Help Wanted: Sask. business sectors ‘gutted’ by effects of pandemic beginning recovery efforts: Sask. employers are attempting to find footing in a rebounding economy, but labour analysts are saying the worker shortage remains a hurdle.

Young adults aged 15
to 24 years old have remained the demographic with the highest rate of
unemployment for several months now, at 6.8 per cent in August. Males
within that age group reported at 7.6 per cent and females at 6.3 per
cent.

Saskatchewan
Federation of Labour president Lori Johb said workers are reporting
that one of the largest hurdles preventing the filling of job openings
comes down to dollars.

“I don’t believe it’s so much a
workforce shortage as a wage shortage,” said Johb. “Workers are there.
They just can’t afford to accept positions that aren’t going to get them
through.”

Saskatchewan currently has a minimum hourly wage of $11.81 per hour, but plans to increase to $13 per hour this October, with a goal of reaching $15 per hour by 2024.

For
many, said Johb, those long-overdue additional dollars will be too
little, too late to keep pace with rising inflation and taxation,
including recent increases to the provincial sales tax.