Labourers Needed Too...

Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:56 AM

The Chair of the Northern B.C. Construction Association, John Cunningham, says it's fine and dandy to attract highly-skilled professionals like engineers and accountants into the Prince George region, but he needs labourers.

Speaking out during a Chamber of Commerce gathering to discuss a strategic plan for attracting skilled immigrants to the city (see earlier story), Cunningham says at Columbia Bitulithic, he needs operators, labourers, plumbers and welders. And, he says, despite offering a good wage in the neighbourhood of $65,000.00 for six or seven months work, he's losing people to places like Fort McMurray, Alberta where there are signing bonuses and salaries topping $150,000.00 per year.

Cunningham says more needs to be done to address the actual "labour" shortage. He says the federal government isn't helping the situation, setting immigration standards so high that the average worker can't get into the country.

Cunningham points to the boom in the mining industry as another looming pressure, saying while the new mines will need a few skilled professionals like accountants, they're mainly going to need those who can "come out to work with their lunchboxes."

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Posted on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 10:56 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: whyknot on January 24 2006 1:18 PM

Nice to see someone in a position of knowing being able to tell it like it is.

Posted by: SpeakingOut on January 24 2006 1:52 PM

J. Cunningham is looking for labourers and operators, I know of many young people who have recently graduated from high school and they are looking for jobs. They already live here! There parents are FROM here! Whassup??

Posted by: fedup on January 24 2006 4:22 PM

If we have an unemployment rate of 6% to 7% why can't these people fill the spaces, something doesn't add up here?I wonder if some of these companys aren't just trying to get cheap labour.

Posted by: Chadermando on January 24 2006 5:48 PM

I have a university degree and drive a truck for a living. All the jobs I apply for I'm told I have the education background, but don't have the work experience they are looking for. In the rare case were work experience is not the requirement the pay is not what a person can live off of.

The biggest reason why young people have left this region over the last ten years is due to a lack of work opportunities.

I don't buy the shortage of skilled labour cry from those looking to exploit cheep labour from foreign countries.

Posted by: whyknot on January 24 2006 7:12 PM

Fed up. Do you realize that the basement ie bottom on the Unemployment rates is about 4%. In other words, we will always have about that percentage of unemployed, always. Look at the rate in Alberta, just over 4%. Given that, we are running pretty close to full employment, thus the lack of supply of qualified workers in every sector. Watch wages in the non-union service sectors rise over the next few years. Supply and demand.
Are you aware that Timmies in Alta. is looking for people to make sandwiches in the evening for $12.00?

Posted by: fedup on January 25 2006 3:46 PM

Whyknot this is not acceptable to me if we have unemployment and a lack of employes then its time to cut off welfare and EI I guess.