LETHBRIDGE – There is a big shift underway in Alberta’s job market. With thousands of workers losing their jobs in the oil industry, many of them are switching to the service industry.
Jaclyn Traywek with Stella’s Diner said that no matter where you live in Alberta, you know of at least one person who has lost their job.
“I know four people myself that have lost their jobs in the last two weeks,” Traywek said.
Mass layoffs have pushed Alberta’s unemployment rate to its highest level in more than five years and Stella’s is seeing the result.
“We are seeing an increase in resumes coming through about five per day,” Traywek said.
READ MORE: Alberta men have higher unemployment than Canadian average for the first time since 1989
While resumes keep piling up, the available jobs are becoming scarce.
“We are fully staffed right now,” Traywek said. “We are all working parents and we don’t want to lose our hours to maintain our family.”
Just three weeks ago, Tyler Gibson was a cook at Stella’s but was laid off and is now struggling to find a job in the service industry.
“Not hiring or hiring part time. I’m not a young boy any more. $12 an hour does not quite pay the mortgage,” Gibson said.
“I’m looking for something in my skill set and in price range. That’s goal number one, goal number two is to get a job.”
Justin White is a manager at Stella’s and said he sees many overqualified people applying for serving jobs who have recently been laid off.
“I saw a guy come in who had a ton of education and he was just looking to work because he could not find anything in his field,” White said.
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