Hamilton launches recruitment, retention strategy to become competitive in fight for talent

The City of Hamilton has launched a recruitment and retention strategy, as it struggles to maintain its position as an employer of choice.

The decision follows a third-party analysis of the city’s competitive position as it relates specifically to attracting some 1,110 non-union employees, including directors, managers and various specialties such as planners, IT specialists and engineers.

Director of Human Resources Lora Fontana says high workloads, resulting in poor work-life balance, and uncompetitive wages have been identified as obstacles.

“The salary bands for most non-union employees will be adjusted to more closely align with other municipal comparators, from whom we’re currently lagging behind,” says Fontana.

Hybrid work options are another challenge, as retirements and voluntary departures among managers and specialists have soared by over 40 per cent since 2019.

“For years, we’ve been discussing the pending baby-boom retirement shift, and we are well and truly experiencing it,” says City Manager Janette Smith, “but it’s been compounded by the effects of the pandemic, and the availability of hybrid work that gives employees more options.”

Smith adds that municipal service levels will suffer, if Hamilton doesn’t respond to the loss of competitiveness.

She cited the difficulties in attracting planners, during a media conference on Tuesday.  “We all know we’re in a housing crisis and developers want to get their housing built, of various types. If we don’t have those positions in place it starts slowing down approvals.”

The third-party review of the City of Hamilton’s competitive labour market position was completed by Optimus SBR. It launched August 2022 and was finalized in January 2023 at a cost of $107,000.

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