The executive director of the Four County Labour Market Planning Board says the goal of the surveys they are currently circulating among employers in Grey, Bruce, Huron and Perth, is to create a comparison over the last four years relating to the availability of employees.
Gemma Mendez-Smith said the evidence is clear that there are more jobs available than there are people to fill them. But she said she's hoping this year's survey will help them determine if they are making progress in getting the message out from employers to employees so they can build their skills and meet the requirements of employers.
Mendez-Smith also said there are some formidable obstacles for people coming into the four-county area to accept minimum wage or entry-level jobs. Two of the biggest are transportation and housing.
In most areas, there is no public transportation and there is a serious gap between the housing that is available and the housing someone with an entry level job can afford.
Gemma Mendez-Smith, Executive Director of Four County Labour Market Planning Board (photo by Bob Montgomery)
Also, Mendez-Smith said a wage increase is not always an incentive.
"Conversations across the board will need to happen and of course a raise in a wage offers a good incentive to our workforce," she said. "However, that was not the number one thing that came out in our employee's survey when we asked about being engaged in the work force and what keeps you there."
She said their research shows if people are not happy working where they are, for any number of reasons, money won't keep them there.
She said it's going to take a combination of things and some compromises to attract workers to the four counties and encourage them to stay here, but she hopes they'll get some clearer guidelines from the survey.
The deadline for employers to fill out the survey is January 31.
