Seasonal hiring rush underway for Montreal retailers after two pandemic years

In his more than 30 years running Swiss Vienna Pastry shop in Pointe-Claire, Harry Schick has never had so much trouble hiring staff.

"We’re at a loss, to be honest. We’ve never seen it like this," he said.

For more than two years, Schick has tried to hire four full-time employees.

"We close Sundays because I don’t have enough staff," Schick said. "We open the store now at 9 o’clock and we close at 5 p.m. No evenings. I just don’t have enough labour to run the store."

He usually hires two seasonal workers for the holidays, but that’s no guarantee. Competition for holiday workers will be stiff this season.

Job search website Indeed says there are more holiday jobs available this year in Canada. Seasonal job postings are up 28 per cent compared to 2021.

In Quebec, there appears to be an appetite for part-time work over the holidays. The number of job seekers has jumped 26 per cent compared to last year.

"At the end of the day, the Canadian labour market and the Quebec labour market, in particular, is quite tight," said Brendon Bernard, senior economist at Indeed. "Job postings are way above their pre-pandemic levels."

Having a job that stands out from the rest is crucial, he added.

"Employers need to do whatever they can so their job opening really appeals to job seekers," Bernard said. "That really comes down to competitive compensation, competitive wages."

At Swiss Vienna, training for new employees starts at $16.50/hour, but Schick says some new hires don’t even show up.

"Not only do they not show, most of them don’t even bother calling," Schick said. "Right now, we’ll take anything. If you want to work we have a job for you."