Langley business owners who relied on any kind of shipping got a one-two punch in 2024, according to Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce director Nick Nuraney.
First was the 10-day November lockout at the Port of Vancouver that shut down operations, ending after the federal government ordered binding arbitration for the employers and 700 workers.
That was immediately followed by a strike of Canada Post workers that ran from Nov. 15 to Dec. 17, before they were ordered back to work too.
"It was a kind of two-pronged attack," said Nuraney.
Although one strike affected mostly goods going in and out of Canada, and the other affected local deliveries, they both impacted local businesses, including small businesses, Nuraney said.
"The port strike affected all the businesses that had import/export," he said. Then the Canada Post strike affected consumer goods.
Business in Langley managed to get by during the strikes, though it was a tough Christmas season for some.
"Entrepreneurs are quite resourceful," he said.
Business are now often looking at two or three streams of product sources, as well as different methods of transportation, in the wake of the labour disputes, Nuraney said.
If that was one side of labour issues affecting the business community, hiring and keeping staff remained the other side of the coin in 2024.
Finding workers is a mixed bag right now, Nuraney said.
The unemployment rate was at rock-bottom low levels during the later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and afterward, which meant businesses had to compete to get workers.
Now the unemployment rate has risen somewhat.
"There are people out there looking for work," he said.
But workers are putting a priority on work-life balance over wages and promotions, he said.
"That's added to the complexities of hiring."
Nuraney, who owns a number of A&W restaurant franchises in the area, said most local non-skilled workers are immigrants, students, and temporary foreign workers. With the government reducing the temporary foreign worker numbers, Nuraney thinks hiring will be a challenge. He's hearing concerns from restaurants and hotels in the area, who are worried about what happens when their current temporary foreign workers see their permits expire in the spring.
One challenge remains the simple fact that many more people are getting post-secondary education and going into more highly skilled jobs.
Local high school and college students do seek out part time work, but they're limited because of sports, studies, and extracurricular activities.
"It's not as easy for them work more than two days a week," he said.
Some employers are looking to new pools of employees, including semi-retired seniors.
With a relatively constrained labour force, Nuraney said that ultimately, if workers are scarce, it means employers will have to offer more pay to attract them.
While there are challenges, Langley has some good things going for it, especially the fact that it's growing rapidly.
"It grows the labour pool, it grows the customer demand on products," Nuraney said.
