As Autumn squarely sets in, labour recovery continues to be at the top of the agenda for many.
As the BC Tourism and Hospitality Employment Tracker data showed, August and September 2022, were significant, in that employment in our industry surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels with 345, 000 employed in the industry, a jump of more than 17,000 from pre-COVID levels. Unfortunately, recovery was not evenly divided across the province nor amongst the sectors that make up the tourism and hospitality industry., with some faring better than others. Another interesting trend to note is that full time employment is one the rise, another encouraging data point. If you want to learn more, explore our Employment Tracker.
As we continue to transition away from crisis mode back to business as usual, an array of workforce recovery activities pick up speed..
Last month, many go2HR staff participated in the Tourism Labour Market Forum, a national event hosted by our partners, Tourism HR Canada. It was invaluable to be able to connect to colleagues face to face. We were able to better understand what others are doing and gain more intelligence about different approaches. All session presentations can be found at Labour Market Forum – Tourism HR Canada.
I also participated in the inaugural meeting of the Pan-Canadian Tourism Workforce Recovery & Growth Task Force, also led by Tourism HR Canada. It’s humbling being part of this talented group tasked with developing a framework for recovery that address both short and long term systemic and structural issues facing the industry. It will be important to us to leverage and benefit from as much can from these national efforts.
After spending some time in Ottawa, there are a couple of observations that I’d like to share:
- BC and go2HR are very unique in our approach and offerings to support employers . We have a unique combination approach of HR, health & safety training and research and strategy. Others seemed to be primarily focused on training, given the state of the industry and workforce. We had lots of interest in our Raise the HR Bar regional consultant network.
- BC is one of the few provinces that has a coordinated effort on our labour recovery strategy.
- Widespread agreement that cooperation, collaboration and coordination are the guiding principles, but this is often easier said than done. I am pleased with the engagement we’ve had with industry and our working groups, and look forward to deepening that engagement as we move forward.
Stay Safe,
Krista
