The Four County Labour Market Planning Board (FCLMPB) has released new reports on the region's labour market, keying in on a few specific areas.
Executive Director Dana Soucie says the reports all fall under the broader Local Labour Market Plan, which is mandated for all labour market boards annually. Soucie says within that, the organization is looking at the trends and patterns that are emerging for the region's workforce year-to-year.
The annual report prompted three new reports looking at very specific labour areas.
"Navigating the Future of Care, so looking at our healthcare sector and different aspects there. Youth on the Move-Examining the Why, those two reports are released. Our final report, which will be out later this month, is called Closing Workforce Gaps-Leveraging Newcomer Talent," Soucie shared.
One of the first reports, Youth on the Move-Examining the Why, looks at a number of different factors and characteristics of the job market that youth look at when they make their decision to stay in the region or leave. That includes what youth need to stay here and fill in-demand jobs.
"The youth want to stay here. So, opening up those pathways for them to stay here and have meaningful careers and contribute to our workforce is extremely important for us, as we're a very quickly aging population, as well," Soucie pointed out.
Examining programs being offered in the region, including co-op opportunities, and looking at ways to incorporate the skills that youth are acquiring at school to fit employment needs in our region are key parts of the report, Soucie noted.
The next report, Navigating the Future of Care, examines the challenges facing the workforce in our local healthcare sector. Soucie says the report showed a two-fold challenge unique to our region that is affecting the healthcare workforce here in comparison to other parts of the province.
"Our healthcare sector has a very rapidly aging population combined with a very rapidly aging workforce. You have an increase in services, and an increased need in replacement for the positions that we have in healthcare," she added.
Those two reports have already been released and can be viewed, alongside all the other research that the FCLMPB does, at planningboard.ca/reports.
The final one, called Closing Workforce Gaps-Leveraging Newcomer Talent, will come out soon, and it focuses on immigration and our dependency on temporary foreign workers across numerous industries, as well as international students.
"There are other areas that are facing the same challenge, but it is a unique challenge to our region, based on our unemployment rates, based on other trends. Looking at workforce, it's very complicated," Soucie said.
She notes that next year, they'll be delving into some industry specific looks regarding immigration.
"Next year's projects are listed in our Local Labour Market Plan, and will focus on agriculture, and there could be the potential of some tourism aspect in that, as well. We won't know until we start researching," Soucie concluded.
Soucie encouraged everyone to read the reports and get a better understanding of the unique issues that our region faces regarding workforce.
