Nearly 150,000 vacancies

Labor shortages continue to hurt Quebec’s economy, with many companies having to reject contracts or reduce their production. In Quebec, there are approximately 150,000 vacancies.

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Also read: Small and Medium Enterprises: Labor shortages are holding back economic recovery

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That number may continue to rise over the next few months, admits Joëlle Noreau, chief economist at Desjardins Group. why ? Especially because the workforce is getting older.

Under the current circumstances, would these people want to continue to expose themselves? There may be fewer volunteers, “she warns. The pandemic may also have led to accelerated retirements.”

In the fourth quarter of 2020, between October and December, the county had 148,460 vacancies, an increase of 21,730 over the same period in 2019.

Today, this situation affects many companies, such as the multinational company Bel, which cannot produce all of its Mini Babybel products on Quebec soil, or the Canam group that has to say no to contracts.

“It’s a huge challenge.” Marcel Dutil, president of the Kanam group, said this week regarding the acquisition of Supermall, “At the moment, we are refusing to work because we don’t have people.”

In recent weeks, when restaurant dining rooms opened, many entrepreneurs also publicly indicated that they were unable to hire a workforce to meet their needs.

According to a report by the Institute of Quebec (IDQ), the sectors in which the needs are of greatest concern are “health care and social assistance”.

“We can understand why. Resource depletion, sickness and increasing needs. These are three reasons why we need more people,” says M.^I Noro.

In 4^e According to IDQ report, hospital demand increased with an increase of 8,420 vacancies compared to 2019.

The wholesale and retail trade as well as the manufacturing sector recorded an increase in the number of vacancies.

For the first quarter of 2021, according to Statistics Canada, 19.5% of companies believed that a labor shortage would be a handicap. This percentage increased to 23% in manufacturing.

Hiring will continue to be a challenge for the next few months (during the opening of currently discontinued industries). We must not forget that this was also the case before the epidemic, “M.^I Noro.

In recent months, the government has allocated large sums to create new programs to help job seekers who have been affected by the epidemic to reorient their careers.

In a report, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business recently wrote that 67% of small and medium businesses here have labor problems, and 26% have had to turn down sales or contracts.