Project Scheduling to Ease Labour Shortage?
Monday, January 14, 2013 @ 4:00 AM
Prince George, B.C.- For the past couple of years, there has been a great deal of talk about the looming labour shortage, brought on because of the number of baby boomers who will be retiring at a time when there are plans for the development of mega projects throughout the north of the B.C.
Michel Lamarre, Project Manager of the Kitimat Modernization Project for Rio Tinto Alcan, says he believes the full impact of the labour shortage could be eased if the companies involved with the major projects could work together to better schedule their projects. It could help groups of workers ease from one project to another, providing long term stability to workers as well as labour force security for the companies.
Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Development, Pat Bell, says this is the kind of thing the workforce roundtables have been trying to do especially with apprenticeships “and understand how you would take an apprentice and have them work on your project and the skills they pick up are transferable so they could go on to another job. Skills are not hugely dissimilar in the terms of the manufacturing and construction trades.” Bell understands most companies would not be willing to put their projects on hold , saying getting to market first is important “That being said, by understanding each others schedules, to be able to manipulate a project that levers up when people come off of one project on to another project, we’re well into the construction of the highway 37 transmission line and there is in excess of a 1,000 towers up in the region. That project will be coming to an end within a year and a half or so, some of the people will be coming off that project even within the next year, so those people will be available for new jobs and those skills transfer over into pipelines, so all those sorts of initiatives makes sense, but you need an over arching kind of agency that can monitor that, understand what it is, and put it together.”
But don’t expect major players to slow down or wait in the name of collaboration, “It’s a nice idea and I’ve heard it before” says Byng Giraud, the Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Imperial Metals “The reality is, projects get their financing when they get it, they get their permits when the get them and that’s when people want to move, you don’t want to wait around because its taken so long to get it. If we knew exactly when we were going to be approved for a project, maybe we could space things out. If we knew exactly when we would get financing, maybe we could space things out, but the reality is, we don’t. So when I get money and the approval to go ahead with a project, I want to go ahead and the notion I would wait around and face the risk of a change in commodity prices or a change in political regime, or some other risk, that’s not realistic.” He says the bottom line is, time is money. He says companies try to work around each other, “We are aware of what others are doing, but it’s a nice healthy competition.” He says it sounds to him like a “planned economy”.
Doug Smith is the General Manger of Xstrata Coal Canada and says holding up a project to wait for others could cost tens of millions of dollars “Once you’re ready to go, you’re just not going to stop and wait.” He says it is more likely that “coincidentally projects come in at different times. For instance Rio Tinto Alcan’s project could wrap up and coincidentally there is another major project that is ready to go, but that is coincidence.”
Comments
How about getting HR depts. to stop passing up qualified applicants so they can manufacture a labour shortage and hire from China? Anybody ever ask to see how many qualified applicants applied and never got called back? Happens all the time. HR is the biggest employment disaster to ever hit this country. If you work in HR, you are scum. Ask any foreman – TONS of resumes, but HR will NOT hire them.
you know what money talks, bull$hit walks. If you have a major project ready to go. Be the first one out of the gate. If Rio Tinto is busy in Kitimat, don’t be afraid to bring one out in Ft St John or Quesnel. Give yourself a 150 mile radius.
The contractor allows to get the men in, if it comes out of the okanagon, thats where we draw out of.
A lot of people that brings in the resume’s are just dishwashers of shelf stuffers looking to do construction work. They figure anyone can do labourer work, unfortunately, it is pure physical labor, 8hrs a day, 5-6 days a week. We’re not looking for gym rats. The type of men/women that is needed is the ones that can give it all day long and no complaints about it. Its not just muscles, but people that has endurance, and stamina to go the distance. No use having a person that can push 400 lb load of concrete in a wheelbarrow three times, and needs a break. They need to be able to do at least 30 loads before they stop laughing about it.
This idea will never get off the ground just for the reason given by Xtrata Coal, and Imperial Metals.
Once the Rio Tinto Poject is complete those people working on the project will have to go elsewhere to find employment. If the LNG Plants actually materialize after the next eletion then there will be some work in Kitimat and Prince Rupert. Same thing applies to those who are presently working on the transmission lines on Highway 37.
There should be some new employment on Highway 37 if the projected mines in that area go forward. Which will absorb some of the workers.
