Alberta Talent Market the Most Competitive in Canada

Toronto, ON (PRWEB) August 25, 2006

Unemployment in Alberta is at its lowest point in 30 years, according to a recent Statistics Canada labour market study, and it’s driving up salaries faster than in other provinces. The result has Alberta companies locked in fierce competition to hire the staff they need out of a diminishing and increasingly expensive labour pool.

Take Shelley Billinghurst, a senior HR advisor at a large natural resources company. After two months of fruitless searching for recruitment help, she was desperate. “I finally called Head2Head’s new Calgary office,” she says. “I’d heard that they offered alternative recruiting solutions, and frankly I was ready to try anything.”

Within 48 hours, Head2Head delivered the recruiter that Billinghurst hired, and the results have been dramatic: the new recruiter has made 15 hires in less than 4 weeks, not only fulfilling the company’s requirements, but saving them more than $200,000 in the process.

“The job market here is probably the hottest we’ve seen since the dot-com heyday in Silicon Valley,” says Daniel Stein, Managing Partner of Head2Head Alberta, a company that provides companies with on-site recruiters. “Companies are sourcing candidates from the US, Europe, even the Middle East, and they’re starting to realize they need to think outside of the box if they want to fill openings.”

The oil and gas industries are fuelling the employment boom but everyone, from fast-food restaurants to software companies, is feeling the talent pinch. “Even the Calgary Chicken on the Way is offering $15 an hour for counter staff,” Stein says.

In a frenzied market like this, employers are looking for innovative recruiting tactics that will give them a leg up. In response, Head2Head has opened a Calgary office to supply on-site recruiters.

“We’re not a traditional recruiting agency or headhunting firm,” Stein explains. “Instead, we provide recruiters to work on-site with companies. Our approach saves employers time, it saves them money, and most importantly, it gets them the workers they need, even in a tight market.”

“With Head2Head’s help, we’re filling our talent gaps quickly,” Billinghurst says. “This means we can stay ahead of the competition, even in such a competitive market.”

About Head2Head

Head2Head is Canada’s fastest-growing talent management company. Founded in Toronto in 2000, H2H has grown into a $15million organization with offices in Vancouver and Calgary, and sister companies Head2Head HR, Head2Head Purchasing and RecruitSmart to handle a wide variety of recruiting requirements for many of Canada’s Fortune 100 companies.

For more information, contact:

Sarah Welstead                

Director of Communications

Head2Head

(416) 440-2043

###