Desperate times mean desperate measures for non-oil employers in the "oil patch".
The booming oil industry should be good news for the whole of the North American 'oil patch' states. But, it's proving a challenge for non-oil employers as their increasing need for labour faces a huge supply shortage.
This Dakotan restaurant has gone a very long way to recruit staff Image: Reinagnoma |
Limited availability of housing, the area's extreme winter temperatures and low unemployment due to the blossoming oil sector in eastern North Dakota, are all preventing the flow of labour into the oil patch. As a result, wages are set to sky-rocket, even for the pizza delivery crews, with one company offering delivery drivers a $250 signing-on bonus!
Not only the oil boom, but rebuilding after the devastating 2011 floods, means plenty of projects for the region's construction industry, but no labour to build the upscale housing and facilities for expanding oil companies - largely because of high starting wages being offered by the oilfield service firms themselves. The salary circle has the potential to spiral out of control.
Another enterprising North Dakotan retailer has come up with solution that involves flying staff in weekly from Wisconsin, where the company has its headquarters. For the first time in the company's history, staff have been put up in local hotels on a weekly basis and, according to the company, looks like "a permanent solution for as far as we can see."
Canada is facing a simlar problem, with Saskatchewan's employers having to look overseas to find labour. It's simply not attractive enough to work for around $12 an hour in the Tim Hortons doughnut shop in Estevan, if a job in the oil fields pays more than double that amount.