Alberta workers earn the highest incomes in Canada and that’s putting pressure on the province’s small- and mid-sized business owners and operators.
ATB Financial’s second quarter Business Beat Survey has revealed that Alberta business owners are struggling to meet the salary expectations of potential and current employees.
Sixty-seven percent of small- and mid-sized businesses say finding and retaining experienced or skilled labour is an issue. Among those businesses, 37% say they can’t meet the salary demands of workers.
“Whether they are looking for skilled journeymen, technical computer skills, equipment operators—the challenge is widespread across industries and throughout the province,” says Wellington Holbrook, ATB’s executive vice-president, business and agriculture. “And once business owners find employees who fit their needs, things like salary expectations make it difficult to hang onto them.”
According to the survey, other challenges with finding experienced labour include:
- Shortage of skilled labour
- Cannot compete with competition
- People “do not want to work”
- Business located in a small community/ rural/ remote area
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