May 19, 2008

Labour Recruitment

Merit Contractors Association of Alberta looks eastward for construction workers

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

The open-shop construction industry in Alberta has launched a new initiative in Ontario to recruit much-needed skilled workers.

Merit Contractors Association of Alberta organized and sponsored a two-day job fair in southern Ontario on May 11 and 12 to help open shop construction companies recruit skilled trades people.

Hundreds of prospective employees attended the job fair in London for the chance to land a job with one of 11 construction companies taking part in the recruiting endeavour.

The firms are seeking a range of potential employees, including youth, skilled and entry-level labour, early and mid-career managers, and project managers.

“Given the weekend it was (Mother’s Day), I believe we had a great turnout. We were looking for senior supervisors, project managers and skilled trades people, such as carpenters,” said Mary McGuinness, independent business consultant with Dowland Contracting Ltd.

“Overall about 700 people came through and we picked up about 150 to 200 resumes from people who came from all over south western Ontario.”

McGuinness will now have to go through all the resumes in detail to see if people have the skills they are looking for.

She estimated that about 15 per cent will be shortlisted for a follow up phone call.

“We were looking for the whole gamut of trades people, as well as project managers and coordinators. We really need help in our office and hope to see some project managers come our way,” said Gerald Clark, manager of human resources with Clark builders Inc.

“We had about 70 people attend our booth and already have one candidate that is flying out to see senior staff on May 14.”

Clark also has to review the resumes he received at the job fair and to plan the best course of action.

“Some other superintendents will be targeted. I will talk to other senior managers to see who will be interviewed,” he said.

The job fair attracted a number of young people who were interested in starting a career in construction.

“A lot of youth approached us, which is good if you have the time to deal with them on a one-to-one basis and give advice about how to get into a trade and how to relocate,” said Clark. “It was also nice to find young people who want to continue their apprenticeship, but can’t find employers to sign them up. Those kinds of people have dried up in Alberta.”

The current decline in the Ontario manufacturing and automotive industry may have contributed to the turnout.

“We just found out today (May 13) that unemployment in London and the surrounding area increased this month to seven per cent from 6.5 per cent,” said McGuinness.

“People are a little fearful of what might happen in the manufacturing and automotive industry. A lot of people in the skilled trades were interested in opportunities out west.”

A Merit spokesman acknowledged that it may be difficult to recruit journeymen in Ontario, because the construction sector in the province is doing well.

“It is fairly busy in Ontario, but this may provide an opportunity, because there is a slow down in that part of the province,” said Bill Stewart, vice president of Merit Contractors Association Alberta.

One of the most important strategies used by Merit in this initiative was to narrow down the scope of the recruitment effort.

“This is strictly a Merit Contractors initiative,” said Stewart. “Our members said let’s take a look at holding a job fair in Ontario. After undertaking an analysis that looked at areas where there appeared to be high levels of unemployment in construction, we decided to go to London, Ontario.”

Another strategy used by Merit was to narrow down the scope of the recruitment effort.

“This is strictly a construction job fair that is being sponsored solely by our members. This is very targeted,” said Stewart.

A spokesman for one of the companies that attended the job fair agreed that the narrow focus provided employers with a better opportunity to meet the right type of candidates.

“The recruitment fair is targeted to construction itself. We are looking for journeyman glaziers, Autocad technicians, and project co-ordinators and managers,” said Tasha Dods, human resources representative with Alberta Glass Company Ltd.

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