Video and editing costs have come down dramatically in the last few years. Companies can now put together a recruiting video for a few hundred dollars or a few thousand with a videographer. Written job advertisements can be powerful but the images, sound, and excitement of a recruiting video can compel a candidate that is on the fence to apply with your organization.

I really like the Vancouver Canucks recruiting video that concentrates on the whole employee experience. It starts with the community one would get to live in then the facility which you would work (half the time) then leadership and the fans. It covers all the bases, except life on the road, during the hockey season and family.

The Vancouver Canucks put together the best regular season team in 2010, we will see if their recruiting strategies pay further dividends and they can make it to the Stanley cup finals.

Canada is in the midst of a Federal Election, with politicians flying across the country to earn voters trust while people are dutifully filing their taxes. I personally would like to see more accountability and tax dollars focused on health care, schools and better police training, nationally and locally. Regardless of my personal views, Canadians across the country are footing the bill for politician’s wages and their big plans. But there are some provinces where you get to take home much more of the amount of income you earn.

If you take a Canadian family with one breadwinner and two children, how much tax are they paying? Take a heavy duty mechanic making a $36 per hour working a couple shifts of overtime per month. After receiving an annual bonus he would make close to $100,000 before income tax. A family like this would pay $28,538 in taxes working in Quebec. Working in Alberta or BC they would pay $6,000 less in income tax! This is a huge difference, it could mean the difference between putting kids in hockey, saving for a down payment on a house or saving for retirement.

In Ontario, taxes are slightly lower than Quebec at $24,795 but still over $2,500 higher than BC and Alberta. Manitoba and Nova Scotia are among the highest taxed provinces, where almost an extra $5,000 in taxes goes to the provinces. Income taxes are not the only taxes we face with HST, EI and purchase property taxes costing us hard earned after tax dollars. Income tax is likely the most difficult to swallow as the harder one works it seems like the more we pay in taxes.

Taking the tax difference between British Columbia and Manitoba, a family would save $4,870 per year on $100,000 in income, by living in BC. If this $4,870 was invested at a 4% return over the course of 5 years the BC family would make an additional $32,302 and over the course of 15 years $106,285. What a large difference living in a lower income tax province makes!

Michael Dioneda, a true hero and a friend passed away on Friday. There are many people I admire but Mike is someone I would love to be like, who set a great example for us all. Mike was one of the most friendly, open and smartest men I have ever met. He was a lawyer by training and rose to be the Director of the Commission of Elections for Manila, Philippines. Leaders like Michael who bring elections to millions of voters are true heroes of democracy. Mikes hard work enabled voters to make their voice heard and allow people to have a real say in politics.

On a personal side Mike was one of the nicest people I have ever met and contributed to helping dozens of my friends. I will always remember Mike’s generosity, smile and sense of humour. I wish I could be like Mike.

Alberta continued to lead Canada in Employment with over 14,000 jobs created in February 2011. The rest of Canada had no real gains or losses, except for a slight decline in Saskatchewan of 3,000 jobs. Overall can we be happy with the number of jobs being created in this economy?

Unemployed people, recruiters and economist will want to see more jobs but with a huge jump in oil prices, comes increased cost for some Canadian businesses. With gas prices up over 10% most businesses in Canada outside of the energy sector are hard hit as transportation is often one of a businesses largest expense. A friend of mine who owns a roofing company has seen fuel prices rise and business losses pile up. Planes, ferries, trucking companies and all of their customers have seen the effects and could continue to if unrest continues in the middle east.

Construction employment was hot in February, up over 15,000 jobs with 8.2% growth. While Professional, scientific and technical services also grew sharply at 5.1% or over 9,000 jobs. Could this be Engineering employment increasing for upcoming for oil sands projects and mining? We are definitely hearing about more Engineering positions in BC and Alberta, from other recruiters and customers.

We are seeing most of our customers push through with hiring despite high energy costs. The continued strength in the overall economy and high commodities might see Canada, and not just Alberta, prosper through 2011.

