Hot Economy = Wrong McDonalds Order

Have you gone shopping lately? How about to a fast food shack? Have you had to deal with the service industry in the last year or so in Alberta? If so, you have no doubt experienced firsthand the biggest and most glaring (and frustrating) downside of the booming Alberta economy.

With a provincial economy so hot that even moderately educated and mildly experienced workers can make in excess of $100,000 a year in the oilsands, those positions that they have left behind - cashiers, restaurant servers, and so on - have been filled by those who are generally unskilled. Small and medium business owners have been forced to hire those who they can get, instead of those who are the most qualified. Staff turnover is steady, and incentives for workers who actually stay at a job for a certain amount of time are now common.

Minimum-wage jobs are at the forefront of everyday life for most of us, as we deal with the service industry on a regular basis. The problem is, inept waitresses are also now the norm, wingnuts at the 7-11 guarantee that your time at the counter is double what it was a few years back, and good luck with that 'quick' oil change.

The last time a boom hit the Alberta economy, businesses were forced to promote employees faster than their training and experience would have normally allowed. The result was a generation of fish-out-of-water middle management that precipitated the layoffs of the 1980's and '90's. I remember the example of the Royal Bank in 1995: On a Wednesday, employees across Canada were treated to a video message of the C.E.O. announcing a billion dollar fiscal year profit. Two days later, on the Friday, 'centralization' was blamed for a large round of layoffs. The truth is, it was mostly a middle management purge. Nothing but a correction and balancing of the workforce.

If and when the Alberta economy cools, we can expect more 'corrections' to occur. Then, just maybe, we will get our Earl's order in under an hour. Sphere: Related Content