KAMLOOPS – The City of Kamloops knows it has a labour shortage coming, and work is underway to help local businesses meet the future demand for workers.
Venture Kamloops, the city’s economic development branch, received $117,000 in government funding for a 2015 labour market study that found 35,000 new jobs are expected to open in the region by 2025 and recommended creating a strategy to attract employees to take those jobs.
With another $96,000 in government funding, Venture Kamloops in partnership with Community Futures Thompson Country, will hire a consultant to develop that strategy through a Labour Market Partnership study called the Kamloops Labour Attraction Partnership.
The 2015 study found that the most in-demand jobs expected in the region are for qualified and experienced tradespeople (5,200 jobs), as well as workers in health care (2,500), hospitality and tourism (1,100), and administration, finance and clerical staff (4,300 jobs), while nearly half of all new hires between 2015 and 2025 will need some post-secondary education, whether through a trade certification, college education or a university degree.
To create the Labour Market Attraction strategy for Kamloops, a steering committee has been assembled. The initial phase of the project will see the committee consult with at least 100 local businesses before issuing a request for proposals.
The consultant with the successful proposal will then create a sector-specific report that covers at least five areas and provides businesses with strategies that will allow them to better direct their employee attraction resources and increase the number of people moving to Kamloops to join the workforce.
The members of the Labour Attraction Partnership Steering Committee are:
- Community Futures Thompson Country
- Human Resources Management Association Interior Chapter
- Kamloops Innovation Centre Society
- Open Door Group
- Thompson Rivers University Career Education Department
- British Columbia Lottery Corporation
- Kamloops Chamber of Commerce
- Thompson Rivers University Healthy and Productive Workforce
The final report of the project is expected to be complete in June 2017.