Vital Signs: Skilled workers key to Hamilton’s economic recovery
The pandemic's dramatic" toll on the workforce - felt disproportionately among women, youth, and racialized people - could be improved by a push to train more skilled workers, local employment groups say.
So far, the recovery across sectors has been uneven, with the number of jobs in finance, real estate, science and manufacturing surpassing pre-pandemic levels, the Hamilton Community Foundation's latest Vital Signs report notes.
Meanwhile, other sectors of the economy, such as food services, retail, tourism, culture and recreation, continue to be affected by restrictions or workplace closures.
As of February, Hamilton's unemployment rate had stabilized at seven per cent after peaking at 12.4 per cent in July 2020. But that is still significantly higher than the 4.3 per cent it was before COVID hit, according to Statistics Canada data cited in the report.
Employment organizations in Hamilton and the province say an emphasis on skilled trades could be an answer to local job pressures.
Overall, we are seeing that there has been a drastic change in what employers are also looking for," said Khadija Hamidu, the executive director at Workforce Planning Hamilton - that is, mechanics, carpenters, automation technicians, drivers and other skilled labourers.
A local labour market report by the organization found that skilled trades are the top-growing occupations in the city in 2020, with middle management jobs in retail and customer service, and technical jobs in art, culture, recreation and sport, on the decline.
The organization has been engaging small- to medium-sized employers in the community to address this gap.
We are seeing that there is a huge increase of hard-to-fill jobs," Hamidu said, pointing to recent announcements by the province to fund training initiatives as a step in the right direction. These include projects that target underprivileged youth for construction work in Hamilton, as well as a sustainable infrastructure program at McMaster University that helps construction professionals upgrade their skills.
Young people have been particularly hard hit by pandemic job losses, with a 13.5 per cent unemployment rate as of April among workers 15 to 24 years old, according to a recent analysis by the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton.
Skills Ontario, a non-profit organization that runs skills competitions and educational initiatives, is focused on this demographic as the average age of skilled trade workers in the province climbs to the late 50s, said CEO Ian Howcroft.
The pandemic has demonstrated more clearly that these are crucial, important jobs that we all depend on, that are vitally important to our economic health, but also our physical health," Howcroft said.
He said recent discussions with leaders in the restaurant industry, for example, show some sectors are bracing for the possibility of skilled labour shortages as businesses reopen.
The city's economic development department received survey responses from more than 1,500 businesses in January and February, just before Hamilton was about to loosen restrictions in the wake of the pandemic's second wave. At that time, businesses reported 8,000 job losses - or nearly 15 per cent of 54,000 total jobs - with a quarter of respondents claiming revenue losses of more than 50 per cent compared to before COVID.
Nicole Delottinville and Radenka Lescesen, employment co-ordinators at PATH Employment Services in Hamilton, said skilled work is in high demand by the companies with which they work to help people with disabilities find jobs. Both advise job hunters to think outside the box, and see how their skills could apply in different roles.
We just want to tell the job seekers out there that if they're really looking for a job, don't despair, there are jobs available," Lescesen said.
Vjosa Isai is a reporter at The Spectator covering Hamilton-based business. Reach her via email: visai@thespec.com.