Employers must adopt remote work, reduce barriers to counter labour shortage: HR specialist

As the COVID-19 pandemic impacts how some workplaces operate, a Halifax human resources specialist thinks employers will have to adapt to the situation to handle increasing labour shortages across Canada.

Statistics Canada's latest job vacancy data shows the labour shortage is widespread across the country in several sectors. At the top is the accommodation and food services industry at 12.7 per cent.

“Look at all the pundits and experts, no one thinks this is going to go away soon,” Gerald Walsh, an HR specialist at Halifax's Gerald Walsh Associates, said. “The passage of time just won't fix this problem, this shortage of labour.

“Employers are going to have to get a lot more innovative in attracting workers. Everyone falls toward money or financial incentives.”

He told NEWS 95.7 that there are likely four reasons contributing to the current labour shortage: many people are retiring early, some are choosing to lie low by not applying for new jobs due to general uncertainty, more people are searching for purpose-driven jobs rather than high-paying office jobs and others are leaving unstable sectors such as the hospitality industry.

A recent survey by Restaurants Canada shows that 80 per cent of food service operators were finding it difficult to hire kitchen staff and 67 per cent were having trouble filling serving, bartending and hosting positions.

While hiring and staff retention levels were issues in the hospitality industry before the pandemic, added safety tasks — such as policing gathering limits and ensuring customers properly wear masks — have affected these customer-based positions.

Moreover, low pay, difficult working conditions, a lack of benefits and a lack of long-term stability takes from the desirability of these jobs.

While some employers are able to tempt employees to return to their positions with pay increases, bonuses and health benefits, others can't do so since they're struggling financially.

Other industries are also seeing major changes due to the pandemic.

In terms of industries that mostly or entirely went remote once the pandemic hit, Walsh said employers that insist on having their employees return to the office will have a more difficult time attracting labour.

A large part of that is because a lot of people have gotten used to working remotely and they enjoy the convenience.

“Also, if you're saying, 'Yes, you have to be here in the workplace,' when the employees know they really don't have to be to get their work done,” he said, “you're sort of conveying a message that, 'We don't trust you to work on your own.'”

A couple of years ago, nearly no companies had remote work policies. But now, more employers will have to establish some guidelines to allow working remotely.

“Employers have to get much more open to this idea of permitting remote work if it works for them,” he said. “That trend is there.”

Still, Walsh said many managers aren't used to managing remote workforces. For some, it's more comfortable to manage their entire team while they're in the same office.

“Since that is not going to be the case, there's a lot of additional training of those managers to manage workers remotely and to reset expectations around performance,” he said.

Finally, Walsh said employers who are hiring must do their best to reduce the amount of friction that can be created during the process.

For instance, some employers may add to their job listing that they're seeking an employee who has at least five years of experience, but that's often just an arbitrary number.

“We're encouraging employers to [not] throw up barriers like that so [they] can attract workers,” he said. “Often marginalized workers, too, who may have the competencies but only three-and-a-half years of experience. Lower the frictions to have people apply for jobs in your organizations.”