Two Manitoba organizations say employers who are struggling to fill job positions need to be looking to a large, untapped group of Manitobans who are often passed over to help fill the labour void.
“The number one issue that I hear from businesses across the province is the challenge in terms of finding employees and I don’t think that’s an issue that’s going to go away any time soon,” Manitoba Chamber of Commerce CEO Chuck Davidson said.
“It doesn’t matter what industry it’s in, whether it’s in technology, whether it’s in someone working in retail or restaurants … everybody seems to be looking for people at this point in time.”
Davidson said employers need to start considering “non-traditional” hires to help fill the gap.
“There’s other pools of potential employees that are out there that we need to be looking at and trying to engage that and bringing that into our workforce is going to be absolutely critical,” he said.
“And those businesses that have been able to do that properly and that have been successful with it.”
It’s why Manitoba Possible and the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce are teaming up to help employers see the advantages of hiring Manitobans who live with disabilities and believe it could help with the current labour shortage challenges.
There are roughly 170,000 Manitobans who live with a disability, according to Manitoba Possible, or roughly 14 per cent of the province’s population, and many are on the job hunt.
“(The numbers that I’ve seen) are close to 35,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 that would be considered to be someone with a disability that are unemployed,” Davidson said.
Manitoba Possible has been working for decades to connect employers and job seekers but said the pandemic and the current labour shortages have brought forward a new opportunity.
“This is forcing employers to look beyond their typical labour pool … to look at this untapped, diverse labour pool that we’re sitting on,” Erika Bewski said. “That just might be the solution to their vacancy issues.”
Bewski is the program manager of adult and employment services at Manitoba Possible and said employers often overlook hiring people with disabilities when many are highly skilled and qualified.
“Fifty per cent of the individuals in Manitoba that have a disability have a post-secondary degree or diploma,” she said.
“That’s skilled labour out there that a lot of employers aren’t going to first when they’re looking for people to fill their vacancies.”
Bewski said they are working to demystify myths and fears some employers have about hiring someone with a disability.
“Probably the biggest challenge for us is ignorance on the behalf of employers. I don’t think it’s it’s an intentional ignorance. I think it’s just the fear that I’m going to make a mistake and something’s going to happen and this person is going to get hurt and so I just won’t bother,” she said.
Instead, Bewski said employers need to take advantage of a person’s abilities.
“Look at what the person brings to the table and don’t look through that disability lens, which I think is what we see,” she said. “Every single person with a disability is like every other single person. They’re unique in their own right. They come in with their own set of abilities.”
The group also works to help those with disabilities overcome struggles with confidence and help them prepare for the interview process.
“What we hear from the job seekers that come to our agency is as soon as the employer knows I have a disability, I know right away the interviews are over. They’re not going to hire me … I can tell,” she said.
For those with invisible disabilities, many struggle with whether they should disclose it to the employer during the interview process or ever.
But Bewski said people just need to keep an open mind.
“Just give us an opportunity, interview the person. See what you think. No commitment to hire. Just let us let them in,” she said. “Give them the chance.”
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