An upcoming labour summit in Penticton is the result of more than a year of studies and discussions with the local business community.
During that time there have been changes in the labour market, said Colleen Pennington, economic development officer for the City of Penticton, referring to the labour and economic turmoil brought about by the drop in oil prices. But in the long run, she said, the kind of labour issues identified in the process are going to continue to be issues.
The 2016 South Okanagan Skilled Labour Strategy Summit: moving from planning to implementation is the next step in the process, she said, bringing what they have learned back to the business community and getting their input on where to go from here.
Labour attraction and retention is a critical piece of running a successful business. This event will deliver the recent local research efforts through surveys, targeted focus groups, and one-on-one business and industry interview and then ask how to move from talking to doing.
“If we can pick two or three projects that will really start to make a difference in helping our employers grow, and find and retain the right employees,” said Pennington.
Early in the work she said they expected labour issues to be sector dependent, but what worked in tourism might not have meaning in the industrial sector.
“We started finding out that some of the best practices that were working in one industry could be applied to another and be beneficial,” said Pennington. That’s why, she continued, the summit includes a panel discussion with local employers talking about real solutions they are using to successfully address skilled worker recruitment and retention challenges.
Pennington traces the start of the project to a visit by Minister Shelley Bond, in February 2015, when she met with local business leaders and toured some of the area’s manufacturing facilities.
“That is where the discussion got kicked off. They (the province) bent over backwards to get us funding so we could take a look at some of the issues the business owners raised,” said Pennington. “I think she actually heard what the businesses had to say and wanted to do something about it.”
