Out of work: Kelowna bucks national trend with more on unemployment lines
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 | 7:00 am
By Kathy Michaels
The number of Kelowna residents in need of Employment Insurance benefits continues to climb despite the fact things are looking up in other parts of the country.
Statistics Canada reported that 787,700 Canadians received regular Employment Insurance benefits this July. That number marks a drop of 31,500, or 3.8 per cent, beneficiaries from a month earlier.
While that figure has been lauded as the first decrease in 11 months, it’s largely due to a bounce back in eastern provinces. Kelowna, on the other hand, experienced a surge in claims, both in monthly and yearly reports.
This July there were 4,010 locals receiving the subsidy, compared to 1,630 in July, 2008. Year-over-year, that’s an increase of 146 per cent. Month over month, the number rose 7.2 per cent from 3,740.
That news didn’t come as a big surprise to Dan Tellier, owner and operator of Okanagan Educational Centre, a business that offers a work search strategies program for unemployed and underemployed locals.
“I have a good pulse on what’s happening in the various sectors and I am not seeing a (bounce-back) yet,” he said.
Tellier explained that when the manufacturing sector started to stagnate, there were reverberations all the way down the supply chain and that’s impacting every aspect of the local job market.
Reflecting back on boom times, Tellier pointed out that employers were offering more and more money to lure prospective employees through their doors. Those days are no more.
“What’s somewhat unique about the Kelowna marketplace, is that wages have gone down and businesses are taking advantage of that,” he said. “The reality is that basically from two years ago, until September, 2008 wages were on the increase and employers were having difficulty retaining people. Now employers are back to the status quo.”
Of note, he said, is the retail and food service industries have again started offering lower wages.
Gloom and doom aside, Tellier said there is still work for those who know how to market themselves. On his side of things, they’ve worked to ensure that 75 per cent of the people who come through their doors find work on their way out, and that’s a mandate that they’ve continued to meet.
“There are opportunities out there and our students are finding jobs,” he said. “The key is to continue to believe in oneself… people will find work if they are competitive in their job search. Sitting at the computer, looking at help-wanted ads and never contacting the employer won’t help.”
kathy@kelowna.com
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