City of Hamilton struggles to fill student summer jobs
The city mowed more than 24,000 acres of grass in Hamilton last year. And summer students played a big role in getting the job done.
These students really make a big difference for us," said Cynthia Graham, acting director of environmental services.
But these days, public works is having trouble drawing enough suitable candidates to fill 306 labour positions.
Graham says the city typically ends up hiring one person for every two applications received.
As of Wednesday, there were 515 - 317 new applicants and 198 returning workers - which is short of the 612 target.
Hoping to generate a larger pool of potential hires, Graham has extended the application deadline by a week to Feb. 5.
The jobs involve maintenance, grass-cutting and trimming at cemeteries and parks, or tending to floral traffic islands. There are also some waste-management positions.
A shortage of applications was definitely not the case" before the COVID-19 pandemic, Coun. Tom Jackson said during a budget session this week.
The City of Hamilton was the place to get a job and make money and get experience."
Recruitment for student jobs has been an issue for the past two summers, Craig Murdoch, acting general manager of public works, told councillors.
Up until COVID, it wasn't an issue," Murdoch said, pointing to the effect of a federal financial support program for students during the pandemic. Well, that meant that someone didn't try to find a job."
Another factor is pay, he added.
In January, Ontario's general minimum wage increased to $15 per hour from $14.35. For students under the age of 18 who work 28 hours a week or less, the hike went to $14.10 per hour from $13.50.
We're now at a level playing field," Murdoch said.
This year, the wage for the city's summer labour positions is $15 an hour.
So if you think about it," Murdoch said, some students may not be too happy about working in the heat, working in the rain, but they can make the same money if they work at a burger joint."
Recreation has also seen a drop in interest for summer positions in recent years, director Chris Herstek said. At one point, they'd receive as many as 600 applications. We're getting down to 200, 300 applications."
Teviah Moro is a reporter at The Spectator. tmoro@thespec.com