City Hall Bureau
Faced with a looming spike in the numbers of civic workers due to retire, the City of Toronto must do a better job of attracting employees and retaining current ones, a report says.
Almost a quarter of the municipal workforce is eligible to retire over the next seven years. In some jobs, the exodus could be higher: About 40 per cent of firefighters and tradespeople, and 55 per cent of senior managers have retirement dates coming up by 2015.
Jobs the city is finding harder to fill include nurses, financial planners, information and technology workers, engineers, mechanics and purchasing officials.
"With increasing competition for talent and shifting workforce demographics, employers must pay even more attention to the factors that attract, retain and engage employees," says the report, to be presented to council's executive committee today.
Obstacles to bringing in new workers include uncompetitive pay and an apparent preference among students to work in the private sector, the report said.
"Despite what many people believe, often pay is higher in the private sector in many areas," said Councillor Janet Davis, a member of council's employee and labour relations committee.
Councillor Doug Holyday disagreed, saying pay, working conditions and pensions are so good that many employees remain with the city their entire working careers.
The report calls for council to put more money into training, retraining and career development. Demand for such courses exceeds supply, with 1,700 workers on waiting lists in 2006.
In 2006, Toronto spent $513 per employee on training, lower than the national average of $852 for public sector workers. The report recommends a hike in spending on training from $600,000 this year to $1.5 million by 2011.
Support has flagged as councillors grapple with tight budgets.
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