Lloydminster 鈥� Your Recruitment & HR Division Inc. in Lloydminster expects the impact of layoffs in the oil and gas industry due to falling commodity prices to hit home during spring break-up.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing and hearing about numerous layoffs throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan and I think we鈥檝e just kind of started,鈥� said CEO and company owner Kathy Kennedy about the local oilfield labour market.
鈥淚 think that will stay happening until 鈥� hopefully, September it will stop 鈥� but for sure from now until September it鈥檚 going to be fairly grim.鈥�
Hard times in oilfield employment have also come to Calgary and Canmore where Your Recruitment has branch offices.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just Lloydminster. It鈥檚 everywhere,鈥� said Kennedy in late February.
Alberta expects to lose about 31,800 jobs this year as plunging oil prices lead producers to cut costs.
Lloydminster escaped relatively unharmed from the global recession in 2009-10, but Kennedy fears there will be more carnage and job losses in the current downturn.
鈥淭his one鈥檚 certainly going to be more significant than the 2009-2010 area. This is going to hit home a lot more,鈥� she said.
鈥淭his one is much deeper. Oil prices are way lower than they were in 2009, and we dropped so quickly. It started dropping in October, and it was down to under $50 a barrel in two months.
鈥淣obody saw that big of an impact coming.鈥�
Last June, oil peaked at over $107 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate and companies were scrambling to find new employees.
Kennedy expects it will be awhile before Lloydminster sees another unemployment rate as low as 4.1 per cent as it did in January.
鈥淭he employment numbers in January didn鈥檛 have the impact of the layoffs yet. You鈥檒l start seeing that in February, but the real tell will be March,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hitting every level and every kind of job title right now, so we鈥檙e seeing it from labourers to engineers to admin to accounting 鈥� everyone is being impacted.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檒l be back to the 鈥� you know 鈥� we鈥檒l get 15 responses to an ad which we haven鈥檛 seen for eight years.鈥�
Kennedy said the job matching business of Your Recruitment has gone from 鈥渃razy busy鈥� in the last couple of years to being dead now.
鈥淚t just came to a screeching halt and that鈥檚 okay,鈥� she said.
鈥淲e knew that happens during the cycle, so we鈥檙e just trying to redo all our processes and look at everything we do and make sure we are still doing the best.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely slow and we鈥檙e looking at our costs and trying to make sure we can stay alive.
Fortunately Kennedy has not had to lay off any of her four employees in Lloydminster, but job postings on the company website have dried up.鈥淩ight now, everybody鈥檚 just kind of looking at their organization deciding if they can kind of re-jig everybody鈥檚 role and not recruit,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 have not seen a lot of ads going up.鈥�
Your Recruitment accepts resumes, meets with job seekers to assess their skills and connects them with potential employers.
They also provide a diverse range of recruiting services like resume writing and direct hiring for employers that don鈥檛 have a human resources specialist.
鈥淚 think we do add a valuable service to the area. I think we are cost effective,鈥� said Kennedy.
鈥淧eople are going to realize that, even now, when they鈥檝e had to let go of their HR person, they still need that resource on a 鈥榰se as you need鈥� kind of basis.
鈥淭hat will hold us over.鈥�
Your Recruitment employees are fielding a lot of questions lately from employers faced with having to lay off workers to cut costs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard process for them to do. A lot of them are tightly tied to their employees and rightly so,鈥� said Kennedy.
鈥淭hey are having a tough time coming to terms to do layoffs. It鈥檚 not an easy thing for anybody.鈥�
She said clients have been asking about their options, how to handle downsizing and what the market is saying about severance packages.
Employers also want to know what they need to be doing and make sure they are following legislation and all the workplace standards.
鈥淲e are very tied to our clients, and so we鈥檙e going to help wherever we can, and they know that,鈥� said Kennedy.
Your Recruitment has held several free seminars to jobseekers that could generate future business for them as well as good public relations.
鈥淲e did very well for a number of years, so it is our turn to give back,鈥� said Kennedy.
鈥淲e had a free session on how to do a good resum茅. We did it at Second Cup and there were a few people that attended.
鈥淚t was maybe a little bit too soon, so maybe we鈥檒l do another one, but we鈥檝e certainly had people coming in and wanting us to create a resum茅 for them.鈥�
Your Recruitment also presented a seminar on how to survive the first month of unemployment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a real transition and we need to give back to the community,鈥� repeated Kennedy who has plenty of free advice for those who have lost their jobs.
鈥淵ou need to just kind of sit down and regroup. It鈥檚 a grieving process and it鈥檚 not easy, so you look at you costs,鈥� she said.
鈥淢ake sure that you can handle a couple of months because it may be a couple of months before you find something.
鈥淕et into a routine. Looking for a job is a full-time job.鈥�
Kennedy said jobseekers need to start networking and lower their salary expectations as everyone moves to reduce their costs.
鈥淣etworking is really important when you are unemployed. It鈥檚 good to get out because you may just run into somebody that鈥檚 going to help you find a position,鈥� she added.
For those with jobs, Kennedy said they need to be working their butts off and show that they are flexible and look at things that are going to save money.
鈥淟ook at processes and try to save the company money. Those are very important aspects right now,鈥� she said.
Asked what Your Recruitment could do for an unemployed oilfield truck driver, for example, Kennedy said, 鈥淲e can start networking and ask our clients if they are looking for truck drivers.
鈥淚f we know we don鈥檛 have any truck drivers, we are very upfront and say 鈥榳e are not going to be able to help you, but here are some organizations that might be looking.鈥�
鈥淓ven though we are not going to make any money off that, we are still in the help mode.
鈥淐ertainly flexibility is going to be a big thing and lowering their salary expectations,鈥� she advised all jobseekers. 聽
