Sudbury has more employers but fewer employed, report finds
Nevertheless, many employers finding it hard to fill open positions, Workplace Planning Sudbury-Manitoulin says
The number of employers went up last year in Greater Sudbury, although the number of people employed was down a bit, a new report indicates.
From June 2022 and June 2023, there was “a net increase of 36 firms with 20 to 99 employees,” for instance, and “several industries experienced robust and widespread growth,” according to the Local Labour Market Plan released by Workplace Planning Sudbury-Manitoulin.
Sectors experiencing the most gains included health care and social assistance; construction; arts, entertainment and recreation; and accommodation and food services.
There were also declines, most notably in wholesale trade, while firms in the areas of retail trade and administrative/support services saw “a mix of increases and decreases,” the report states.
Overall employment fell slightly — by 1.8 per cent — during the period covered by the report, as was the case generally in Ontario, with the decreases primarily felt in manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, information and cultural industries, educational services, arts, entertainment and recreation, and accommodation and food services.
These losses were almost balanced out, however, by significant employment increases in mining and oil and gas extraction; construction; health care and social assistance; and public administration.
The top five industries in terms of how many people they employ have evolved somewhat in Greater Sudbury, although health care and social assistance topped the list in both 2016 and 2021, according to Census data, with retail trade coming second in each of those years.
Educational services occupied third place in 2016 but fell to fifth place in 2021, while both mining and public administration moved up a notch.
The list is different when measured by the number of employers in each industry. As of June 2023, the top five, in order, were: real estate, rental and leasing; health care and social assistance; construction; professional, scientific and technical services; and retail trade.
This was also the breakdown in 2022, noted Workforce Planning, and similar to the provincial pattern. “Greater Sudbury has four of the same top five industries by number of employers as Ontario (excluding transportation and warehousing), although in a different ranking,” the report points out.
The labour market study also looked at stats for Manitoulin and Sudbury districts, which both count agriculture, forestry, fishing and farming, as well as accommodation and food services, in their top five. In each of these three areas, the top five industries account for a majority of all businesses — at least 56 per cent, in the case of Manitoulin District, and as high as 64 per cent in Greater Sudbury.
“In all three areas, real estate and rental and leasing stand out in terms of the large number of solo operators, considerably higher than the next two industries (except in Manitoulin District, where agriculture is a closer second),” the report notes.
From 69 per cent to 74 per cent of these solo operators are landlords of residential rental units; the next two largest categories are landlords of non-residential rental units and real estate agents.
Greater Sudbury counts 17 establishments with more than 500 employees and 33 with 200-499 workers, according to the report.
Of the entities with 500 or more employees, seven are schools (including the city's two colleges and Laurentian), three are mines, two are hospitals, two are janitorial services companies, one is a smelting and refining firm, one is an industrial construction business, and the final one is the City of Greater Sudbury itself.
In terms of employment by occupation, the trends in Greater Sudbury largely follow the provincial pattern, the report notes.
This includes “decreases among occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport and sales and service,” but also “considerable increases in natural and applied sciences and related occupations; and in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations,” according to Workforce Planning. “Notably, there was also a healthy increase among occupations in manufacturing and utilities.”
The labour market study repeated a table it included in its 2023 report, showing migration trends in Sudbury over a five-year period (from 2015-16 to 2019-20).
Stats Canada data show that net migration (more people moving here than leaving) increased during that time frame, with non-permanent residents (those with a work or study permit, along with refugee claimants) accounting for 2.2 per cent of Greater Sudbury's population.
“Net population increase is driven by migration and international students paying Canadian taxes,” the study notes.
There was also a modest increase in residents aged 15 or older over the period of 2016-2021 in Greater Sudbury, along with a higher proportion of Indigenous persons.
Educational attainment figures did not change much from 2016 to 2021. There was a slight drop in residents aged 25-44 who obtained an apprenticeship certificate or a college diploma, while the number of high school and university grads increased slightly.
The report also looked at median income, which is similar to an average income but calculated differently to provide a better picture of typical earnings.
In 2021, Greater Sudbury had a median wage of $40,570, while the median wage for the Manitoulin District was $33,880 and for the Sudbury District $33,250.
Workforce Planning launched a job board in the spring of 2021, which apart from being a useful tool for job hunters, yields data regarding the types of positions that are in highest demand.
Based on the number of job postings in Sudbury from June 2022 to June 2023, the top five openings were for: retail salespersons and non-technical wholesale trade sales and account representatives; customer and information services representatives; transport truck and transit drivers; retail and wholesale trade managers; and cooks, butchers and bakers.
In Greater Sudbury, there was a total of 35,295 active online job postings during that 12-month period (including some that were repeated over more than one month). That does not include job vacancies advertised through word of mouth, company website postings, window signs and other methods used by employers.
Mining remains an important, and evolving, part of the Sudbury economy, and Workforce Planning has been looking into the impact of new technologies and innovations in this sector.
Its research has shown that “not all mining companies are at the same stage of innovation adoption and implementation,” the report states. “What we do know, however, is that those who do not embrace technological changes will likely be left behind.”
The changes in the industry are “primarily focussed on improving safety, minimizing workforce injury and risk, mitigating environmental impacts, and reducing cost,” the organization said. “At the same time, mining and mining supply services, like many employers, are finding it difficult to recruit the workforce they need now and what they will need in the future.”
Workforce Planning conducted a survey, in collaboration with the Labour Market Group, to assess what type of new technologies are being developed and what skills will be required.
Some of the recommendations that came out of this include: bridging the generational divide between older and younger workers in the industry; increasing new education and training approaches; collaborating on industry-wide awareness campaigns to attract new entrants; and developing strategies to attract more diverse groups to the industry.
In terms of broader labour market trends, the report notes that employers across all industries continue to experience hiring challenges and that many of the positions being offered are entry-level, low-wage jobs.
Some employers — in the mining sector, for instance, and engineering firms — do not post their vacant positions externally, however, so it is hard to know if they are hiring, the report notes.
Employers are particularly seeking: trades and trades-related workers; retail workers; drivers with an AZ DZ licence; office administration and reception staff; personal support workers; nurses; homecare workers; general labourers; food services staff; hospitality workers; early childhood educators; corrections staff; human resources professionals; finance people; meat cutters; and cleaners/janitors.
Skills in demand include computer proficiency; communication and language skills; ability to drive; and ability to work as part of a team.
Workforce Planning said priorities for job-seekers have evolved in recent years, with many now preferring to work from home.
Workers also report more mental-health issues and encounters with employers who are inflexible (for example, refusing to adjust work hours due to transportation challenges) and don't want to pay a living wage.
Some employers are also taking advantage of foreign workers and international students who do not know their employment rights, the report indicates, and “lack of on-the-job training opportunities continues to be a problem.”
The labour market report also cites a “significant concern” regarding older adults having to re-enter the job market as they can't afford to live otherwise, with some saying they will “have to work until I die.”
To read the full report, visit tinyurl.com/mu3mrpxc.