b'HUMAN CAPITALNOW HIRING! By Matthew BradfordThe talent crunch hits homeAggregate operators need to think outside the box to attract and retain workersT hewarforskilledlabourison,Whatstoblamefortheindustryseffect over all operations. For example, says and few sectors are left unscathed.labourwoes?McKenzie,Everybodyisbehindintheir Thatincludesemployersinproduction, which leads some to outsource theaggregatesectorwhoareTakeyourpick.Amassiveuptickinsome of that production. Whats happening competing against their construc- retirement,demographictrends,andnow, though, is that the people you reach out tion industry peers for qualified workersaggregateindustrymisconceptionsareallto for outsourcing also dont have enough who can keep operations moving and whoinfluencing the sectors ability to find, andpeople to cover their crews.will stay for the long haul.moreimportantlykeep,skilledtalenton Thelateststatisticsarentpromising.Attheir teams. These factors were in play longMeeting industry demand is a challenge before COVID-19 arrived on the scene, butunder normal circumstances, but it is now the last tally, Statistics Canada indicated thatthe pandemic has done much to exacerbateincreasingly difficult because there are fewer the construction industrys vacancy rate sitsan existing problem. people to do the job. Theres not enough at 5.8 per cent (58,300 jobs), while BuildForcecrushing capacity to produce the products we CanadaestimatestheconstructionsectorWevebeenstrugglingwiththistalentneed as fast as we can sell [our aggregates], will have a deficit of 277,000 workers withinshortage for years, but the pandemic has justexplains McKenzie. So we need [the pits and the next decade.escalated it to the point where weve now gotquarries] running every day of the week all a serious problem, says Dwayne McKenzie,year round. Except we cant get the labour Were looking at thousands of workersdirector of sales at Nelson Aggregate. to do that. disappearing from the market over the next few years, so the labour shortage isnt goingNo matter the reasons behind the talentFrank Kielbowich is the general manager, to fix itself, predicts Greg Sweetnam, vicecrunch, its impact in the field is hard to ignore.aggregates,NiagaraRegion/WestGTA,at president with James Dick Construction. InHaving fewer people working at OntariosWalkerAggregates.Hetooisfeelingthe fact, its probably going to get worse.pitsandquarriesishavingacascadingtalent crunch, both in the field and in the 10 AVENUESWINTER 2022'