From Statistics Canada February 2011 Labour Force Information data

With the price of oil sky high, Canada and Alberta’s economy are starting to really take off. I believe Oil Sands construction and conventional oil and natural gas exploration are the biggest drivers in our economy right now. Mining continues to be a very hot sector for employment but the wheels of mining companies turn slower than those of Oil & Gas. So what jobs are really taking off? Our hottest job is for Heavy Duty Mechanics with a pay rate of $51.11 per hour plus $2000 per month for accommodation, and great benefits. Project managers might be the hottest job ad in the country with hundreds of new jobs being advertised weekly.

So mining, oil and gas and related industrial construction are quite hot right now, but what other sectors are seeing huge hiring and job posting? Manufacturing is up 87% over January last year but is not seeing the volume of job advertisements, possibly due to the ease of companies finding candidates. The Canadian economy is definitely rebounding which is show by the Accounting, Retail, Health Care and Construction, Financial Service and Banking industries all leading employment in Canada with over 50% growth over last year.

Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto continue to be the leading cities for Job opportunity and the desire of candidates to go there. Fort McMurray is a close 4th in construction job searches, as this small oil sands boom town outpaces job searches for Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.

69,000 jobs were gained in January 2011, but what are we going to see for February from Statistics Canada? I think we will see BC growing more jobs with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba all increasing their job opportunities. Speaking with a young Industrial Electrician last week my advice was “Go west, young man.”

Canada added 69,200 jobs in January, 2011 compared to only 36,000 in the US. What is really amazing is in Canada over the last year higher-paying full-time jobs rose by 236,000 making it a very good year for job creation in Canada. Unemployment is still high in some areas but those who are willing to relocate for jobs, and are flexible in the jobs they take are doing quite well. I know a young man who is moving 500km’s to finish the last year of his apprenticeship and a young father who has taken a fly-in oil drilling camp job; each have sacrificed but are seeing rewards that are well worth it.

We see jobs being added in Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island. Alberta added 22,000 jobs at an explosive rate which will have a positive impact on BC, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Some skills like Heavy Duty Mechanics are seeing the highest demand with over 650 advertisements for Heavy Equipment Technicians across the country.

The impact of strong oil prices will hopefully result in positive job growth throughout Canada for the rest of the year. With oil passing $100 a barrel oil sands and conventional oil exploration and production expansion will continue resulting in very strong BC and AB economies. As long as residential and commercial development stays steady with low interest rates, most people should see an excellent 2011 and 2012.

I am always amazed at how very few people understand the true cost of vacancies. When the position is an external service or sales position it is fairly easy to calculate direct costs. For a service position you take the rate per hour charged to customer and multiply it by the average billable or productive hours in a day, week or month. For example an HVAC technician who averages a bill out at $110 an hour x 70% productivity = $616 per day, $3080 per week or $13,346 per month. This is in addition to the lost parts revenue, the customers who will turn to competitors who can provide immediate service and make their next equipment purchase from their competitors.

Additionally the number of times senior managers and human resources professionals say using a recruiter is too expensive. They would much rather spend their employers money interviewing candidates, advertising in the newspaper and on job boards. I would venture to say that over 95% of businesses in Canada have no idea of what their hiring process costs. The conference board of Canada puts the cost of hiring a technical or trades person at over $12,000 back in 2001. Some smaller companies and even some larger companies can do things much cheaper but most employers take months to hire people and their internal costs are likely right in line with the conference board study.

The final piece of the puzzle is how does hiring the wrong person or having a vacant position effect your current employees. High overtime rates lead to lower productivity, problems at home and high payroll costs. Finally the stress placed on co-workers when they must make up the work of a vacant position can lead to turnover almost as quickly as hiring the wrong person can cause co-workers to look at leaving.

Across British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan there is a huge shortage of Refrigeration Mechanics (HVAC), Service Plumbers, Heavy Duty Mechanics/Technicians, Powerline Technicians and Power Engineers. What are companies doing to ensure they have a pipeline of quick hires to reduce the cost of vacancies and the cost of hiring?

Being a company that recruits industrial management and trades people for large mines, equipment suppliers, power utilities and construction companies, we are very aware of the safety issues at all work sites. I still remember receiving the call about one of our placements who was injured on the job when he was crushed by a large piece of equipment. It was the most severe injury I had seen but the number of people I know who have been severly injured on the job with their previous employers runs into the hundreds.

