A few months ago, Lee Valley Tools put up a recruiting sign outside its Ottawa headquarters with a line reflecting a corporate change: “No Experience Needed.”
The company, which has retail stores across Canada, as well as an Ottawa-based manufacturing arm that makes its tools, was in desperate need of staff.
Known for attracting older workers to the retail side, Lee Valley had seen a wave of retirements during COVID-19. But with demand for his products surging as people took up hobbies like gardening and woodworking during the pandemic, President and Chief Operating Officer Jason Tasse first resorted to l hires members of a local lacrosse team whom he trains to fill orders.
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As restrictions were lifted, the company decided on a long-term strategy. They would pay more, provide better benefits, increase flexibility around shifts, and invest in training those whose skills were not yet developed in required areas.
“We have abandoned most traditional hiring practices and protocols,” Mr. Tasse said. In the past, they told potential employees what kind of schedule to expect, while requiring specific skills and credentials. Now, says Tasse, “it was all out the window.”
Similar conversations are taking place in organizations across Canada, with companies across many sectors reworking their hiring practices as they face high demand for services, according to Bank of Montreal senior economist Robert Kavcic. post-lockdown and a tight labor market.
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Kavcic said work participation “is pretty much back to pre-COVID levels, if not more, across all age categories. So it’s not a case of people not wanting to work” .
Kavcic acknowledges that there are a number of different reasons behind the labor shortage, but the most important factor, he said, is that Canada’s baby boomer generation has started to take his mass retirement. Pandemic working conditions and a strong stock market may have prompted some people to leave earlier than expected, he said, “but whether it was now or in the next few years, it was something that happened anyway.”
Indeed, more than 300,000 Canadians have already retired in 2022, according to Statistics Canada, compared to 233,000 last year. What’s more, more people are approaching retirement age than ever before, with more than one in five working-age Canadians between the ages of 55 and 64. With the average retirement age at 64, this means many more Canadians are ready to leave their jobs.
Even employers who haven’t yet seen a large number of retirements are starting to plan ahead.
Recruitment via TikTok and Instagram
With the increase in condominium projects and other construction projects, the City of Toronto needs engineers, planners and other workers now.
Last month, the municipality launched a recruitment campaign, posting videos on TikTok and Instagram, calling for applications for positions at Toronto Water in areas such as wastewater treatment.
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Gord Mitchell, who runs the RC Harris water treatment plant in the Beaches neighborhood, said the number of retirements has remained minimal at his location so far.
“But, you know, you see the tsunami coming,” he said.
“We have a lot of employees who have over 30 years of service, maybe 35. Luckily it’s a great place to work [and] people don’t want to leave,” he said, “but sooner or later everyone leaves.”
Baby boomers are retiring in large numbers, adding pressure to an already tight labor market. Now employers are trying to stay ahead of the game and even bring some back to work.
City spokesman Brad Ross said upcoming retirements are always a priority these days.
“People are going to retire, people are going to move. So we have to continue to keep that pipeline open,” he said.
Other Strategies
Beyond the social media recruitment drive, he said, the city has other strategies in place to attract and retain new workers.
These include partnering with local universities to hire engineering graduates and tapping into underemployed populations by working with nonprofits that focus on inclusive hiring, all to “attract new, younger talent who would be willing to stay and grow in the organization.” said Ross.
Back in Lee Valley, Tasse said their new hiring policies have helped attract 232 new employees over the past year, a number that has helped them grow their business.
On the retail side, flexible work options and salary increases have even allowed stores to attract people who have recently retired from other organizations.
Providing “opportunities for people to come back on their own terms” while aligning with their personal interests around the tools, Tasse said, means retired baby boomers are actually “a good match” for the industry. company.
As the economy is expected to calm down over the next few months, Kavcic said the intensity of competition around jobs in Canada could diminish. But with the country’s population continuing to age, retirements are almost certain to continue to climb.
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