A Saskatchewan equipment manufacturer is embarking on a major job-hiring spree.
Brandt Group of Companies plans to fill more than 300 new full-time positions across Western Canada in the next 12 months.
“In a time where news of job losses and layoffs seem commonplace, Brandt is bucking the trend, managing to succeed and add hundreds of quality, full-time positions to our team despite challenging economic realities,” said Brandt president Shaun Semple.
The company, which is one of the 10 largest private corporations in Saskatchewan, will be filling a wide variety of positions in all five of its divisions, from engineering to administrative jobs.
Read Also
Indonesia seeks to appease U.S. by buying more wheat
Competition could increase in the world’s second largest wheat import market as Indonesia scrambles to find ways to avoid high American tariffs.
Brandt manufactures agricultural equipment, railway maintenance equipment, customized attachments for heavy-duty construction equipment and custom engineered products for steel mills, food processors and railways.
It also operates the largest privately held John Deere dealer in the world, which distributes construction and forestry equipment across Western Canada.
The new jobs represent a 21 percent increase in the company’s existing labour force of 1,400 people.
Doug Simon, chief personnel officer for Brandt Tractor Ltd., estimates that 100 to 135 positions could be created at the company’s head office in Regina.
The other big employer will be the tractor division, which operates 21 equipment dealerships across Western Canada.
“There’s a significant number of heavy duty mechanics that we’d be looking for that would be spread throughout Western Canada in each of our locations,” said Simon.
“I could probably use about 80 or 100 mechanics right now. That’s pretty significant and it seems to be picking up each week. It just keeps adding to the total.”
The need for new employees in Western Canada’s equipment manufacturing business is not unique to Brandt.
Jerry Engel, president of Agricultural Manufacturers of Canada, has spent much of the last two months visiting 30 of his Saskatchewan member companies.
“Every one that I visited has labour issues. They need more people,” he said.
One of the companies Engel spoke to needs 30 new workers. The problem is finding the skilled labour.
“Labour is a huge, huge issue,” he said.
Equipment manufacturers are having a tough time finding workers because the booming oil and mining industries are snapping up most of the available candidates.
Engel said it’s tough for a small agricultural equipment manufacturer in rural Saskatchewan to compete with the wages and benefits offered by potash mines and the oil patch. There is also a shortage of suitable accommodation in rural areas such as St. Brieux, Sask., and Frontier, Sask., which have equipment manufacturers.
“Even though you need more help, where do you house these people?” he said.
Some of his members have sought out technical solutions in the form of robotic welders and laser cutters, but they are pricey alternatives to skilled labour. Others are placing job advertisements in newspapers in Winnipeg and Toronto, but more are going further afield.
“It has gotten to the point now where a lot of our members are recruiting from foreign countries,” said Engel.
Simon said Brandt has launched a multi-media campaign and a website at www.brandtjobs.com
to raise public awareness of the company’s growing employment needs.
However, the recruitment effort will likely need to be augmented by a broader search.
“We are also looking, if necessary, outside the country as well,” Simon said.
Engel said companies have also hired Polynesian workers, including Degelman Industries Ltd. of Regina, which has hired 80 of them.
The strategy is to bring over young families who might put down roots in a community rather than single men who would be more willing to pack up after a few months and head to the oil sands in Fort McMurray, Alta.
Engel said there are many frustrations associated with the labour shortage, but in some ways it is a good problem to have because it means companies have more orders than the ability to fill them.
Simon said Brandt’s announcement is a good news story for the province.
“This is certainly a bit of a hot spot in Canada and North America where we are hiring people. We’re not in a down mode or worrying about the instability with the rest of the economy,” he said.
“It’s going to be an exciting year and a busy year and now we just have to find some people to fill all these vacant positions.”
