Quinte area companies are still finding it difficult to find workers as the pandemic begins to wind down.
This worker difficulty is particularly true in the manufacturing sector.
Following a meeting of the Quinte Economic Development Commission Thursday, CAO Chris King tells Quinte News some companies are not able to get going again because of lack of workers.
“Many companies are struggling are reporting they’re struggling to fill everything from front line entry positions skilled trades and professional positions as well.”
King added that the labour market was getting tight even before the Covid-19 pandemic.
He thinks the pandemic made things a little bit more more acute in terms of how its impacting local manufacturers.
King says, “As the federal government benefits wind down more people will try to get back into the workforce. There are lots of employers looking for workers.”
He also commented, “The work we’re doing to help people along in their careers. Training programs to help upgrade the skills of the existing workforce to help them along their career path and bring better value to their companies.”
“We’re hoping the elevate plus programs have some greater intake too as people are looking to get trained for job entry. So not just training people already in the sector but training people who want to get into that sector. Getting them job ready.”
King added information about a program developed with some initial funding from the Quinte Technology Adoption program.
“We have some funds available to support small and medium sized manufacturers with the adoption of technology. So for those companies that want to put technology in place to improve the performance of their businesses, and where cost is a barrier, we have a bit of a fund to help companies through that.”
