Presentation by Tony Fang, Professor and Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Economic and Cultural Transformation Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada at the 20th meeting of the Spatial Productivity Lab at the OECD Trento Centre on "Skills across jobs - Addressing local labour shortages", held in virtual format on20 June 2023. More info: https://oe.cd/spl-mtg

1. Labour and Skill Shortages in Atlantic Canada:
Evidence from Employer Surveys
Tony Fang, Professor & Stephen Jarislowsky Chair
Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
June 20th, 2023

2. Labour and Skill Shortage
• Hiring challenges for employers
• Potential sollutions:
• Hiring immigrants
• Changing workplace practices
• Investment in advanced digital tech
1

3. 2
Median Age
NL: 47.8
PEI: 41.8
NS: 44.2
NB: 45.7
42.0 38.1
38.2
37.7
40.4
43.1
26.9
39.5 35.8
Canada median age: 41.0
Demographic Challenges

4. 3
Hiring Difficulties in NL
(In the last 3 years, 2019-2021)
56
43
38
62
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Without hiring difficulties With hiring difficulties
2019 2021
%
19%

5. 4
2019 survey
(In the last 3 years)
2021 survey
(In the last 3 years)
2022 Survey
(In the last 6 months)
Too few applicants 27% Too few applicants 40% Too few applicants 51%
Lack of necessary
experience
25%
Covid/pandemic
related/CERB
13% Lack of necessary skills 18%
Lack of necessary skills 21%
Lack of necessary
experience
11%
Too many unqualified
applicants to review
10%
Salary issues 9% Lack of necessary skills 9% Lack of applicants with
necessary experience
4%
Work ethic 9%
High turnover/Difficult
retaining qualified workers
9% Lack of applicants with
necessary education
4%
Top 5 Reasons for Hiring Difficulties (NL)

6. The Main Types of Positions with Hiring Difficulties
(In the last 3 year, NL)
5
5%
11% 13%
9%
48%
58%
22%
26% 26%
43% 43%
65%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Marketing/Sales Managers Professionals Clerical/Administration Production workers with
no trade/certification
Technical/Trades
2019 2021

7. Low Immigrant Population Ratio
6
23.0
2.8
5.8
7.5
7.8
12.5
19.7
23.2
29.0
29.0
30.0
0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0
Canada
NL
NB
NS
PEI
SK
MB
AB
QC
BC
ON
%
Atlantic
Canada

8. 7
60
48
43
55
66
51
60
75
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Received applications from
immigrants
Hired immigrant applicants Hired immigrants while without
hiring difficulties
Hired immigrants while with
hiring difficulties
%
2019 2021
Hiring Newcomers:
Appling & Hiring
Without Hiring Difficulties VS. With hiring Difficulties

9. Employers’ Help Behaviors
8
13
20
0
5
10
15
20
25
2019 2021
Organizations who have helped an
employee to be a PR
% %
10
12
0
5
10
15
20
25
2019 2021
Organizations who changed workplace
practices

10. Changes in HR Practices to Fill Job Vacancies
9
HR Practices (%)
Yes
(With hiring difficulties)
Yes
(Without hiring difficulties)
increase teamwork 69% 41%
Implemented flexible job design 40% 24%
Allowed remote work 21% 25%
Relied more on employee referrals 63% 15%
Undertook different, or more intensive, job advertising methods 61% 26%
Hired unqualified personnel at a lower wage than a qualified employee 64% 20%
Hired unqualified personnel at the wage of a qualified employee 41% 9%
Hired unqualified personnel and provided more training than usual 32% 7%

11. Adoption of Advanced Digital Technologies (ADT)
10
Automation technology: self-service business approaches, robotics, and artificial intelligence technology
Using
ADT
85%, No
13%, Yes
1%, DK/NA
Due to COVID
Greatly
Increased &
Increased
Not
Changed
Greatly
Decreased &
Decreased
DN/NA
Use of automation
technologies
39 55 3 3
Investment in
automation
39 55 3 4
Train employees to
adapt to automation
42 53 2 3
> 80%
Permanent

12. 11
Stephen Jarislowsky Chair in Cultural and Economic Transformation