We asked how Ontario's labour crunch is affecting you. Here's what you told us

This week, CBC Toronto launched Workers Wanted, a new series of stories exploring how the labour crunch is playing out across Ontario.

As part of our reporting, we asked our audience about how the workers shortage is affecting their own fields and daily lives, and what might be done to address it.

More than 1,000 people, including workers, employers and general members of the public, responded to our informal online survey and some clear themes emerged.

Before we get to those, you may want to check out this breakdown from CBC Toronto's Mike Crawley on why and how the province is grappling with the labour shortage.

Now here is a limited sampling of what we heard from you. Some of the responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

More work, same pay

Many in our audience who are employed said the dearth of workers in some industries has left them picking up the slack without any additional compensation.

"I'm noticing staffing levels in my own workplace, and other workplaces, running way below normal. The workload is being dramatically increased and with that comes more pressure to perform. This has led to a positive feedback cycle where people leave and are not replaced, creating more workload, more pressure and burnout and people leave," said one respondent.

"Empty positions above and below me in the organization chart mean I am doing the work of four while my manager recruits, a process which has taken seven months with no end in sight," said another.

Wages not keeping pace with costs of living

Some economists and labour market experts who previously spoke with CBC Toronto took issue with the current dynamic being framed as a "worker shortage." Rather, they argued, some employers are unwilling or unable to pay wages that would attract potential workers.

Many people who answered our survey pointed out that wages have not kept pace with the increased costs of living, making low-wage work seem almost pointless.

"It's not so much a 'worker shortage' as clearly a shortage of available workers for jobs in the sub-living wage sphere. The local 'living wage' where I am is around $21 to $23 per hour, but the vast majority of jobs advertised are in the $16 to $18 per hour range. Also very little sense of 'problem solving' — you don't see a lot of 'training on offer' or accepting lower qualifications mentioned in job ads. Employers clearly want access to a wide pool of moderately qualified staff who will work for notably below the living wage," said one person from London, Ont. 

"There's plenty of people willing to work but few places want to pay a wage people can live off of and even fewer want to interview willing workers not already trained for the jobs being offered," answered another respondent.

"There are 'Now Hiring' and 'Help Wanted' signs on almost every business in town, however when you look at the job postings they don't pay enough to rent a one-bedroom and survive in our little town," said someone else.

An outdated minimum wage

The latest survey by Statistics Canada in the third quarter of 2022 found that, in Ontario, the most job vacancies were in the sales and service sector, particularly in restaurants and bars. Some respondents answered that the minimum wage is so low relative to the costs of living that the downsides of jobs that pay minimum wage often aren't worth it.

"I work in retail, part time. Our store is about 40 workers short," said one person, adding that the issue won't be resolved without further increases to the minimum wage. "People don't want to work in retail and take the abuse for the wages they pay."

Others pointed out that employers are also facing higher costs of doing business. One respondent from the Kingston area who currently works in a local hardware store commented on this difficult situation:

"My observations are that employers are struggling with rising supply costs while employees need wages that can support them while the cost of living is rising on nearly all items. To raise wages, that money has to come from somewhere, so logic would say that the customers are going to see an increase of goods or services from the employers that pay their employees above minimum wage. We see it here at the hardware store. We're a small, independent business that tries our best to provide value to our small-town customers, but the employees here deserve to be paid as well."

Major pressure on skilled trades

The Statistics Canada survey also found significant job vacancies in the skilled trades and construction sector. That reality was mirrored in many responses to our Workers Wanted callout.

"There's definitely a shortage of skilled labour where I work as well as a huge shortage of apprentices, which will mean an even larger shortage in the next few years," one individual said.

"I work for a general contractor in construction as an estimator. Construction schedules are being lengthened due to lack of trades workers for almost every sub-trade we deal with," wrote another.

Many people who said they work in the construction industry said better access to apprenticeships, a focus on skilled-trades in high schools and wider recruiting efforts — particularly those aimed at women — could help ease the shortages.

Changing attitudes to work

Another prominent theme in responses to CBC Toronto's survey was changing attitudes toward employment and work-life balance, with some focusing on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected perceptions and others stressing generational differences.

One audience member who says she works in human resources put it like this:

"I think that employers need to realize that it takes more resources to find, train and otherwise bring on a good person than it will to keep a person. They also need to realize that in many sectors, we are looking at younger generations who won't put up with the crap (read: exploitation) at work that our parents did so things like flexibility, wage/benefit increases and other supports for employees are essential not luxurious. They are looking for work/life balance, the ability to actually live rather than get by on their paycheques, mental health support and generally the feeling that they have value. Companies need to understand that and understand that the pandemic changed things. Business as usual won't work."

Using current conditions to your advantage

Some workers wrote in to say that the labour market conditions have encouraged them to seek out higher wages.

"I am a licensed professional with two post-graduate degrees and 10 years of experience in my field and my rent is still half my income. In my field pretty much the only way anyone ever gets a raise is to quit and change employers, so that's what I did. My rent goes up every year and yet — unless you are unionized — salaries never do! So why not take advantage of the current market and try to get ahead a little?" said one worker.