The long term plan for Rio Tinto Alcan is to reduce its manning by some 400 permanent jobs after the new plant is up and running, so these people should also be available for work.
All these projects will be starting and finishing at different times, and we will just have to deal with it the best we can over a period of time.
One thing is certain. There will be a huge shortage of workers in Canada in the next 50 years, mainly in the outlying areas, where these projects are taking place.
Cities like Prince George who have no new industry on the books, stands to lose many people to these other areas.
I see Terrace as being the Hub of the future for the Kitimat, Pr Rupert, Highway 37 area, with a smaller Hub and distribution area around Vanderhoof or Burns Lake. In fact I wouldnt be surprised to see a huge uplift in retail and commercial business in the Vanderhoof area, this would service all the area West of Vanderhoof, Endako, Ft Fraser, Fraser Lake, Ft St James, etc; This would mean that people from the West of Prince George would not need to come to Prince George for these services. Much like what happened in Quesnel. Quesnel now has a Candadian Tire, Walmart, Super Store, Save on, Staples, Lordco, and of course their own Casino so they have no need to come to Prince George.
Interesting times ahead. Lots of jobs and no workers.,
Great post, He Spoke. The labour shortage is real. There are lots of jobs, IF you’re qualified, and IF you’re willing to move… which many aren’t. Just because you have a resume, doesn’t mean you’re qualified.
Vanderhoof is nowhere near the size of Quesnel. Remember, Quesnel had a Walmart before PG.
If Canadian Tire is still into building small stores, which I doubt, then it might work in Vanderhoof in an old converted building.
Casino in Vanderhoof? ….. LOL … it would die. There is one in Quesnel. It survives. There was one in Wells. Stupid idea. Some people actually invested $50,000 plus into that venture.
In order for these places to survive one needs specific population sizes.
The McDonalds in Jasper could not even survive.
I agree though, Vanderhoof will likely get a significant improvement in service retail over the next decade.
And then they will die if projections are right unless those areas have sustainable jobs through some other projects.
Try addiction recovery centres. They could have 5 or so different approaches in town. Choose your preference.
I posted this a few days ago under a similar topic of labour shortage. It shows a major inconsistency with waht is being said now .. and has been said localy all along … and what was projected by the government in 2010 and is still on their jobs web site.
Posted by: gus on January 10 2013 5:19 PM
I fail to understand what all the hype around PG is about. WorkBC has projections out for the labour market from 2010 to 2020.
The short summary is this: âFor all of B.C., the expected economic growth by 2020 will average 1.4 per cent per year. Only two regions promise to top that rate: the Lower Mainland/Southwest and the Northeast. The Caribooâs projected rate is the lowest at .05 per cent per year.â
In case some people do not know, PG and Quesnel are the dominant cities in the Cariboo region.
I noticed that some people have problems with numbers. So what do those numbers mean? Well, if we accept 2010 as the base year and say that the economy in each location starts off that year with a base number of 100. In that case, the economy in BC, on average, will have increased to 114.9. At the same time, the economy in the Cariboo will have gone from a base of 100 to a whopping 100.5. In other words, the average economy in the province will have increased 30 times more than in the Cariboo. To put it more clearly, we are currently on a projected path to a have not part of the province.
Now, lest we get this wrong. This is on a Government of BC web site.
http://www.workbc.ca/Statistics/Labour-Market/Pages/Regional-Labour-Market-Projections.aspx
Click on the right of this page to get the regional detailed reports http://www.workbc.ca/Statistics/Labour-Market/Pages/Labour-Market.aspx
When you look at the Cariboo, page 3 will have the projected job openings due to economic growth and due to replacement of retiring workers. So, combined there were 7,500 or so in 2010; by 2012 that was projected to drop to 3,750; by 2015 to 2,500 at which it is projected to level off to pure replacement and pick up some growth at 2020.
So, I ask myself, what on earth are these people talking about at this conference? Can someone please reconcile the two pictures of our destiny? Are we on some alien planet from our government and industry and education insitutes?
As far as the Terrace, Kitimat, Prince Rupert triangle goes. Their population has dropped significantly in the last 20+ years.
The current new interest in that area may bring the population back up to previous levels. However, unless significant manufacturing is built up which is sustainable for more than 10 or 20 years, it will be lucky to maintain the rise in population due to the project development phase.
