On October 18th, I attended the speech of the Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity, Mr. Jean Boulet. It was a conference organized by the Industrial Chamber of Commerce of Beauharnois Salaberry Haut St Laurent. It focused on the challenges and issues of manpower in the post-pandemic context. For more than 45 minutes, the Minister spoke to members of the region’s business community about the current situation. He also shared with us his preferred measures to overcome this crisis. Here is the summary.
Productivity
For Mr. Boulet, one of the solutions to the labor shortage crisis is the automation and digitization of business processes. Firstly because new technologies attract young people and secondly because the company gains in productivity. I visited a large cider factory in the Laurentides a few weeks ago and that is a perfect example. They have put this solution into practice. The bottling automation is done with 2 operators instead of 5 and they have managed to triple their production.
Training and requalification
Our minister dreams of Quebec becoming a learning society. It is therefore only natural that training and requalification play a part in the measures taken[1]. The government announced in early 2021 the injection of thousands of dollars for requalification programs. The minister said that more than 200,000 unemployed and untrained people are available at this very moment and that the objective of the requalification programs was precisely to promote their reintegration into the labour market.
Integration
Mr. Boulet called on everyone to put aside prejudices. He called for the inclusion of more workers with criminal records, people with disabilities, immigrants and First Nations people. These are individuals who are free and ready to work without delay. You just need to put in place the necessary measures to integrate them into your business. In addition, Quebec has just announced an increase in immigration thresholds[2] as well as measures to financially support businesses for the costs incurred in applying for immigration[3]. Businesses and organizations can also count on the employability centers and the Carrefour Jeunesse-emploi. They are there to help find trained and qualified personnel.
My conclusion
Faced with the labour shortage, companies will have to review their recruitment and integration process, but especially their strategies, taking into account Minister Boulet’s recommendations. This will give them the means to ensure the sustainability of their business and achieve their objectives. Companies have access to a grant from Service-Québec[4] to hire the expertise of a Human Resources or Organizational Development Consultant to support them in this process.
In closing, I would like to thank Minister Boulet and the Government of Quebec for putting in place all the measures to support our economy!
By Mélanie Gauthier, CRHA
HR blog editor – Iceberg Management
[1] Québec investit dans la requalification des travailleurs | LesAffaires.com
[2] Immigration | Québec procède à un rattrapage pour 2022 | La Presse
[3] Soutenir le recrutement de travailleurs étrangers temporaires > Plan d’action pour la main-d’œuvre (gouv.qc.ca)
[4] Soutien en gestion des ressources humaines > Emploi-Québec (gouv.qc.ca)