Job fair helps employers find right people to fill staffing needs

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This article was published 06/04/2023 (1263 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Organizers of Thursday’s Hospitality Tourism Retail job fair at the RBC Convention Centre are hoping the weather won’t keep people away because demand for workers remains high.

Most agree that the situation this year is not as dire as last year when more than 1,000 job seekers attended a similar event, but the labour market is still prickly for many hospitality/tourism enterprises with reports of restaurants and resorts not being able to offer full service because of a shortage of staff.

In particular rural operators of hotels and tourism venues continue to struggle with a small labour pool to begin with and a super competitive market.

Fresh off a trip to the Hotel Association of Canada’s meetings in Montreal, the new president and CEO of the Manitoba Hotel Association, Michael Juce, said he heard a story about a manufacturing company in a rural location giving on-time bonuses for employees at the end of the month.

“That creates a ripple effect in the local market,” he said, making it that much more competitive for rural hotel operators to recruit to fill all the positions they require.

“In rural Manitoba the labour market is extremely tight,” said Juce. “On the plus side, Winnipeg members say it has gotten better.”

Manitoba continues to post record low unemployment rates and while operators struggle with high inflation and rising minimum wages, labour market issues were still the number one issue for the national hotel group.

The job fair, which is organized by the Manitoba Tourism Education Council (MTEC) — the provincially funded sector council that includes the entire tourism/hospitality/restaurant industries — is seen as a great way for employers to find the right people for jobs they desperately need filling.

Shaun Jeffrey, executive director and CEO of the Manitoba Restaurant and Foodservices Association, said the job fair is extremely effective.

“It’s a great chance for both potential workers and employers to have one-on-one encounters,” Jeffery said.

He said that restaurant operators are now just as desperate to retain staff as they are to find new folks.

“One of our members hired four people, at last year’s job fair and was able to retain them all,” he said. “That is huge because it is such a challenge.”

Because there have been so many unexpected twists and turns to the marketplace dynamics these past few years, even the establishments that have survived are now facing a big problem with employees who are burned out and leaving the industry.

Shannon Fontaine, CEO of MTEC, said the job fair is not just about entry-level positions. She said there are stories about new recruits getting quickly and dramatically promoted in the hotel sector, which would have been unheard of in years gone by.

“There is fatigue from people who survived COVID, like managers and assistant managers, who have burned out and moved on,” she said. “What we trying to really push with our training programs and other supports, is the development of transferable skills.”

The return of strong immigration numbers to Manitoba is a boon to the restaurant and hotel industry which has traditionally been a significant employer of new Canadians.

Judith Hayes, executive director of Manitoba Start, said her mandate is to help newcomers to find employment that suits their background and desires.

“Having said that, if people have an interest in entering the restaurant business we will certainly help them,” she said.

The event is an example of a few organizations working together to address an issue they are all grappling with.

Jeffrey said he is grateful that MTEC organizes such an event and while the restaurant and hotel associations often team up, the addition of the tourism piece makes it even more effective.

“The one good thing that has came out of the pandemic — there was probably only one — is that we are all collaborating better,” Jeffrey said.

“Working with MTEC, the chambers, the CFIB (the Canadian Federation of Independent Business)… we have all bonded. We are all trying to serve our membership in the same manner… trying to keep them open.”

The job fair does not require registration, but organizers encourage folks to bring their resumes and “enthusiasm.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca