About Staffing : The Ripple EffectWhat a crazy couple of weeks we've had. Barack Obama is elected President. More big name companies claim bankruptcy. The price of oil plummets. The Canadian unemployment rate jumps by one point. |
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The Canadian unemployment rate, even with the slight jump, is still really low and Alberta’s is one of the lowest in the country. A perfect unemployment rate means there are enough jobs for people looking for work. The perfect balance should sit at around 5 percent. We are slightly over that number in Canada at 6.2 percent. Alberta is sitting at 3.7 percent. Statistically that means Alberta has more jobs than job seekers.
This doesn’t mean that perfect candidates fall from the sky here in Wild Rose Country. Some employers I have been speaking with are assuming that they will have tons of applicants for every position they have open, but unless our rate doubles, they will still have to work very hard to attract more candidates.
Also, because we are finally stabilizing our wage levels and types of jobs, many employees are happy where they are working now, how much they make, and their job environments. This means they are staying where they are.
It took 20 years for Alberta to get into this position of very little choice of great candidates, and giving the power to the employees. It didn’t happen overnight, but it feels like it. Just like it feels like Obama rose to power overnight, it really took him more than 18 months of campaigning to get there.
Alberta businesses were holding off of hiring and expanding while they waited for the election to be over. We can move forward now. Companies don't go bankrupt overnight. It takes months and sometimes years to be pushed into the hole. It may appear that companies are folding in the blink of an eye, but in most cases have been fighting bankruptcy for longer that we think.
Now that Obama has won south of the border it’s time for businesses across the continent to move on, move forward and get busy despite how they feel about who won. Businesses need to focus on making good choices to help employers hire and grow. The unemployment rate is worth watching, but we have a very long wait to see an actual effect on the Canadian economy. Nothing is going to happen very fast with Canada’s rate being as low as it is. Now if that rate goes to 13% or higher, I will begin to worry.
In Alberta, most businesses are pretty secure. We still have tons of job openings in most industries and we will always have natural resources to support our economy. Yes, crazy times are upon us with so much news going on in the world, but our economic conditions are stable here in Alberta. I think we'll be okay for a long time coming.
-- Sharlene Massie is the C.E.O. of About Staffing Ltd., a dynamic personnel agency specializing in direct-hire and temporary placements. Questions for Sharlene? Visit the About Staffing website at (www.aboutstaffing.com), and click on the link under the Sun logo. This article may be reproduced or transmitted if done so in its entirety, including this copyright line: Copyright 2008, by About Staffing Ltd., all rights reserved.
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