“We knew the labour shortage had a very negative impact on leaders of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs),” said by press release François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at the CFIB. “They have to work more hours, and their employees as well. They’re forced to refuse contracts and business opportunities.”

Vincent adds that those SMEs could have benefited from these sums to recover, grow and revitalize their regions. For him, the labour shortage issue is very bad news for SME leaders.

CFIB’s assessment is based on data from a survey conducted last March. The results relating to the losses suffered by SMEs were calculated using the average total income of a Quebec SME, published by Statistics Canada for the year 2020, by sector of activity. Let’s note that the analysis only takes into account SMEs with revenues between $30,000 and $5 million, in order to have a conservative assessment.

All Sectors

In a report published last April, the CFIB revealed how the labour shortage was affecting all industries, and leading to an explosion of job vacancies, thus putting a lot of pressure on SMEs.

Today’s research note also highlights the economic impacts by activity sector.

The construction and professional and administrative services sectors are registering losses of more than $2 billion. SMEs in the lodging/food and retail sectors are experiencing losses of nearly a billion. In the wholesale trade and transportation sectors, these losses total $1.2 billion.

Measures

The lack of employees is cited by 86 per cent of small business owners in Quebec as the most difficult issue to overcome in 2022, just behind the increase in costs, mentioned by 87 per cent of them.

“The Government of Quebec has adopted several measures to support companies seeking employees, and has just made changes so that all SMEs have access to tax credits to attract workers,” explained Vincent in the press release. “That said, more actions are possible and necessary to help those businesses, especially in terms of taxation, where Quebec is the country’s champion.” (A.B.)

L’article Nearly $11 Billion Lost Due to Labour Shortage est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

More than 60 per cent of SMEs owners are working more hours than they should in order to make up for the lack of staff, while almost 50 per cent indicate that their employees have done the same.

To support Quebec entrepreneurs, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) meets with them to inform them about the programs and measures available to them. With the arrival of the provincial elections, CFIB is unveiling its new labour shortage awareness tool.

“It’s important to share the expectations of SMEs to political decision-makers, but also to act directly with our members,” said François Vincent, vice-president for Quebec at the CFIB, in a press release. That’s what we’ve always done and what we’ll continue to do. During the pandemic, the CFIB was there to support entrepreneurs without benchmarks who were going to hit a wall. Today, we intend to help SMEs facing a lack of employees. We’ll put energy into informing entrepreneurs across Quebec. By the end of the year, we’ll be meeting 40,000 leaders of Quebec SMEs and we’re aiming for 100,000 next year.”

The first consequence of the labour shortage for entrepreneurs is usually that they have to work more hours. Therefore, they have very little time, if any, to find out about the programs and measures in place.

To improve the awareness and use of business programs, the CFIB is asking political parties to commit to creating a Minister of SMEs and Regulatory Relief. Creating a continuum in government’s action for businesses would help to improve communication and the use of services. Finally, more needs to be done in terms of regulatory relief to help entrepreneurs save time. (A.B.)

L’article The CFIB Helps Quebec’s SMEs est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.

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

L’article Manufacturers Create a Web Platform to Facilitate Hiring est apparu en premier sur Courrier Laval news.