A much more fundamental change would have to happen and it would likely happen in the Terrace-Kitimat corridor since it has the land base needed for developmet.
Sorry, the hyperlinkable address did not copy across from the previous post.
http://www.workbc.ca/Statistics/Labour-Market/Pages/Regional-Labour-Market-Projections.aspx
Click on the right of this page to get the regional detailed reports http://www.workbc.ca/Statistics/Labour-Market/Pages/Labour-Market.aspx
i always thought prince george was more central/north BC rather than cariboo which is clearly quesnel stats. When people talk about the cariboo/chilcotin they speak prominently about quesnel and williams lake, no mention of pg in that region. Just look at the hunting/fishing regs to see what area pg is considered in.
My point is that if Vanderhoof developed as a major retail distribution area, it would catch all the business from Ft St James, Fraser Lake, Burns lake, and some points West. This would eliminate the need for these people to drive to Prince George for major shopping, especially in the winter time. Total population in this area would be approx 10,000 people. Vanderhoof already has a viable airport and is making improvements on it. In addition they are in the process of building a new swimming pool, so some things are already in progress.
Terrace on the other hand is a natural retail and distribution point for Kitimat, Pr Rupert, Smithers, Houston, Telkwa, and would service a population area of approx 45000 people.
Quesnel as it now stands has a population of 10,007 throw in Williams Lake 10,832 and you have 21000 for the Cariboo Chilcoutin area.
The beauty of the Vanderhoof option is that it is positioned to catch all the business from the West and eliminate the need to go to Prince George. Set up a small casino like they have in Williams Lake, and Walla, you have it.
Prince George has basically priced themselves out of the market when it comes to cost of land, services, gas/diesel/cars/retail, hotel, and restaurant prices. So unless they **smarten** up they could be on the verge of losing business.
The argument that Prince George uses to have business locate here rather than the greater Vancouver, Southern Okanogan area, is the same argument that can be used to entice business to locate West of Prince George.
Whats good for the Goose is good for the Gander.
“The argument that Prince George uses to have business locate here rather than the greater Vancouver, Southern Okanogan area, is the same argument that can be used to entice business to locate West of Prince George”
The thing you are forgetting is that there are more people living in PG than there are for the entire Hwy 16 corridor West of PG. Population is what drives businesses to locate.
When it comes to Vanderhoof, they simply don’t have the population base to sustain the type of development you are talking about even if every one of those cities West of them shopped there. Furthermore, you also have to assume that those same cities aren’t already going to PG for those needs because if they are, no business in their right mind would setup ANOTHER location if they can already service those people with an existing location in PG.
I can’t see any scenario where Vanderhoof becomes a major service hub, taking that business away from PG.
NMG: “Population is what drives businesses to locate.”
Bingo!
“I can’t see any scenario where Vanderhoof becomes a major service hub, taking that business away from PG.”
I have to agree.
Baloney. The only shortage is a common sense shortage. Agreed, having a resume does not mean you are qualified. But I never said that. Having a resume that says you ARE qualified and having the qualifications to back that up DOES in fact mean you are qualified. Not only that, calling this individual to find out if they have the “right stuff” is a no-brainer at that point since not doing so is at best negligent and at worst full-on discrimination. And currently in this country we have a slew of HR departments who refuse to hire until production nearly ceases, driving front-line managers banannas.
Bust out your resume pile and get on the phone, JBelt. Guaranteed you got qualified workers who will move. Anybody who says otherwise is full of it. 90 day probations are there to weed out the losers. When you’re down in hockey and nothing is working – you start throwing everything on the net. You never know where your diamond in the rough will show up. Just because you aren’t flooded with grizzled industry vets humping your leg to work for you does not a shortage make. Check the calendar – it says 2013, bud.
I once talked to an HR person at one of the mills. He gets so many resumes that there are not enough hours in the day to go through them so he weeds them out by appearance before he even gets started. Cheaply or crookedly photocopied? – GARBAGE
handwritten? – GARBAGE
Too busy and cramped? GARBAGE
goofy or fancy font? – GARBAGE
Vague objective line? – GARBAGE
1000 resumes will be whittled down to 50 before they even look at your qualifications…
Yup, it’s 2013. The labour market has changed since the 70’s. Normally, I agree with you gamblor, but you’re off in left field on this one.
HR departments do not drive hiring, nor can they ‘refuse to hire’. They are not the tail that wags the dog, not in my experience or observation.
