There are some interesting tidbits in the latest snapshot of the labour pool in Saskatchewan.
StatsCan is best known for its work on tracking job creation but it also examines wage rates and job vacancies to see if employers are creating jobs and people are filling them.
We have just received October’s figures and it shows things tightening up a bit as the number of jobs going unfilled is declining. That brings supply and demand on the labour front closer to alignment in Saskatchewan with 4.5 per cent of all positions going unfilled, one of the lowest in the country which might surprise employers to find out that hiring is more challenging in Ontario or Quebec.
This report also says wage rates in Saskatchewan are not climbing as fast as other regions. Lower housing costs and competition for talent is a little less fierce so money isn’t the only lure for attracting talent.
We’ve been the most cautious in expanding the public service while Ontario and Quebec each added more than 10,000 new civil servants and the feds brought more than 20,000 on board in the last year.
