P.E.I. businesses struggle to find employees for tourism, construction seasons
It’s a tricky time to be a enterprise proprietor searching for workers, that’s significantly true for these gearing up for the height tourism and building seasons on Prince Edward Island.
The island is dealing with a labour scarcity.
Robert Godfrey, Larger Charlottetown Space Chamber of Commerce CEO, stated that is the time of 12 months when tourism companies go on a hiring blitz, however many house owners are developing empty-handed.
“They’re working the entrance traces themselves, they’re doing no matter they must to be able to maintain their companies going,” stated Godfrey. “In entrance of what’s going to be an amazing season, actually, by way of numbers, on the tourism facet particularly.”
He stated house owners are providing perks to try to get workers to decide on them.
“Some individuals are paying extra, some individuals are doing flex hours,” stated Godfrey. “They’re retention, they’re how they’ll appeal to workers.”
The employee scarcity isn’t new. It existed earlier than the pandemic, but it surely’s gotten worse.
The development business on the island is booming however is stifled by a scarcity of workers.
“As a result of we’ve seen such a increase within the business previously two years,” stated Alicia Packwood of the Canadian House Builders’ Affiliation of P.E.I. “The dockets of labor is far larger than it was, so it’s not simply filling the traditional vacancies, it’s elevated vacancies that they’re making an attempt to fill.”
She stated house owners are taking over tasks two and three years out. The identical variety of jobs are getting carried out, however clients are ready for much longer.
