SaskJobs website given six-month reprieve
REGINA After receiving “not insignificant feedback,” the Saskatchewan government is temporarily bringing back SaskJobs.ca, a province-operated job-seeking site.
In January, the province announced the service, which costs about $100,000 a year to maintain, would be partnered with the National Job Bank, which is run by the federal government.
When announcing the federal partnership, the province said it would allow more features and benefits. However, since the change started earlier this month employers and job seekers have complained it is not user-friendly and makes it harder to post jobs. There were also complaints the website required more personal information than SaskJobs, with users being required to provide their mother’s maiden name, social insurance number (SIN) and birth year.
Jeremy Harrison, the minister in charge of career training, said Wednesday the government heard about “concerns with regard to the accessibility of the website, perhaps how employers or employees were able to access it.”
That prompted him to order SaskJobs to return for six months.
Harrison said the province would be “working with employers over that period of time” and “looking at innovative ways” to keep the front end of SaskJobs long term, while still harnessing the back end functionality of the federal job bank.
On Wednesday night, a few more than 500 jobs appeared on SaskJobs.ca, which is significantly fewer than the thousands posted online when the change was first announced.
Recent labour statistics show Saskatchewan currently has an unemployment rate hovering around six per cent, on par with the national average.
“This partnership with the National Job Bank will provide more features and benefits,” said Steven Bonk, the province’s economy minister at the time the change was announced. “(It) is part of the Government of Saskatchewan’s commitment to help attract and retain skilled workers in the province.”