Investing in Today’s Workforce

By Laurie Nicol, CareersNOW!, Meat & Poultry Liason

Employers are experiencing one of the most challenging times in respect to labour supply. It is estimated that by 2025 there will be an employment gap of about 25,000 workers. Keeping employees engaged, productive, and connected has never been more important—or more difficult. But when companies get it right, it’s a lot easier to find and keep talent.

Meat and Poultry Ontario is a proud project partner with Food and Beverage Ontario’s CareersNOW! initiative. Well into our second year CareersNOW! is supporting both employers and job seekers by providing free access to training, funding for WIL placements, hosting job fairs, providing coaching, and increasing visibility to Ontario’s processor companies.

To stay competitive, companies must rethink their strategies for recruitment, engagement, and retention. Gone are the days that employers can have the attitude that workers are lucky to have a job. In many cases the prospective employee is looking at multiple job offers while interviewing with your company. We know that acquiring new talent is costly and that many companies continue to experience high employee turnover rates. That is why a well thought out onboarding process is essential for both the employees and the companies to thrive.

Your employees are your organization’s greatest asset. Make a great first impression by creating a memorable, empowering, and rewarding onboarding experience. When done properly, the process of onboarding can single-handedly help the employees settle into their new environment. CareersNOW! offers a FREE one-hour session with our hiring coach, helping you with your onboarding process, best practices for new hire training initiatives, and employee retention strategies. Sign up for your free session today!

With fierce competition for workers in every sector, particapting in a job fair is an excellent way to tell prospective employees why they should come work for your company. CareersNOW! FREE virtual job fairs provide an opportunity to connect with potential new hires without leaving the plant. Jobseekers can visit your booth, connect directly with you via text or video, apply to your current openings, and schedule plant tours or a subsequent interview.

Investing in training for new hires or upskilling existing workers, take advantage of the FREE job ready skills training offered through, Food Processing Skills Canada. You can register for one or all 14 courses with a certificate issued after successful completion of each module. CareersNOW! offers employers with access to on-line training modules that are typically 2 hours in length and cover such topics as:

• Food Safety Culture and You

• Introduction to SOPs and SSOPs

• Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs)

• Sanitation: Level One • Allergens: Level One

• Workplace and Industrial Safety

• Lock Out & Tag Out

• Canadian Workplace Cultures

• Employer Employee Expectations

• Workplace Essentials: Oral Communications

• Introduction to Emotional Intelligence

• Workplace Essentials: Thinking Skills

• Workplace Essentials: Working with Others

GET STARTED TODAY by establishing a company profile on Carreersnow.ca. Through this portal, a platform powered by Magnet, you can post current job openings, connect with jobseekers from across the province, post opportunities for Work Integrated Learning (WIL) such as student coop semesters or internships, access funding to bring new talent to your organization and connect with future leaders. Employers can also access up to $7,500 in wage subsidies per student term.

For more information on the CareersNOW! program visit https://careersnow.ca or contact: Laurie Nicol workforce@meatpoultryon.ca or Isabel Dopta idopta@foodandbeverageontario.ca.