nothing to seduce. “Each store can choose from among 70 anti-stress measures to offer to its employees, such as fruit at the office, reimbursement for part of their physical activities or telemedicine,” explains Mr. Lavoie.
Recruitment will still be, in 2022, “the sinews of war” for the building maintenance services of GDI Services auxeubles, according to its Chairman and CEO, Claude Bigras. The latter judges that it could accommodate 500 to 1000 additional employees in its ranks.
Mr. Bigras says he succeeds in meeting demand at present, because teleworking reduces the occupancy level of some of the buildings. “But when certain sectors will become operational again, possibly in 2022, we fear that we will have challenges, so we have to prepare,” he said.
In particular, GDI has advertised for the first time on public transport, is stepping up its efforts on social networks and offering more flexible hours.
GardaWorld, which is actively looking for security and value transport agents, is currently developing its employer brand, i.e. the definition of the company’s personality, to better promote it to potential employees. .
Almost a copy and paste
According to Desjardins senior economist Joëlle Noreau, 2022 will not be very far from a copy-paste of 2021 when it comes to the labor shortage.
One of the main indicators, the replacement rate index, is not about to correct itself quickly.
“For every 100 people aged 55 to 64, likely to withdraw from the labor market, there are 82.5 aged 20 to 29 who could replace them. We can already see that it does not come together, on the demographic level ”, explains Mme Noreau.
For example, Bombardier Aerospace predicts that more than 3,000 employees will retire in Canada in the next five years and that it will be a challenge to replace them. The company is already amplifying its marketing around the recruitment of interns and the promotion of its sector of activity to post-secondary students.
However, we can expect a gradual improvement, since this replacement rate index would reach 90.5 in 2026, according to Desjardins data based on projections from the Institut de la statistique du Québec.
In addition, the job vacancy rate has steadily increased in Quebec since the end of 2019, reaching 6.1% in the third quarter of 2021. This represents 238,050 vacant positions.
Concrete actions
A few actions requested by the business community could all the same lighten the burden on businesses. The main one is the enhancement immigration thresholds and reduced application processing times.
Point S would like to benefit from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), managed jointly by the federal and provincial governments. “We would like to bring in workers for two-month periods of seasonal tire changes, in the fall and in the spring,” claims Mr. Lavoie.
At GDI, the majority of employees have a permanent immigrant background. However, up to 70,500 immigrants are expected by Quebec in 2022. This would represent at least 20,000 more people than in 2021.
Mr. Bigras also dares to believe that governments will take concrete action to reduce the processing times for the TFWP and make it more accessible.
“The labor shortage will take years to be absorbed,” admits the Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity, who is also Minister of Immigration, Francization and Social Solidarity. ‘Integration. Mr. Boulet affirms that he will continue to demand “more powers in immigration in order to better meet the needs of the labor market in Quebec”.
The Quebec Employers Council also welcomed the requalification and skills enhancement measures announced by Minister Boulet, measures which aim to redirect workers to certain sectors, including agri-food, aeronautics and the green economy. and electrification of transport. The government’s Operation Workforce also aims to attract, train and re-qualify 170,000 workers in the health, education, childcare and information technology sectors. , engineering and construction.
Few areas, however, escape the labor shortage, and some, like the restaurant business, fear losing workers to other industries.
Several companies will also focus on the automation of certain tasks, but rather in the medium term. At Point S, it is not yet in 2022 that part of the laying of tires will be robotized.