Melfort is losing its Labour Market Services Office.
The office, located within the Cumberland College’s Melfort branch, helps people to find jobs and research labour market conditions. It also helps employers fill positions.
It was announced in the provincial budget it is being shut down along with an office in Île-à-la-Crosse to save $345,000.
“What we have found, over time, is that in-person traffic has changed and most people accessing support from our staff were doing it by telephone or online with tools like SaskJobs.ca to do their job search,” said Alastair MacFadden, assistant deputy minister for labour market development for the economy ministry. “To the extent that we haven’t seen in-person traffic, we’re trying to adjust the service options in a way that’s more consistent with what job-seekers’ and employers’ behaviour has shown over time.”
Four people will lose their jobs with the closure of the office.
“We had four staff working in Melfort, some of our strongest team members, with a very strong community commitment and they’ve made a very strong contribution to career planning and workforce planning for employers in the region,” MacFadden said. “It’s not an easy decision to have made.”
Those staff members should be able to access other job opportunities within the provincial government.
MacFadden said the ministry has a travelling office that provides services on an itinerant basis.
“That’s something that takes place in several Saskatchewan communities today,” he said, adding Melfort could be added to that list.
Even with the closure, MacFadden said the ministry feels the services provided are critical for the economic growth of the region.
“It’s important that the services remain available to job seekers and employers and we’re trying to do that in the most effective and efficient way.”
