BC to Fill 101,000 Tourism Jobs by 2020
go2, British Columbia’s tourism and hospitality industry human resource association, announced today the results of its Tourism Labour Market Strategy. The report shares BC’s employee recruitment plan which is looking to fill 101,000 new job openings within the tourism industry by 2020.
Half of the expected 101,000 job openings will be new jobs created in the BC tourism industry which equals a total of 44,220 new jobs to the provinces workforce by 2020. Other job openings, approximately 57,000, are expected from retirements within the industry.
"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."
What type of work will these jobs be affiliated with exactly? New employment within the industry is expected in Food and Beverage Services with 43,410 openings, Recreation and Entertainment with 20,530 openings while the Accommodation industry will total 18,920 new 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."
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To reassure these figures are not pulled out of thin air, the Conference Board of Canada on behalf of the Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council will validate these figures with their own labour market study.
What will build these employment growth opportunities is a multitude of factors included in the Tourism Labour Market Strategy. go2 explained that career awareness and recruitment campaigns in BC, partnerships between summer and winter employers to exchange seasonal workers, tapping un-utilized talent pools, industry specific training, improvement to policies and programs as well as workshops and information for employers will lead to better employment opportunities throughout the province.
"The tourism industry often provides people with their important first job and sets them on their career path," said Keis. "Tourism is also the largest employer of youth, with one-in-four British Columbians under the age of 24 working in the industry."