To set the human resource vision, goals and strategies for the next five years for BC's tourism and hospitality industry, go2 is facilitating a comprehensive update of the Tourism HR Action Plan. This project includes:
- Reviewing key issues, challenges, and trends within the industry through operator-focused surveys, focus groups and stakeholder meetings.
- Updating labour market information such as key trends and issues.
- Conducting consultations and strategy sessions with industry leaders.
- Reviewing best practices, successes and failures from other jurisdictions.
Based on an online HR survey we conducted this summer, some notable highlights include:
- Despite the relatively “soft” labour market at present, 45% of BC tourism businesses indicated problems with recruiting qualified staff in the past year. The most frequently cited impacts of this have been longer shifts for staff and owners, reduced levels of customer service, reduced business hours of operation, and limited production levels.
- The biggest impediments to enhancing staff training and development are cost of training, lack of local training services, and the inability for key staff to take extended leaves from work.
- Of all foreign worker programs utilized, the mobile youth Working Holiday Program and the Provincial Nominee Program were viewed as the most helpful for meeting recruitment needs.
Our next step is to conduct regional industry consultations throughout the province, with sessions already completed in early August in Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria. Additional sessions are being developed for North and Central BC, Thompson Okanagan, and Kootenay Rockies in mid to late September. If you are interested in attending a consultation meeting in your region, please contact Joyce Lam at jlam@go2hr.ca.
If you have any questions about the initiative, background reports or other information, please contact Kim Campbell, go2’s Director, Industry Human Resource Development at kcampbell@go2hr.ca or call 604-633-9787 ext 234.
