Labour shortage, COVID cases affecting southern Alberta employers and workplaces

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -

A number of southern Alberta businesses say despite rising unemployment numbers it's still a tough challenge to find workers.

The main focus for feedlots at this time of year is usually getting their animals through the winter. But, rather, getting workers is a bigger struggle for many in the agriculture industry this season - another pandemic hurdle they have to overcome.

“It does have an impact, definitely. I think people are being more selective about what kind of work, the type of work that they want to do, the hours, those types of things,” said Shelly Pfeffel, human resources manager at Kasko Cattle Company.

Kasko Cattle Company currently operates four feedlots around Lethbridge, employing roughly 65 workers year-round. Pfeffel said the ongoing pandemic and the type of work are two reasons why hiring new staff has been difficult.

“Agriculture has continued to be a struggle but the pandemic definitely does not help things,” said Pfeffel.

Staffing shortages are being felt from feedlots to the ski hill. Outdoor recreation activities are also facing challenges when trying to find employees.

“The ski and tourism industry definitely have had staff challenges and continue to have staff challenges - we're taking as proactive a view as possible,” said Matt Mosteller, a spokesperson for Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, a company that operates Fernie Alpine Resort.

With the rise of COVID-19 cases across the province, the Lethbridge-Medicine Hat region is seeing a spike in the unemployment rate. It sits at 6.5 per cent, up nearly a full percentage point from 5.5 per cent in November, according to Stats Canada. Alberta’s jobless rate as a whole was 7.3 per cent, a slight improvement from November’s 7.6 per cent.

Staffing shortages are being felt from feedlots to the ski hill. Outdoor recreation activities are also facing challenges when trying to find employees.

COVID AFFECTING CITY EMPLOYEES

City of Lethbridge officials met with the Emergency Advisory Committee to discuss the current situation surrounding COVID-19 in the city. As of Thursday, there were 700 active COVID-19 cases in the city.

Mayor Hyggen called the meeting to receive general updates and corporate updates on the COVID-19 situation. Officials discussed business and government continuity and were informed about the current open case count amongst city employees.

"We monitor the open cases in the city on a daily basis. Today we are sitting at 59 cases of open cases and we monitor that by department by continuously everyday. So that's a live action thing that the COVID response team makes sure that we're updating,” said Mike Fox, City of Lethbridge’s director of community services.

Officials went on to add that any city employees or residents that are able to work from home should continue to do so for the time being. The city will continue to monitor the current COVID-19 situation and act in accordance with provincial mandates.

Fortunately one area not being impacted by the virus is the city’s first responders.

“Currently we only have about a three per cent absenteeism of police officers within the police service due to COVID related absentees, which are much smaller than some of the agencies we've seen across the country at this point,” said Insp. Jason Walper, with the LPS Support Services Division.

At this time there is no specific number of fire department staff  being affected by COVID, but it is creating challenges.

“COVID has and is creating pressures with our staffing. We are continually working with Alberta Health Services to see if there is any way we can enhance our staffing model to meet the challenges I think we're seeing provincially,” said newly-appointed fire chief Greg Adair.

The continuation of staffing shortages can also have an impact on current staff who have to work overtime leading to burn outs.

“At the end of the day, we want to not put that pressure on those that are working day in and day out,” said Pfeffel.