In the ski towns of the nation, places like Mont Tremblant, Que., Banff, Alta., and Rossland, B.C., people usually hope at this time of year for cool temperatures, lots of snow and an early opening day. In Whistler, one of the biggest resort communities in the country, they've got a different problem.
Not enough ski bums - a term applied to footloose young people who spend the winter working in restaurants, bars, hotels and sometimes the hills themselves so they can spend their leisure hours roaring down the slopes.
Employers in Whistler, about 125 kilometres north of Vancouver, have been offering all sorts of incentives to attract employees. Free ski passes.
Pre-arranged housing. Yoga lessons. And some companies still can't find enough people.
The opposite is true at teachers colleges, in Ontario at any rate. They're full to overflowing and the sad fact is that most of their bright-eyed young graduates won't find jobs once they get their degrees. Last year, these institutions churned out 12,400 certified teachers, more than twice as many as the market could absorb.
According to the Ontario College of Teachers, only 41 per cent, or just under 5,100 landed a regular teaching position in their first year out.
"It's kind of disillusioning," says one graduate, 26-year-old Stephanie Wilson, who was quoted in a recent news report. "Some of my friends ... think they're going to get a good job, a stable job, a well-paying job. They come out and there's nothing there for them."
No one would argue that these young people should forget about becoming teachers and try being ski bums. But they might forget about public-sector jobs and try their luck in the private sector. They might set their sights on starting businesses, creating jobs and adding to the nation's wealth, rather than aspiring to the comforts and security of a position in government or publicly funded institutions.
The trouble is, governments keep hanging out Help Wanted signs and padding their payrolls. A close examination of Statistics Canada's monthly labour force survey reveals that most of the job growth in this country is occurring in the public sector. Employment in that part of the economy rose by 158,900, or 4.9 per cent in the year ended Oct. 31. The private sector grew by only 95,900, or 0.9 per cent.
In every province but Nova Scotia and B.C., governments are responsible for most of the growth in employment and in some places the spreads between public and private are startling. In Quebec, the gap was 4.7 per cent versus -0.4. In Ontario, it was 6.0 per cent and -0.2.
There are several problems with the unchecked expansion of government. "Canada needs more output per working person over time," William Robson, president and chief executive of the C.D. Howe Institute, wrote in a recent article, "to expand our dwindling productive capacity ... and to support Canadian incomes and public services in the demographically challenged years ahead."
Robson went on to argue that: "Productivity in the public sector tends to be lower than in business while compensation costs tend to be higher - particularly the rich pensions whose accruing costs are understated in government records."
There are a couple of other concerns. Public servants, like the rest of us, are driven by self-interest. That makes it difficult to change the status quo, as Robson points out: "Recent provincial and local elections have underlined the importance of government-sector workers as voters, who naturally tend to support candidates promising yet more public-sector jobs, and yet richer wages and benefits."
Then there is the problem of crowding out. Governments compete in the same labour markets as private companies. They generally offer higher salaries, better benefits, more vacation time and heftier pension plans. The private sector is forced to compete and that drives up costs, especially in a strong economy when employers of all sorts are hiring.
Due to the aging of the population, this country is headed for demographically challenged times, as Robson puts it. Baby Boomers are beginning to retire and many employers are already scrambling for replacements.
Restaurateurs throughout the West are desperate for workers. Hotels can't find people to perform low-end jobs such as housekeeping and are forced to bring in Asians, Mexicans and others on temporary permits. Shortages are also occurring higher up the ladder.
"We have 50 positions to fill, but that is mainly leadership positions," Michelle Graham of the Fairmont Chateau Whistler told a reporter in late November. "Apart from that, culinary is the biggest area now. We've been desperately looking for strong people."
Given such shortages, and prospects of even bigger problems ahead, governments should be cutting their workforces rather than expanding them. Otherwise, we risk becoming a nation of clerks and administrators.
(D'Arcy Jenish can be reached at jenish@businessedge.ca)
