In the fall, the labour shortage was at its worst and job seekers were spoiled for choice. The Omicron wave has completely changed that, and is now complicating things. Here are some of the challenges job seekers are facing.
Dorothée Beaudoin, an employment advisor, points out that the labour shortage is not currently generalized to all sectors.
The shortage is affecting some sectors and leaving others behind. The arts and culture field is more unstable than ever,” she says.
It is true that with the new round of confinement brought on by Omicron, the entertainment, restaurant and tourism sectors have been hit hard, once again.
This increases the discrimination between social classes in terms of access to the job market,” says Dorothée Beaudoin. Jobs that are working at full capacity during the pandemic require education, for the most part. Access to education is more difficult for poorer social classes.”
The employment advisor notes that career transition takes time and steps.
The new health measures limit access to many types of jobs, redirecting job seekers to the health care sector,” she says. Yet, in reality, most jobs in the healthcare setting require some education and therefore time to acquire the training, time and money that many job seekers cannot afford.”
Barriers to overcome for “blue collar” workers
People in “white collar” jobs have benefited greatly from the pandemic. They can work from home and are less exposed to the virus.
I find that the job search process is more complicated for job seekers who want to work in a face-to-face job and cannot telecommute, because they do not have the basic computer skills to use work software (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.),” notes Stéphanie Abdnour, employment advisor.
Job seekers who lack digital literacy are doubly disadvantaged because it is difficult for them to get help from aid agencies.
Since the meetings with clients are done remotely, it makes it even more difficult to contact clients who want to meet me in person, because they are not familiar with using Zoom or a computer in general,” explains Stéphanie Abdnour.
