Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
Berenger Dietker, 19, arrived at the Jasper Employment and Education Centre (JEEC) on Tuesday “hopeful” he could find a new job.
He’s been out of high school since last summer and he’s looking for some work experience. He said outside the building after passing through the 15 employers set up upstairs he could see himself handling baggage for Via Rail or Canadian National, or working at one of the campgrounds for the summer.
“I’m hopeful, I’m not sure I’d say I’m optimistic,” a humble Berenger said.
“I’m optimistic for you,” a JEEC staffer chimed in.
Berenger said “one or two” of the employers asked whether he had housing. It remains a common refrain in the mountain town where off the record, a realtor might hold up a two-inch thick folder and admit they’ve stopped even accepting applications because taking one whi is looking for drivers and guides gives the person a false sense of hope.
For Sundog Tours’ Tim Melanson, no accommodation in Jasper means next resume.
“We start the conversation with ‘do you have accommodation, if so, let’s talk,’” he said. “Our staff accommodation is filled up.”
Debby Huculak said CN Rail is in the market to fill a lot of conductor positions as a large cohort of Baby Boomers prepare to retire.
“It takes six months of training and practice to become a conductor, so we’re always thinking way ahead,” she said. “Jasper is a traditionally difficult place for us to hire in to and housing is a part of it, availability and affordability.”
Ginette Marcoux, JEEC executive director, said the agencies she works with in town were around a table recently talking about the fact that they haven’t seen the wave of new people searching for jobs or passing through, many of whom tend to access their services, yet this year. The state of the weather could be a factor, Marcoux said, with young people in a transient lifestyle waiting for it to warm up before they leave the shelter they’ve found for the winter.
An uptick in the number of employers taking part this year including rookie participant Coco’s has her wondering whether the two are connected. Are employers getting fewer applications, or are they trying a different approach with in-person recruiting?
Lois Ford of Decore Hotels was born and raised in Jasper but left for a time, and she’s relatively new to her human resources role. She said housing is a critical concern for Decore as well. She convinced the ownership to get involved in housing activity in town, including the paid workshop staged by Parks and the town.
“I’m finding it very interesting coming back and finding how Jasper has changed,” she said. “To try to get our top line employees, we want to put a bit more into it. We put more effort into the training. You want to hire full-time permanent for front desk, for example, but it’s hard to get people to stay here. They need different types of housing. I can only hire for as many spots as I have for accommodation.”
Coco’s Cafe owner Lynn Wannop was at the job fair for the first time. She said her staff tends to stay on longer than average, about two years or more, largely because she subsidizes their housing in her staff accom with lower rent during the winter when she can’t give them as many hours.
So instead of losing them for the winter and possibly forever, they stick around and end up saving her on the other end.
“Every dollar I spend subsidizing rent in the winter comes back tenfold in saving on training or new applications in the spring/summer,” she said. “I would love to get a house. We had the main floor of a house for the winter and it was amazing, but the owners are moving back for the summer.”
