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Kirkland Lake offers an excellent, well-trained
and readily available labour force. Unemployment runs at approximately
12%, although recent expansion in the mining sector indicates that
the level is lower among technical staff. In addition to fulltime
workers, Kirkland Lake has a significant pool of part-time workers
available. In particular, the influx of workers for the mining industry
means that there are a number of spouses seeking casual employment.
As well, the community has two high schools and a community college,
meaning that student employees can be readily recruited for retail
and service sector positions.
Established businesses interviewed by the
EDD gave the following observations:
- Local people are well educated, easy to train and quick to learn.
Over 30% of the workforce holds a post-secondary certificate or
trade designation. Local training facilities available through
Northern College also facilitates ongoing employee development.
- It isn’t difficult to find bilingual staff, as approximately
20% of the local population speaks French. The number of bilingual
people living in the surrounding communities is higher.
- Salary expectations are generally lower than the provincial
norm, likely reflecting both the desire to work and the overall
lower cost of living.
- Good productivity rates and low absenteeism and turnover rate
(less than 3% on average).
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