“All for one, one for all,” 17 Laval manufacturers have made it their slogan to counter the scarcity of workforce.
Last winter, those manufacturers, members of the Prox-industriel community of interest, were gathering together to create a Web platform intended for job seekers.
“It’s a promising project for manufacturers working together in the search for concrete solutions to meet the challenges of labour shortages, and it’s a facilitating platform for job seekers as well,” said on its launch on February 2, Marie-Christine Piedboeuf, Prox-industriel’s president of the board of directors and business process expert at Pelican International.
Non-Specialized Jobs
An application submitted on the www.metiersindustrielslaval.ca website is automatically reported to the 17 partner companies.
However, before submitting it, the applicant is invited to first select at least one of the four proposed job categories (production, maintenance, warehouse and transport), which detail the types of non-specialized jobs available, and then tick the desired work shift(s).
100 CVs for a Hiring
This pilot project has emerged from discussions from the very active HR (human resources) self-help group within Prox-industrel, of which Rose-Marie Di Rosa, president of Comptoirs Lamnex, is a member.
“We’re having a lot, but a lot of trouble to recruit,” she explained in an interview with the Courrier Laval. “We’re doing business with agencies that aren’t necessarily able to bring us people.”
Already in 2019, a scarcity of labour weighed on the industry, as 1,450 vacancies had been registered within some 260 manufacturers in Laval’s region.
The pandemic has exacerbated the problem. “Today, in order to recruit someone, we need to receive 100 CVs (curriculum vitae),” Di Rosa said.
Promote Jobs
HR Vice-President of the Geloso Group, producer and distributor of alcoholic products which employs some 400 workers, Nancy Salloum can also testify on that difficulty in recruiting, having to deal with a 10 per cent vacancy rate.
For her, that initiative led by Prox-industriel serves above all to promote industrial jobs. “The main goal is to promote non-specialized jobs,” Salloum said, who is also part of the HR committee of that community of interest.
In fact, the digital platform is based on a promotional campaign shared on social networks, including Facebook, where workers testify to the passion they have for their job.
Shared Workforce
In order to help staff retention, Prox-industriel has developed an industrial workforce sharing project, underlines its President and CEO, Chantal Provost.
Fully funded by Services Québec, that collaborative measure ensures employees a continuous work throughout the year, and this, regardless of production lines that could be slowing down due to material supply delays, for example.
“It allows candidates to work for two companies if they want,” Provost said, while emphasizing the synergy generated by the network for the benefit of its members.
A spin-off of the Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Laval (CCIL) created in 2018, Prox-Industriel brings together 125 of the some 900 manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers scattered throughout Laval territory.
translated by Alec Brideau
