If Calgary is to become the epicentre of the global energy market, it must shore up its labour force deficiencies, according to the city’s economic development CEO.
With the unemployment rate hitting 3.2 per cent in 2007 and a lack of aptly able workers to fill the jobs already out there, attracting and retaining skilled labour from across the planet may be the biggest hold-up, said Calgary Economic Development president and CEO Bruce Graham.
Mayor Dave Bronconnier said the city intends to make Calgary a “workers market, a worker’s paradise for generations to come” at yesterday’s CED 2008 Report to the Community and in an effort to make that so, Graham said they have contracted local branding firm Critical Mass to create a one-stop shop for pertinent information on the city, such as where to find a doctor.
“The web is the number one source for information for people that are looking at moving globally and we have to be the definitive and authoritative voice for that here,” Bruce said.
