Comments and Discussions from some Vanderhoof Employers

In a meeting of some Vanderhoof small business employees held Nov. 21, 2006 the following comment and discussions were recorded:

· Costs of recruiting high for employers, small employers have limited resources to spend on advertising positions and recruiting potential employees;

· Response to recruitment ads is higher when Vanderhoof is not mentioned but “Central BC location” or “BC Interior location is used”- appears people do not respond as much to small town ads. Solution could be to advertise away from bigger centers and in areas where the lifestyle is similar to Vanderhoof;

· There was comment that people in other rural and small town areas in Western Canada would be more likely to answer ads and relocate in Vanderhoof;

· Smaller business have limited resources to spend on recruiting:

· Bringing people long distances to visit the community during the interview process;

· Utilize the strength that people generally have strong ties to the community (37% of Vanderhoof residents surveyed have moved away and come back) likely for life style and community tie reasons;

· There was comment that there is a chance that committing resources to training workers, especially in a trade that takes a long time, can be costly and risky due to people leaving the community. But, there are high costs associated with attracting people to the community from outside also: (advertising, interviewing, relocating people etc.)

· There was discussion and comment about the “poaching” of employees by local employers. One comment was made that this is not so bad as long as workers stay in the community, the community will benefit. The analogy was used that if Employer A has an employee that has achieved the highest employment level (experience and training) that the employer A has to offer, and if there is another job offered by employer B in town that is suited to the employee and would allow that employee to advance their career, then the community has benefited by the mobility of the employee. The benefit to local business is that the employee has stayed in the community and there is the potential for the employee to come back to Employer A at a high level position. The survey data has shown that the advancement and training opportunities are the major reasons that employees leave. The discussion was not so much about keeping worker with a single employer but making sure employers are aware that in today’s times it is more important to keep workers in the community. To do this we need local access to career related education and training (community members surveyed supported this and are expressing a need for it) and we need local opportunities for employees to be trained and advance in their careers. This will take advantage of the strong ties (family and lifestyle) that local people have to the community. There was recognition that employers need to work together to keep a strong and dynamic local labour supply.