Alberta to face shortage of workers

Canada, 11th June: With jobless rate in Alberta falling to lowest in two levels, this Canadian province is already experiencing highest growth rate for creation of new jobs in Canada over the last one year.

As per the report by Statistics Canada, the rate of joblessness in Alberta has gone down from 5.9 percent in April to 5.4 percent this month.

Job rate up in Alberta—In the period of last one year, employment went up by 8,500 in Alberta. This means a growth of 2.8 percent registering the fastest rate of growth of jobs in Canada, findings of the Labor Force Survey for June this year states.

Calgary CMA created a total of 1,500 new jobs over the previous month while employment went by 2.7 percent (19,200 jobs) in Calgary, reveals Statistics Canada. Rate of joblessness went down from 5.9 percent this April to 5.7 percent in May this year in Calgary census metropolitan region.

Severe shortage of required workers in Calgary—Calgary is going to face an acute shortage of workers in the coming times. Workforce in Calgary is already in short supply in several sectors including hospitality and transportation.

Speaking about the developments in Calgary jobs, Alberta’s Minister of Employment and Immigration, Thomas Lukaszuk, stated that this Canadian province is facing acute shortage of workers. Firms in Calgary are not finding workers with required skill sets, he asserted.

Sectors including hospitality and transportation are not finding workers at competitive prices, he asserts. And the problem is only going to worse in the times to come, Lukaszuk maintains. He also asserted that the shortage of workers is going to extend even to Western Canada for several coming years.

Big exodus of workers--Meanwhile, several economists say Alberta’s economy will be the leader of Canada in coming years. There will be a huge exodus of workforce as baby boomers reach retirement age. And the fact that population growth rate in Calgary is also low, so this will trigger shortage of workers along with those having requisite experience. So, almost all sectors in Calgary will experience big demand for workers.

Jobs are available in Calgary, especially in the services sector and firms are enthusiastic about hiring people with required skills and experience, states 33 year-old Danica Lelliott, a server at Wurst Restaurant and Beer Hall. Rate of joblessness in Calgary has been 7.6 percent in 2010.