BANFF – The last time the Banff Winter Hiring Fair was held in 2019, more than 600 people showed up to find work in the Bow Valley.
Many were young people who came from across Canada, and as far away as Australia and Germany.
Now, the fair is returning following the COVID-19 pandemic, but the world has changed immensely in the preceding three years. It has become a job seeker’s market as a demographic shift has occurred not only in the Bow Valley, but throughout Canada.
Organizers of the fair, which is a free event held on Oct. 6 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Cascade Shops in Banff, are hoping at least 200 to 300 people come out to connect with employers. There are approximately 200 positions available at the fair. That number is also lower than in previous years.
“It is a job-seekers market for sure,” said Michel Dufresne, director of the Job Resource Centre. “We had a record-breaking 600 people last time. I am interested to see what we get this year.”
While some make the incorrect assumption that people don’t want to work, hence the reason for so many open positions, the reality is more complicated.
One reason for this shift was the retirement of the first members of the Baby Boomer generation.
“You have all the people who were due to retire in the last two years, and people who were close to retiring, all left the market,” Dufresne said. “It happened during the pandemic and then people were let go, and so when we re-opened the market, there was a huge void because these people were not going back to the market.”
Another reason is other employees have moved up the ladder, and many who would have traditionally been offered entry-level jobs are now hired for jobs at higher levels.
“In the two-year period, it opened so many opportunities for everybody that people could get jobs at higher levels. It moved up everybody,” Dufresne said. “Not that the entry level is not interesting, but it was a market where people could start off and get experience. Well, now you can get jobs above that without the experience.”
At the Job Resource Centre, the shift has become extremely evident. On a typical day three years ago, 100 people would come in. Today, only 10 to 15 people are walking through the doors.
“One reason is people don’t need our help because there are so many jobs available,” Dufresne said. “People are being hired on the spot by employers. A lot of our clients are foreign workers and those did not come back. We moved our services to a virtual format during the pandemic and it is hard to go back.”
The slowdown in Job Resource Centre traffic is expected to be like the decrease in attendees for the fair. Anyone going to the fair is encouraged to bring a generic cover letter and resume, and to dress professionally.
“We are assuming that what is happening to our office in terms of foot traffic, we assume the same would happen at the fair,” Dufresne said. “We would be happy to see half the that many people [as 2019]”
