WINNIPEG/MONTREAL (Reuters) — Canadian National Railway plans to extend a major hiring spree into next year as it scrambles to handle surging shipments and fill vacancies.
The hiring blitz, which has added 3,500 workers this year and calls for at least 2,000 more in 2018, follows significant job cuts in 2015 and 2016 and reflects a resurgent economy and stiffer competition from Canadian Pacific Railway.
The 5,500 new hires in Canada and the United States would represent nearly one-quarter of CN’s workforce and include roughly 1,700 new positions.
Much of the hiring focuses on Western Canada, where business is brisk hauling bumper crops and intermodal containers to port, said Doug Ryhorchuk, a CN vice-president of operations.
However, he said CN’s freight business has increased “right across the board.”
Grain exporters are waiting to assess CN’s changes. Service this fall has been poor, said Wade Sobkowich, executive director of the Western Grain Elevator Association.
