According to provisional data on the evolution of the labor market in the province’s RCMs in 2019, the RCMs of Témiscamingue, Abitibi-Ouest and Abitibi are among the 10 RCMs in Quebec with the largest decrease in the number of workers aged 25 to 64, from 2018 to 2019.
These data contrast with Quebec as a whole, where the number of workers aged 25 to 64 increased for the tenth year in a row, with an increase of 1.2%.
Mariella Collini, a research officer at the Abitibi-Témiscamingue Observatory, says that some MRCs, such as Rouyn-Noranda and the Vallée-de-l’Or, have a certain advantage, depending on the major business sectors. .
The variation in the number of workers aged 25 to 63 by MRC from 2018 to 2019
Photo: Bulletin on the evolution of the labor market in the RCMs in 2019
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They will be characterized by a slightly more diversified economy, which can benefit from the public service, for example, in addition to having a sector that is structured around the mining industry as well. So it is sure that in this context, there will be CRMs that will always stand out a little more from the others, she says.
In the MRC of Abitibi, there is a labor shortage in several sectors. The president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Center Abitibi, Mariane Michaud, affirms that the mining industry comes to play for a lot and it will greatly determine where the workers go.
The employer is obliged to offer wages which are interesting if he wants to keep his people at home. And that is a reality almost everywhere, but it is very strong here.
The Témiscamingue RCM is also the one with the lowest rate of workers, at 74.1%. The prefect of the MRC, Claire Bolduc, indicates that since 2017, we have been trying to attract and retain the workforce.
In Témiscamingue, we have between 800 and 1,000 jobs available that could be filled by specialized personnel or professionals. We are really aware of the situation, but we did not wait to see figures like that to act and we have been in action for three years already. Now we can’t wait for the trend to reverse, recognizes Claire Bolduc, who points out that several workers have retired in recent years.
In the MRCs, attractiveness strategies are developed so that young people from the region return to work there after their studies, and also to make the territory known to people from outside.
We are going to try to get people outside the MRC, to catch them directly in the classrooms at the university with web advertising campaigns to sell them the region and tell them how difficult it is. wonderful place to come to live and work, but there is still a lot of work to do, says Mariane Michaud.
However, Mariella Collini underlines the good news: the rate of workers has increased in all the RCMs of the region, between 0.6% and 0.8%.
Median incomes vary according to the MRC
When it comes to income growth, again, some RCMs differ from others. In all the MRCs of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, there is an increase in the median salary, but the smallest increase is in the MRC of Témiscamingue, with 2.3%.
Mariella Collini recalls that the employment structure can generate higher wages in some places.
So where there is the mining sector and the industry that surrounds it, we can notice higher median salaries, this is the case of Rouyn-Noranda and Vallée-de-l’Or, emphasizes Mariella Collini, adding that the average annual salary of a mining job in Abitibi-Témiscamingue exceeds $ 110,000.
