A new position created at go2HR, B.C.’s tourism and hospitality human resource association, aims to help ease the labour woes of businesses in Destination BC’s Vancouver, Coast and Mountains (VCM) region.
Former Whistlerite Cindy Conti took on the role of regional HR specialist for the VCM region this month, and will serve as a direct contact for tourism businesses needing HR assistance.
“A lot of these small [and] medium-sized businesses need some place that they can turn to, and go2HR is one of those resources, but there’s over 20,000 employers across B.C.” said Krista Bax, go2HR’s CEO, adding that the VCM region accounts for more than 65 per cent of tourism activity in the province.
“So we thought it would be helpful to try to get another resource in place.”
Conti has direct experience with Whistler’s unique labour situation, spending 12 years in the resort from 2001 to 2013, mostly working in HR positions.
“Things have changed a lot, but I think some of those same issues are still there, just in a different form,” Conti said, noting that housing has always been an issue in Whistler.
In her new role, Conti will provide HR leadership and support for tourism businesses, while also spearheading other actions outlined in a recent Tourism Labour Market Tactical Action Plan.
While offering competitive wages is important, “it’s not always about money, but connecting people to the right people, to the right organizations,” Conti said.
“There’s just such a vast range of people out there, and so I think it’s a matter of connecting those pieces. It sounds easy, but it’s not … it’s changing all the time.”
Anecdotally, employers in the industry are paying more these days, Bax said.
“They need to pay more. And so that is already starting to happen in a very challenging financial environment for these businesses,” she said.
“They realize that they can’t run a business without people.”
While there isn’t any hard data pinpointing exactly how many workers are needed in the industry at the moment, Bax noted there were about 150,000 jobs lost across the province at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and April 2020.
Many workers have left the industry or the province altogether, and the shortage is affecting industries across the board.
“You could walk into any business in any community probably right now in B.C. … and find an opportunity if you’re looking for it,” she said.
“I think every business is looking for how to ramp up operations, because operations were so depressed, and any business knows it takes a long time to get back to that normal level when you have had a disruption in your staffing.”
As it relates to Conti’s new role, “first and foremost, the No. 1 focus is to help the industry have enough people to offer the great experiences and services that are available,” Bax said.
Conti doesn’t see the day-to-day operations in her new role being spent on the phone acting as an HR rep for businesses, but “I want to be able to provide them with the resources that can point them in the right direction,” she said.
“Is it immigration that they need help in, or is it more of a legal issue? And I’m not here to advise on specific [matters], but I can direct these employers to where they can find those experts.”
Employers and businesses can find more resources at go2hr.ca.
