Mar 1, 2022

In a world of diminishing labour resources and the continuing migration of people to major urban areas, we in the boat business need to really rethink how to attract the young people we need to run our cottage country marinas, repair yards and related businesses.

My two sons are waiting anxiously for covid to end so they can safely move to the city where their employers will want to reopen downtown offices, reunite their teams and get back to normal.

In terms of quality of life, the best shows and entertainment as well as the best and most trendy restaurants will always be downtown- it just makes economic sense. 

Poachers will be shot…

The old habits of poaching your competitors best people may be enough to get you shot in the ever-tighter cottage country labour market this summer. 

A couple of weeks ago I showed a simple graph of Canada’s population in 5-year age groups and the easily recognized pattern is that the number of older people is increasing while the number of young people is flat, or in decline. Simply, the labour pool is shrinking and bright young people may not see a career path in boating – as much as many of your young customers may love the cottage or boating.

It’s still early in the season of 2022, so get out there and prospect for the few young people that want into boating, by advertising your career opportunities here in Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest. It’s free and we have a Canada-wide audience.

And, it’s important to stock the pond. Get your whole staff to have a Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest subscription. It’s free. It’s just one email a week and hopefully, your people will take an interest in the business, the products and the career opportunities.

If we all open up to the idea of building our industry’s labour force, the odds of getting the people we need will improve. It’s just a matter of improving the odds.

Another thing that can improve the odds is to actually include a career path outline and information about compensation. They work for money, so tell them what they can get and be prepared to be competitive. We will need top people for the ever-increasing levels of technical sophistication that we are seeing in the new boats.

Something to consider I hope…

Andy Adams – editor