I don’t have a resume pile to go through, but I do know people that have to look through them, and interceptor’s depiction is close.
Seems some people cannot make any logical assumptions.
As I had already pointed out. People South of Prince George ie; Quesnel and Williams Lake used to come to Prince George in droves, however over time Quesnel got a Walmart, Cdn Tire, New Save on, Cdn Superstore, Staples, Sandman, Lordco, etc; etc;. Plus they have their own Casino, and tourist industry.
Sooooooo. The people from Quesnel and South dont come here much any more.
The same can happen West of Prince George, especially in the Vanderhoof area. No one really wants to drive to Pr George every week-end (especially in winter) if they can avoid it. Keep in mind that coming to Prince George entails the higher cost of gas, the cost of the hotel room plus the **stupid** hotel tax, plus the higher prices for cars, trucks, etc;. So your not saving much coming to Pr George. With the addition to the Hospital in Burns Lake, the completion of the expansion at Endako Mines, the sawmills in Engen, Vanderhoof, Ft St James, Burns Lake, plus the huge farming community, the hunting and fishing, lakes, etc; they have all the amenities for expansion.
If Quesnel with a population of 10,000 can do it, the Greater Vanderhoof, Burns Lake, area with a population of 9367 can do it also.
Palopu is right about Vanderhoof. Its the diamond in the rough for Northern BC north of Kamloops IMO.
Vanderhoof has the most well balanced small town economy in the north with easy access to huge mines coming online, two of the most competitive saw mills in BC, huge sustainable farming community, one of the best proximity sites to pipeline construction, and almost no multi dwelling housing or major retail and service sector. I think Vanderhoof of all towns in the North has the greatest potential for sustainable growth that could become one of the most liveable cities in Northern BC.
Also Vanderhoof gets the most sunshine and the least amount of snow north of Quesnel west of the coast.
PG has huge problems… social problems, political deadbeat problems, high property tax problems, bad air problems, lack of quality affordable rental housing problems, and a closed economy for employment problem. These things are not easily overcome by spin from self congratulatory politicians and their ilk at IPG. The vast majority of these ‘mega project’ employees will not be calling PG home. PG at best will catch the coat tails of these projects to maintain what we already have.
As for resumes I found after I eliminated my education, past work experience other than current employment, and just stated what I expected out of a job and what skills I could bring to the specific job, then I can get at least a call back on most jobs I choose to apply for. If they need to know more they can always call to find out. Problem is most jobs these days are not what they advertise.
Its funny when you look at a lot of labour type jobs in pg that are union and pay a decent wage, such as the city, cnc, school district, unbc, etc. I notice a substantial turnover in a lot of those areas because I work with some of them, but yet you never see those jobs advertised in any of the standard places you would look for jobs. Nepotism is a far more successful means of securing employment around here instead of resumes it seems.
NMG: “Population is what drives businesses to locate.”
Agreed. The availability of the demographics a particular business needs to survive i.e. customer base spending money at their place of business, is also paramount.
This also includes a study of average incomes in a particular community overall, over a certain length of time. Small and medium sized businesses, whether retail or service, both require a solid customer base, which means employed people with disposable income. Period. Of course, there are other things that will make or break a decision to set up shop such as competition and market saturation.
Long term tax breaks and business hand outs are secondary and not even a thought if the aforementioned are not here. These breaks are usually saved for vote buying, IMO. Further, “giving it away” to prospective business does more harm that good as it depicts the “desperation” one would expect with our crappy reputation.
Also, agree 100% that the biggest drawback of PG is our crappy reputation. The “crime ridden city of PG” with bad air, et al prohibits needed professionals from moving here. Hey, believe it or not, folks would rather pay triple house prices to live in a better climate with all the amenities incl. a family doctor and better healthcare overall, university with a heck of a lot more diversity in offerings etc.
With regards to the availability of work, what worked in my day appears to still work today for a young fellow looking for work…get your work boots and carharts on and pound the pavement first thing in the morning, every morning till someone takes a chance. Learn the names of the owners and managers and keep going back.
which is fine when your in your 20’s – not so much in your 50’s.
This is a small town and much like it does not take long for a crappy employee’s rep to proceed them – they all talk about who is best to work for (safety record, pay, respect) and who is not. The crappy employers have a revolving door and wonder why.
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