Staff shortages imperil businesses

When COVID-19 struck and many people were suddenly out of work or otherwise in a precarious financial state, the federal government was quick to offer emergency funding.

It was a lifeline in unprecedented times.

As time went on and the Canada Emergency Response Benefit morphed into the Canada Recovery Benefit — which offers benefits until Sept. 25 for eligible people who are self-employed or unemployed and not receiving employment insurance — some employers started having trouble hiring.

With COVID-19 thankfully waning across the Atlantic region and more people becoming fully vaccinated, provinces are eager to open up and kickstart sluggish economies.

‘I CAN STAY HOME ...’

But a labour shortage has many businesses understaffed and struggling, having to offer reduced hours or fewer services because there just aren’t enough employees to operate at full capacity.

One tourism operator in Nova Scotia said he’s had to scale back to stay open five days a week instead of seven. Kitchen and housekeeping staff are hard to come by and he worries about burnout among the staff he does have.

“It’s unbelievably bad. We haven’t seen the worst yet, in my view, in terms of businesses closing,” he said. “People have said in conversations with me, people I was attempting to hire or rehire ... ‘I can stay home and keep food on the table because the feds have given me this money.’”

A person working in the food service industry in Summerside, P.E.I. said he’s working 80 to 95 hours a week just to keep his business afloat.

“It’s been hard,” he said. “Something’s gotta change. And it’s a shame — we have the potential to grow, but I’m not even trying to grow now. It’s stressful.”

Currently, 90 per cent of his staff members are from outside Canada and he doesn’t expect them to stay long-term when he can only afford to pay $13 to $15 an hour.

‘IT REALLY IS DIRE’

“Don’t get me wrong, I think the government did the right thing — they had to keep people home, they didn’t want the virus to spread ... But it put a lot of strain on us ... The government was giving them $1,000 every two weeks to stay home. It’s a no-brainer.”

In Newfoundland and Labrador, SaltWire reported in May that some fish plants were offering incentives like transportation and hot food in an attempt to attract workers.

Some plants pay minimum wage for arduous work — throw CERB or enhanced EI benefits into the mix and the offer may not be as attractive.

In Nova Scotia, the tourism operator suggested emergency benefits could have been phased out gradually as provinces came out of lockdown mode. “It really is dire,” he said of the hiring struggle. Short-handed businesses should not have to wait until summer is over to see if the situation resolves itself.

Some of them simply can’t afford to.