With the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth set to get underway on Thursday night, many businesses are still trying to find staff in order to deal with the large crowds expected over the next two weeks.
“It’s a good crazy,” David Howard with The Event Group said. “I mean, for two or three years we weren’t doing much so it’s great to have the Stampede back.”
The Event Group specializes in large scale, corporate parties and celebrations that entertain at least 500 people per event.
This year, the company has six planned over the course of the Stampede, but Howard said there have been issues finding staff.
“Catering companies, lighting companies and sound companies are tight on staff,” Howard explained. “We’ve actually had to turn down three events and move them later in the year because we just couldn’t find the team.”
That bittersweet sentiment also being echoed by other business owners in Calgary’s hospitality industry.
“We are all understaffed, dramatically,” Modern Steak owner Stephen Deere said.
Deere owns three locations throughout Calgary but said he’ll have to temporarily shut down one restaurant during the next ten days in order to properly staff the location on Stephen Avenue, closest to the Stampede grounds.
“As we’re standing here on Stephen Avenue there’s not a restaurant that’s not hiring here,” Deere said. “There’s not a restaurant that’s not paying above average wages, there’s all sorts of perks going on in all these locations and we’re still not getting people.”
Alberta Hospitality Association president Ernie Tsu said the issue isn’t just impacting people in Calgary and is widespread throughout Alberta.
“All areas across the province in hospitality… there’s a labour shortage,” Tsu said. “It’s starting to come back with students getting a little more active in the job market but it has been a struggle to make sure positions are filled.”
According to the City of Calgary’s May Labour Market Report the overall services sector in the Calgary Economic Region grew by 75,800 jobs year-over-year with a total of 43,100 employees in the accommodation and food services sector.
However, that’s still no where near the 56,000 employees in May 2019 before the pandemic hit.
Tsu said the hospitality industry, like others, continues to compete for talent.
“I think there’s so many options right now,” Tsu said. “It’s not just our industry that’s running a labour shortage. We can see what’s happening in the airline industry and we can see it in supply chain management as well as construction.”
Deere said the issue is now causing many employees to feel overwhelmed as more work gets piled on to their plates.
“It’s causing burn out, it’s causing anxiety and it’s causing people to leave the industry and that’s why we’re having issues getting people back,” Deere said.
“Honestly, with the labour pool being so dry right now, I don’t think we’re going to be out of this for six months to two years.”
Despite the challenges, Deere said he’s focused on getting through the next ten days and is ready to wow travelers from around the world.
He added, anyone looking for a job should head to their local restaurant.
“We are definitely hiring,” Deere said. “I will speak on behalf of all the restaurants in Calgary, we are all hiring.”
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