Document Details

2011-02-03

Harry Sullivan

Truro Daily News

TRURO - A local restaurant owner is spending thousands of dollars bringing in foreign workers because he can't find enough local help to accommodate the demanding schedules of his business.
"Last year, probably in July and August, we came to the conclusion that we couldn't staff our stores with local workers, totally," said Larry Swenson, owner of the three McDonald's franchises in Truro. "We even had to close our backshift (at the Robie Street location). We couldn't staff the restaurant beyond 11 o'clock at night."
The staffing situation became so chaotic, Swenson said, it reached a point of "desperation."
"Last summer we just had a major churn with people, just because of people coming in and wanting a job, then when they find out what the job is like, they say they don't want the job," he said.
"Back in July and August we weren't even getting enough (staff) to run it during the day ... I just couldn't find them. It just became a way of life for us that we were constantly hiring, training, losing, hiring ... so then you have to go out and replace them.
"That just became an unending battle last summer. It was stressful for everybody ... and at the end of the day, it's your customers that suffer, right?"
Swenson said he offered his staff an extra dollar an hour to work the backshift but did not get enough takers. Eventually, his frustration led him to look elsewhere for help. After securing an agent to help deal with red tape issues, he began hiring workers from the Philippines.
Swenson won't say how many immigrants he has brought in to work at the restaurants because he doesn't publicly discuss staff numbers. But he said there is no sensible reason to endure the hassle and expense of hiring foreign help if enough good, reliable workers could have been found here.
"I would say that it cost anywhere from two (thousand) to four thousand bucks (per worker). So, if you were going to look at it from a cost point of view, there's no sense paying that kind of money to bring someone in if you can find them locally."
The first workers arrived in December and Swenson said it was only after that point he was able to return the Robie Street location to a 24-hour operation.
And, unlike existing staff, when the Plilippinos were offered the extra dollar per hour to work the backshift, they all volunteered.
"No one would take us up on that," he said of the shift premium for regular staff. "So we brought in these workers and they are working backshift. And we told everybody if they opened up their hours, they would be guaranteed their hours."
Those who weren't willing to open up their availability, however, faced the prospect of having their shifts reduced. And Swenson is not apologizing for doing what he believes was necessary to keep his restaurant operating.
"Why would I go to Manila to get people if I could get local people?" he said.
Regarding rumours that local employees are being displaced in flavour of cheaper labour because of government subsidies for the immigrants, Swenson said that simply isn't true.
"As far as subsidies go, there's no government subsidies. In fact, it cost me. I have to pay their airfare in, their airfare back if they want to go back to where they come from. And if I could save that money getting local staff, I'd do it.
Under Canada's immigration laws, Swenson cannot charge back any of the costs of bringing the workers here and once their work permit has expired he has no guarantee they will remain.
"So, again you are saying to yourself, why would a guy do that if you could get them locally?"
Margot Bégin-Gillis, director of People and Workforce Development, with the Colchester Regional Development Agency, whose job involves dealing with immigration issues, agreed.
Over the past several years, a number of Philippinos have come to this area to work, including registered nurses at local seniors residences. She is also planning discussions with another individual who is looking at bringing in workers from the Philippines.
And whileBégin-Gillis said she was not familiar with Swenson's situation, "... there is definitely a demand there (for outside help)" in the food service industry.
"That's where we're seeing a lot of work permits being approved," she said.
An employee at another fast food outlet, who asked not to be identified because she is not the official spokesperson, said while her restaurant has not resorted to bringing in outside workers, finding good local help is certainly a challenge.
"Yes, it is huge. Always has been," the woman said. "I think that pretty much applies to all fast food (services)."
That is also the case for some local farmers who have had to resort to bringing in foreign help in recent years.
"I know in agriculture, it is very much a case if they did not bring these people in, their crops would be rotting in the fields,"Bégin-Gillis said.
But undertaking such an endeavour is not done on a whim, she said, nor without scrutiny.
"They are very strictly regulated and the government won't approve an employer to bring someone in on a work permit unless they can prove there is a shortage and they haven't been able to fill it."

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  No choice but to look elsewhere for help, employer says (http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/2011-02-03/article-2197044/No-choice-but-to-look-elsewhere-for-help-employer-says/1)
  

Sales and service occupations - general

Policy analysis

Public awareness

Philippines and Nova Scotia

English