Barry Watson is the program co-ordinator for the Senior Moose Jobs initiative by the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce. Watson said the program is seeing “incredible success.”
“I have recorded 76 seniors on my availability list at this point and we’re starting to get the buy-in by local employers,” Watson explained. “We’ve got 19 of that 76 back into the workforce.”
The initiative is a partnership with the provincial Ministry of Immigration and Career Training. It launched on April 4 of this year and aims to connect seniors and retirees aged 55+ with potential employers.
“Basically, it’s an innovative employment recruitment program tailored to assist businesses in filling part-time jobs, seasonal helpers, general labourers or workers, and it’s specifically designed for seniors and 55-plus,” Rob Clark, CEO of the Moose Jaw Chamber, explained when the initiative began.
“So, you can go to the Chamber website and it’s on there, it’s called Senior Moose Jobs ... and as an employer, you can fill it all in. There’s also the employee (section), they can fill it in and suggest what they’re looking for, or the employer can put up their suggestions, what they need help and support with, and then we would pair them up, and support and engage them.”
Watson said a variety of positions had been filled so far, from full-time to part-time to seasonal work.
“Garden centre positions, housekeeping positions, the full-times have gone out to construction. ... Yeah, no, it’s across all categories.”
Many of those seeking employment in some form or another want a chance to get out of the house, be more socially engaged, and feel connected with the community.
Others are driven by economic reasons.
“A lot of (our clients) are looking for additional income because of the last few years, when the costs have increased dramatically,” Watson noted. He said that employers can sign up on the Chamber of Commerce website to be directly matched, but such sign-ups aren’t happening fast enough to keep up with demand.
“If I can’t get (local employers) to post their job on Senior Moose Jobs, I’m reaching out to all the opportunities that they’ve got on SaskJobs or Indeed. So, we’re searching the job databases to find positions for the seniors, as well as responding to the employers that are actually using our program.”