Staffing firms in Okotoks say the rising cost of housing is creating challenges for job seekers and employers.
A recent business survey found that 38 per cent of businesses in Okotoks are satisfied with access to affordable housing. The low satisfaction rate led to the issue being ranked as the top priority to improve business satisfaction in the community.
Charley MacDonald, a program manager at MCG Careers Inc., a career and employment centre in Okotoks, said access to affordable housing is a barrier for many job seekers.
“From what we're hearing from individuals we work with, it may not be the most priority, but it’s definitely a factor,” MacDonald said, adding she is hearing about it across the board and not just in Okotoks.
Entry-level food service and retail is having the most difficulty finding and retaining staff, she said.
“When you have a higher cost of living, you need higher wages in order to meet your needs,” MacDonald said.
She added potential job seekers who want to come to the Foothills are having a hard time finding housing, even outside of affordable housing, due to low supply.
“Then there's also those who have had historically stable accommodations (and) have now noticed some shifts," she said.
Landlords selling a rental property or unexpected rate hikes can lead to uncertainty for tenants, she said.
“It's really hard to say, ‘I'm going to commit to this job,’ if we're not sure where we're going to be residing,” she said.
Pamela Morgan, CEO at human resources consulting firm Key Instincts, said a low supply of housing in Okotoks can lead people to relocate to Calgary, and the rising cost of living makes it more difficult to commute between the two communities.
“You're kind of being forced out of those bedroom communities into the city where you can get even a basement suite, and you can find a job a little bit easier,” she said.
“Normally, where I would be able to bring potential employees from Calgary into the Okotoks area to work, that has lessened because of the fuel costs and the overall cost of living in general."
She said jobs that pay under $30 per hour are being affected by the crunch in housing affordability.
When wages can’t keep up with rent or housing increases, it creates pain points for both employers and employees, she added.
MacDonald said the $15 minimum wage is far below what job seekers at MCG Careers say they need to earn to make ends meet.
“It's really challenging, not only from a job seeker standpoint of ‘how do I meet my financial obligations?’ but also from an employer standpoint, where maybe they're not able to offer much more than minimum wage,” she said.
A living wage is a calculation of the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover basic expenses and participate in their community. The Alberta Living Wage Network determines a living wage for cities and towns across Alberta and says a living wage is a calculation of the hourly wage a worker needs to earn to cover basic expenses and participate in their community.
The network hasn't calculated a living wage for Okotoks, but it determined that the living wage in Calgary last year was $22.40 per hour, up 16 per cent from a year prior. In Lethbridge, the living wage was calculated at $20.30.
In most communities, the amount that qualifies as a living wage is generally about $5 per hour more, at least, than the provincial minimum wage, according to the network.
Difficulty finding employees can also put more workload on small business owners, MacDonald said.
She’s seeing more employers who have positions available, but are unable to attend hiring events because they don’t have staff to cover for them.
