$18 billion is the amount of money Quebec has left on the table in the last two years, by the manufacturing sector alone, due to labour shortages, causing most companies to turn down contracts, pay late penalties or even scale back their operations because of the critical shortage of workers.
The situation is even more worrying because it is widespread throughout the industry. In fact, 98.5% of the companies surveyed need workers and 70% of them are refusing contracts or paying penalties for late production. Many have slowed down their operations and some are even considering relocating their operations.
1 in 4 companies need to fill 20% or more of their workforce. In fact, positions paying between $20 and $29 per hour are the most in demand in the manufacturing sector (49%). Among the hardest-to-fill positions are operators, welders, machinists, labourers, assemblers, technicians, mechanics, and engineers.
In the second quarter of 2021, the manufacturing industry had 65,905 vacant positions, including a record 25,330 in Quebec alone. This is 5,935 more vacancies in the manufacturing sector than in the second quarter of 2019.
"The current pool of workers is simply not big enough. The government must propose specific measures to address the labour shortage in the manufacturing sector and align its programs with the manufacturing sector to have a concerted and coherent overall vision that will have a real impact. It's time to act," explains Mr. Proulx.
In fact, in the MEQ survey, 2 out of 3 companies believe that the Quebec government could do much more to help solve the labour shortage problem.
MEQ is asking the Quebec government to return to the same number of vacant positions in the manufacturing sector as before the pandemic. We must therefore do everything possible to reduce the number of vacant positions in the manufacturing sector in Quebec by at least 8,905 within one year, from 25,330 (2nd quarter of 2021) to 16 425 (4th quarter of 2019).
"Premier Legault tells us that he wants to increase the volume of products manufactured in Quebec. To do so, we are asking the government to take concrete actions, specific to the manufacturing sector, right now. Government programs must be aligned with the needs of manufacturers if we want to increase our manufacturing footprint," concluded Ms. Proulx. ■