17,600 new jobs to fill by 2031: Chatham-Kent

Due to community growth and replacement needs, Chatham-Kent is expected to have 17,600 new jobs to fill by 2031, municipal staff say.

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This past week, council received an update on the latest figures, which show an increasing demand amongst local employers for talent.

Jason Stubitz, Chatham-Kent’s co-ordinator of workforce planning and research, said future employment needs will likely focus on a number of sectors.

“Manufacturing and health care will be the main drivers of this growth, followed by retail trade, transportation and agriculture,” he said.

The Chatham Kent Workforce Planning Board is funded by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. It provides financial support to identify needs and gaps in the local labour market compared to other municipalities and the province.

The ministry funded three research projects for 2023-24, including the local labour market planning document, EmployerOne survey, and workforce gaps research project to better understand international student talent.

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Chatham-Kent’s population was 111,091 as of July 2023, which Stubitz said was the highest since 2007.

“The increase we’re seeing in our population is being driven largely by inward migration,” he said. “In recent years, we’ve seen a sharp increase in intraprovincial migration to Chatham-Kent.”

According to Statistics Canada’s annual labor force survey, the number of people participating in the Chatham-Kent labor force in an average month during 2023 dropped from 53,100 in 2022 to 51,500 in 2023, a decline of two per cent.

Average monthly employment declined by 2,800 to 48,000 in 2023, which helped push the unemployment rate to 6.8 per cent after its record low of 4.3 per cent in 2022.

However, the growth projections show a continued need for workforce development, attraction and retention.

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A total of 112 Chatham-Kent employers, representing 11,151 employees, participated in the 2023 EmployerOne survey.

Of the respondents, 78 per cent said they hired within the last year, with 65 per cent planning to hire during the next 12 months.

Stubitz said 56 per cent of employers had hard-to-fill positions, due to a shortage of applicants, or applicants lacking the needed qualifications.

Sixty per cent said employee retention was a concern due to high competition for workers.

“Wage and salary increases (are) the top strategy that employers are using to address it,” Stubitz said.

He added that many international students are enrolled in programs that are necessary for the local labor market.

These include, but aren’t limited to, business, nursing, early childhood education, occupational therapists, engineering technicians and personal support workers.

“Many (students) have come to love their time in the community, and would actually prefer to stay in Chatham-Kent post-graduation,” Stubitz said. “But finding employment is the prime consideration for them to do so.”

For more information, including further workplace and employment resources, visit ckworkforce.ca

[email protected]

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