Flossie and Jim

For those of you who perhaps applied and wanted to know the numbers.....

City hires Britons to fill vacancies
More than 80 signed up after U.K. job blitz
Kim Guttormson, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, August 20, 2008

About 80 Britons are set to start new careers with the city, hopefully by the end of the year, after a successful overseas recruiting trip earlier this summer.

Fifty-five citizens from the U.K. have accepted offers from transit to drive a bus or a C-Train, 16 heavy-duty mechanics are taking provincial equivalency exams to work for fleet services or transit, and 12 experienced planners have either accepted positions or are negotiating.

"It was very worthwhile," said David Watson, the city's general manager of planning, development and assessment, adding the city has been searching for people for 18 months.

"We're very pleased with the quality. We were looking for mid-career people that we had a hard time finding in Canada or North America, for that matter."

Along with those offered jobs, Watson said his departments also came away with the resumes of other qualified applicants.

Ron Collins, spokesman for Calgary Transit, said the 55 hired drivers will make a dent in the shortage, but added there's an ongoing need for employees as Calgarians demand increased service and new LRT lines are added.

"We look forward to having these new operators and mechanics come in as soon as possible so they can commence training and begin work for us," Collins said.

In June, city recruiters attended job fairs in Leeds and London, hoping to fill dozens of vacancies.

It was the first time the City of Calgary had searched internationally for workers since the late 1970s. But the overall labour crunch in Calgary, coupled with growth requiring more staff to meet demands, left the government struggling to find employees.

The Calgary Police Service has had success overseas, with about 12 per cent of the force starting as international applicants. This year's training classes have included 64 United Kingdom applicants.

Last year, the city lost more than 10 per cent of its employees to new jobs and retirement, while adding another 600 positions to the 2008 payroll.

The lack of staff has resulted in huge overtime costs -- about $46 million in 2007, up 51 per cent from the year before -- as the city struggles to deliver services to citizens.

Cindy Munn, lead for the city's corporate recruiting and staffing initiative, said the employees must still go through a number of steps before the hirings are finalized, including approval from the federal government.

However, the city had specific positions pre-approved by the federal government, obtaining labour market opinions that outline local attempts to fill the jobs and the need to go overseas.

Some of the new employees may start by the end of the year, said Munn.

"I believe we were successful because we did our homework and ensured that we were going to where talent existed for the jobs we were targeting," she said.

[email protected]




© The Calgary Herald 2008

Rich_007

Now go hire another 35 tea vendors to handle the increased demand.

R.

Steve_P

OH NO THE BRITISH ARE COMING THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!!!!!!!

Lock up your daughters hide your valuables.

DOBBIE

Good luck to them trying to get a mortgage on a family property on a driver's salary with no credit history in a city where the average house price is still $400k ish for a small box and being new they won't be able to get a doctor, credit card, cheaper car insurance etc......I trust the City of Calgary has told them these minor details.....Probably not.....

bazzz

Hang on. They want "career-minded people" to drive a bus? How does that work? You put in the hours and they promote you to being a ****ing pilot?

R I C H

The point about house prices is fair enough, but researching that is not beyond the realms of most immigrants before arrival.

The other aspects are debatable - many immigrants have secured mortgages without a credit history, drop-in clinics aren't necessarily a bad option for health issues, and credit cards/car insurance issues aren't impossible to resolve either.

I think you're painting a very bleak picture that's not entirely accurate.

Rich_007

Buyer beware, innit. fools rush in (believing the marketing spin and glossy brochures/funky websites) and all that jazz.

R.

Steve_P

No not a ****ing pilot, a commercial pilot.

After all, glorified bus driver is all an airline pilot is...no?

Steve ducks head and runs for cover.

Where is that tongue in cheek smiley?

DOBBIE

Not bleak at all. The only way I managed to get a credit card is to secure it with cash, a $1000 dollar limit meant I had to give them a $1000. What does a bus driver earn $60k ish a year maybe, 3x that = 180K mortgage. Most institutions, because of the way the market has gone here are only offering 80% mortgages now (straight from a Financial Advisor last night)....Yes you can hunt around, and yes you can do research, however it doesn't make it any easier. Child care is a major issue here also in case the OH wants to work. It's easy to sit and preach from your lake front property in BC, but Calgary has some major issues that I doubt would have been the first thing out the mouth of the recruiters in London and Leeds......I was lucky I had a load of money from a house sale in the UK, that market is now through the floor also so a lot of people will struggle to sell their houses.....Just being realistic RICH....

R I C H

I don't think I was preaching, nor do I have a lake front property. I've earned considerably less than $60k p/yr here, in a province where house prices aren't exactly cheap either.

If relying on a credit card over here is necessary, then the likelihood is that any individual is going to struggle financially.

As Rich_007 said, it's buyer beware - no matter what spin the recruiters put on it, surely you have a responsibility to yourself and your family to do a little independent research?

Jingsamichty

I still don't get the obsession with being able to get a mortgage right from the off. A newly-arrived bus driver, if they're on $60k, would be able to rent a 3 bed home from around $1500?

Steve_P

There does appear to be this idea that if you can't afford to buy a house very shortly after you arrive it's not worth coming.

Not at all sure I understand it either.

bazzz

It's because this forum is dominated by dull middle-aged people with kids who've sold their British homes at a vast profit. Anything owning their own home terrifies them.

Rich_007

Not lakefront, just exclusive misty mountain top locale And not overprivelidged, just hard working with the smarts.

Now, the point is that "buyer beware" relates to all aspects of life - not just immigration.

I laugh at these naive buffoons who lap up the realtor/recruiter/relocator-speak and let the babble wash over them until they absorb it all as the one single truth - they eventually believe everything they see and hear. One doesn't need to be a cynic, just have a dose of smarts and enough planted reality and life experience to see through the BS and spin.

Also note Calgary is not the only place with issues. But in certain circles, dare to mention the "issues' and one is castigated, then disowned like an evil heretic.

Rich_007

Indeed.

R.