Anyone who has been in industrial settings knows of lots of near misses and people who have been severely injured. Why isn’t safety one of the first questions in an interview and why isn’t it more important to companies? Accidents can be prevented and there are lots of companies that have gotten to a point where no one gets hurt. Heavy Duty Mechanics missing fingers and even arms, power linemen who have been electrocuted and carpenters missing fingers. This should not happen, and we all need to make safety a priority.

British Columbia just instituted a lower blood alcohol limit, which people complain about, if they knew the thousands of people whose lives of have been shattered by people having one or two more, they would be complaining it should have been lowered to 0.00.

Every interview should include detailed behavioural based questions about peoples experience with safety. What steps have they taken in past jobs to ensure the safety of others? What action did they take when they last saw a co-worker or others doing something that was unsafe? Several questions should be the minimum for each interview.

Safety should be part of every day, in and out of the office. I have been guilty of putting together drills in an unsafe manner when I was younger and doing a litany of unsafe things. Just last month I saw the results of not taking safety seriously when an early October camp fire from the night before turned into an extreme forest fire in minutes. The little things we do can quickly grow to endanger people if we are not focused on prevention…

With the rapid changes in technology that we are seeing, it was surprising to see the Ipad receive so much attention and so many sales. In the first month it was available in Canada I noticed one being used in Starbucks and also one being used by a “leader” in our industry. Both users look as if they thought they were cool, early adaptors of technology. In reality I think they bought an out-dated concept, repackaged for a quick jump in stock price. Tablet computers have been sold for 10 years with similar functions, as have digital book readers that have some of the same characteristics.

There is no doubt in the usability of the Ipod/Iphone, the fact that it transfers to the Ipad is great, but I see the Ipad as a badly stripped down version of the Iphone which came out in January, 2007.  Apple will likely have to keep the price low or lower it to compete with competitors and will only make money by selling Itunes and Apps, but I can’t see the IPad being a successful product for even as long as the iphone.

The real future of computing is the Sixth Sense technology which received worldwide attention when MIT announced the products they have been working on.

The two major steps forward with six sense technology are:

1. Replacing a screen with a small projector that allows you to view what you want on a piece of paper that has information on it you want to know more about, a blank piece of white paper a wall or even your hand.

2. Replacing a mouse, keyboard and wires with fingertip sensors and a camera that provides input by tracking your gestures and hand movements.

Sixth sense technology is a leap forward as humans have been using non-verbal hand gestures to communicate for hundreds of thousands of years.  Replacing the traditional bulky and power hungry devices with small lenses, sensors and projectors will keep costs down, and their portability will keep usability up. Imagine a field technician (heavy duty mechanic) using a camera to immediately identify a broken part, then pulling up a diagram with repair instructions all with a Sixth Sense computer built into his coveralls.

Computing costs will drop dramatically and technical people will have excellent access to information in the field. Watch the video and let me know how you think this will affect the world of work outside of the office….

http://www.ted.com/talks/pranav_mistry_the_thrilling_potential_of_sixthsense_technology.html

In September millions of people return to school in Canada and this year I will be joining them in a classroom. Canada has one of the most educated populations in the world with over 55% of 25-34 year olds having tertiary schooling. We are only beaten by Korea which is at the 60% level of education. This is one of Canada’s best investments as every day we consider people with amazing educational backgrounds for jobs across the country. One of the most important things about education is that it shows a candidate’s interest and ability to learn. With a changing world, the ability to learn continuously, and interest in learning are quickly becoming the most important things I look for in a candidate.

Today I will be learning the theory of flight as I work on my private pilot’s license. The physics of leaving the earth, understanding meteorology and the rules that govern our sky’s is a quite a challenge. Ever since my father took me flying in his float plane I have dreamed of flying and being able to see more of Canada. Fortunately with customers from the Yukon, BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, this recruiter has a great reason to fly and visit spots across the country.

Every student will see and learn amazing things this year and the investment they make will result in continued leadership by Canada as one of the best and most educated countries in the world.