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Simcoe County business owners get creative to retain staff amid shortages

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The ripple effects of the pandemic continue to leave many Simcoe County businesses scrambling for staff, with some coming up with creative ways to deal with the shortages.

DriveWise in Barrie adjusted its employees' schedules during the pandemic to give them more time to recharge their batteries.

"They have every other Friday off," said Lesley de Repentigny, the president and CEO of DriveWise. "It makes a huge difference a lot of our staff is young families at home."

A three-day weekend every two weeks was made possible by adding half an hour into each work day.

de Repentigny said the adjustment hadn't impacted revenue.

"It's been a big boost for morale, and their productivity hasn't changed at all," said de Repentigny.

For long-time employee Samantha Clarke, the change allowed her to spend more time with her young family, which she said has significantly impacted her mental health.

"It's been incredible having to at extra day to do laundry, groceries and then have the entire weekend to spend with the kids and run them around, which is great," said Clarke.

DriveWise is not the only local company looking to mix things up to maintain staffing levels during the pandemic.

Innovative Automation recently started a program geared toward retired or early retirement tradespeople who want to continue working at their own pace.

"We've started a program where we are trying to hire mentors—even two-three times per week or maybe seasonal work— and have that skill set and talent to share and mentor younger staff," said Michael Lalonde, the president of Innovative Automation.

Since advertising the program, Lalonde said the company had received multiple resumes looking to sign up.

He noted that there are currently 15 to 20 positions available in various departments.

"If there was a senior person that came our way, we're going to hire them," said Lalonde from inside the facility.

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According to the Barrie Chamber of Commerce, many small business owners face severe staffing shortages.

The chamber's executive director Paul Markle told CTV News that many factors lead to the lack of interest, such as employees leaving the field for more stability, lack of affordable housing and limited immigration, which bolsters the employee pool.

"You have this situation where our immigration numbers are nowhere near where they need to be," said Markle.

He is now calling on the federal government to open the door to more immigrants as he says the demand to spend money locally is growing.

"I think we need to strike while the iron's hot, and we need some help from the feds to get the help that we need."

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