Local Skills Lacking

The Packet & Times

As Orillia's economy improves, employers are faced with job openings they can’t fill.

"We're starting to see skilled shortages again, which is what we had starting before the recession," Kathy Lowe, project co-ordinator with the Orillia Employment Services Centre, said Wednesday.

More employers are hiring this year compared to last, but the centre is having trouble filling positions in engineering and health care.

"We had employers who weren't able to fill positions because of the specific skills they were looking for," Lowe said.

Some employers are being forced to look elsewhere to fill the gaps, said Dan Landry, Orillia's manager of economic development.

"They are not finding locally the type of people they need, so they're having to look outside the area for these more skilled jobs," he said.

All of the employment centres in Simcoe and Muskoka are conducting a labour market survey, titled Digging Deeper.

The survey poses 20 questions to employers about recruiting challenges, the skills they're looking for and what is important when hiring.

"At employment services, we work on the supply side," Lowe said. "We have all the people who are looking for work coming to us and we want to better understand the demand side."

Some unemployed Orillians have had success landing jobs over the past year.

"What's really heartening is it's a good mix of middle-income jobs, jobs in the creative economy... and a number of those jobs are in the manufacturing sector..." Landry said.

Following a national trend, the central Ontario economic region, which is made up of 10 counties and two municipalities, including Simcoe County, is seeing unemployment rates drop.

Last year, 9.5% of those in the central Ontario economic region were without jobs. Today, that figure is 7.2%.

Statistics Canada recently released a labour-force survey that found more than 82,000 people have gained employment in the past year.

Across the country, unemployment is at 7.2%, compared to 8.3% last year.

"It's a good sign that things are picking up not only here, but everywhere," Landry said.

Since last year, Orillia has seen new businesses come to town and current businesses expand.

Leadbetter Foods added about 60 employees to its workforce in late 2011, and both Georgian College and Lakehead University Orillia added more staff. Some manufacturing companies, like CCI Thermal Technologies, Unison Engine Components and Kubota, also added staff.

Two years after cutting 80% of its 591-person team, TeleTech now employs more than 650 people.

"TeleTech was a big factor here last year, getting back on track and retooling itself," Landry said.

Strongco Corporation, which repairs and sells heavy equipment, has set up a branch in Orillia's Progress Industrial Park.

"They located in Orillia specially because of our location," Landry said. "A central location for them was important to be able to service their customers (in the) north, south, east, west."

The economic development committee is focusing on growing current businesses.

If existing businesses grow, "that’s like a whole new company in Orillia," Landry said.