Ontario Construction news staff writer
Local employers got together for a roundtable discussion in Orillia recently and concerns about labour attraction and retention were the common thread running through the event .
The City of Orillia’s economic development office and the Orillia District Chamber of Commerce hosted the meeting at city hall with representatives from local companies.
Kubota, one of the largest employers in the area with 335 staff, has about 30 positions to fill, but “chasing these people with the right skills is a very difficult thing to do,” said Matthew Webb, the company’s senior manager of technology.
Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop says the province is doing its part to pressure the federal government “to allow the provinces to have more decision making over who we can bring in so we can have more skilled workers.”
According to Orillia Matters, Dan Landry, the city’s Manager of Business Retention and Expansion and Industrial Development, said the information will be analyzed.
“We need to analyze it so we can chart our own path,” he said. “There is no magic bullet. We’re not in a unique situation. We’re not going to move the needle far very quickly. We need to get to the young kids, get more people in apprenticeships,” he is quoted saying in Orillia Matters.