Employment in Guelph will be an ongoing challenge, particularly in the area of skilled trades. Contestoga is under enrolled in their welding program and we have several businesses looking for welders as an example. The City, Chamber of Commerce, and educational institutes continue to try to align our labour pool with business needs. Some suggestions from http://www.guelphchamber.com:
1) The City, University, and Chamber have created a joint business directory that can be accessed via the Guelph Chamber of Commerce homepage under “Business Directory”. People can search our 2800 listed businesses by key words. Keyword “employment” example lists agencies to help with employment:
2) Youth unemployment does continue to be high locally and nationally. Employers can access Guelph’s co-op student programs on a new web page accesssed from the Chamber home page under "find a student".
We will never have 100% employment, and being unemployed or under-employed is a challenge many are facing, but it is encouraging to see our unemployed dropping from almost 7,000 to under 4,000. Under-employment and those who have stopped looking are outside these numbers, but hopefully opportunities our businesses are creating will connect with more looking for a new challenge. Employers and students need to consider co-op opportunities.
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