Launch of B.C. Tourism Labour Market Strategy
Channel: GovernmentofBC
Date: 2012-06-05

British Columbia's tourism industry will be a leader in provincial job growth as businesses look to fill 101,000 new job openings by 2020, according to a study of labour demand and supply by go2, the BC tourism industry's human resource association. The Tourism Labour Market Strategy sets out the plan to recruit, retain and train the workers needed to keep pace with the growth projected for the industry. Nearly half of the 101,000 openings will be new jobs created by the tourism industry across the province, adding 44,220 more jobs to the provincial workforce by 2020. The other approximately 57,000 openings are due to replacements (i.e. retirements).

"After several years of slow labour growth, the tourism industry is poised to expand," said Arlene Keis, CEO of go2. "Labour shortages are already being felt in places like Northern BC and in the Rockies regions. By 2016, the crunch will be more acute throughout the province." More than 80 per cent of tourism's new job openings are projected to come in Food and Beverage Services (43,410 openings), Recreation and Entertainment (20,530 openings) and the Accommodation sector (18,920 openings).

"Our government is committed to providing British Columbians with the skills training opportunities needed to fill the anticipated one million job openings in our province by 2020," said Pat Bell, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation. "We are working closely with industry partners like go2 to make sure that we are focusing government investments where they will have the most impact -- like training workers for careers in the tourism industry."

For more information, please visit:
http://www.go2hr.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=2583

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