Jobs in Calgary Not As Easy As Before to Get

There was time that the province of Alberta was the place to go in Canada if you needed a job—more specifically, Calgary. The city had the opportunities especially in the oil and gas sector but unfortunately, things have changed.

“We actually had an IT guy two weeks ago,” said Sharlene Massie the owner of About Staffing, describing a candidate for an open job. “It was a good job, $90,000 a year. He’s not working now, so he’s making nothing. He went to the first interview, he was supposed to go back for the second interview, and he said, the company was too small, he was going to wait for a bigger company to hire him.”

Everyone in the city—including Ms. Massie—has had to “adjust” their expectations.

“Put your ego in check, that’s what I’m saying to everybody. We’ve all had to put our egos in check.”

So what is the job situation in the province looking like these days?

There are fewer jobs in the oil and gas industry, that is for sure and also, in the technical and financial sectors. However, the service industry seems to be doing just fine with more jobs being created in the retail and food service sectors. The education, health and public administration sectors are hiring, as well.

The unemployment rate sits still at 10%.

“The companies are not hiring back at the same price that they had these people before. They’re going in offering less.”

Most individuals are used to having well-paying jobs but are advised to have a “survival job”. As you can expect, a lot of them are very reluctant to do since the so-called survival jobs tend to be in the service industry such as working in retail and such.

They are embarrassed to say the least.

“They don’t want to lose status or the perception of the loss of status, which is oftentimes associated with pay or job title,” said Avra Davidoff, a psychologist with the Calgary Career Counselling. “So sometimes it’s helping an individual understand that you can gain status through other ways, it’s not always about the dollar sign.”

“It’s the idea that we need to have a certain job title or pay in order to be successful, or well-regarded,” said Davidoff. “And it’s hard for people to detach themselves from that view.”