WESTLOCK – Unemployment is on the rise due to COVID-19 and the area, despite few recorded cases, has felt the effects of the Alberta Health Services measures that are intended to stop the spread of cases.
In Westlock, the closure of non-essential businesses meant lay-offs for most employees that a retail or small business could no longer afford to keep.
Graham Sehn, a 29-year old from Vimy, was laid off from his part-time job at one of the cannabis stores in town. He received notice that the store would be closing down March 16.
“We got a message, ‘The store is closing … we’re paying you a week’s severance,’ and that was it.
“They opened up a store in Edmonton the week before they closed. The week after they closed their store, they introduced click-and-collect. That’s what the rival store in town is doing and it seems like it’s working pretty well for them. That wasn’t for us,” said Sehn.
He held a second job at the Clyde livestock auction mart, where he continues to work.
The circumstances for Sehn were different. He managed to find employment at Westlock Honey Producers, an apiary in Highridge, to replace the job he lost due to COVID-19, where he started a week ago.
“I already had some seasons’ experience. Luckily, that (job) was there,” said Sehn.
The provincial government is trying to promote employment in the agricultural sector for those who have lost their jobs in the current circumstances. A new online tool, the agriculture job connector, for that purpose.
Similarly, employees in medical offices have seen a reduction in active position.
For Sue Walmsley, a dental hygienist from Westlock who worked at an Onoway dental clinic, the lay-off happened March 17, when the Alberta Dental Association and College recommended the closure of clinics to non-emergency practice.
“I work for a really great dentist and the staff is fantastic. He just automatically put the needs of the patients and us, our safety, first and said ‘Sue, you stop now,’” said Walmsley.
For her, the lay-off is temporary – once the clinic re-opens to regular practice, her job remains available.
In the meantime, Walmsley applied for employment insurance benefits and was transferred automatically to the federal Canada Emergency Response Benefit program.
“I’m luckier than most because I did apply and I was approved. My husband is an industrial firefighter, so he’s considered essential service. He’s still working. In that regard, I think I’m luckier than most people out there who are not getting any kind of support,” she said.
She didn’t have many problems with the CERB application apart from an address correction that took four hours on hold over the phone to fix, but she did say she’s heard of “horror stories.”
She admits her position is more fortuitous than others’, but Walmsley says being out of work – although temporarily – is difficult on her mental health.
“I very much wrapped up my identity as a person as a dental hygienist. I love my job, I love my team, I love the patients I work with. Some people love going to the dentist, believe it or not. I miss that interaction, I miss my patients because I really enjoyed my job.”
The oil and gas slow-down has also caused job losses for Westlock residents. Natasha Crouser, a heavy machine operator who works on rotation north of Fort McMurray, lost her job March 23 with no severance pay but an early bonus.
Crouser explained that initially, the company intended to cut down its employees and only keep those working day shifts.
“We did almost a complete set (of 14 days) when I came back into the tool room and I got to overhear the entire conversation, it was a conference call between our company and at least 30 other company with the health organization people. They were talking about coronavirus and shutting down non-essential work. It was only a couple of days after that everybody was done,” said Crouser.
As for EI, it took Crouser two days on the phone to get to the point where she could leave a message. She was told she was ineligible for CERB but was approved for unemployment.
“It’s one thing for the government to say ‘there’s EI for you or there’s this special package,’ but if you can’t even get through and Canada Place is shut down, you can’t even go into the local places in Westlock. That’s a very scary thing,” said Crouser.
Another ramification of the pandemic on the job market, noticed recently certified accountant Nicolas Brown, is that there simply aren’t as many jobs to apply to.
“I came out to Westlock to get my designation. I graduated in 2016 and came to work for a local firm because there weren’t a lot of eligible positions, the ones that get you the experience necessary to get the designation, in Edmonton.”
He was let go from that firm last September and has been trying to find work in the Edmonton area.
“In the fall, there were a decent number of accounting positions. Even with the downturn in oil that was starting at that time, there was still a lot of activity.”
Since then, he says a job search yields “very limited” options.
“I use LinkedIn, I use various different job boards, I use Indeed. If you look at senior accounting, there’s three jobs in the last 26 days. Everything else is older,” said Brown.
For Brown, another application has been put on hold. He started an application for the Canadian Armed Forces reserves in February, a process which is indefinitely postponed.
Andreea Resmerita, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @andreea_res
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