Have vacancy, will hire: Essar embarks on hiring spree in sault.

AuthorKelly, Lindsay

After a lull, Essar Steel Algoma is once again in a hiring phase, with dozens of jobs up for grabs across the spectrum of work, including the company's top job.

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The position of chief executive officer is one of the vacancies being advertised by the Sault Ste. Marie-based steel manufacturer; metallurgists, an automotive technician, a machinist, and a hoisting engineer are among the others.

Attrition is being cited as the primary reason for the hiring spree. Close to 500 employees have retired over the last two years, leaving Essar with a major gap in its cadre of 2,800 workers, said Brenda Stenta, Essar's manager of corporate communications.

"We're not necessarily growing in terms of staffing, overall, but there's been such a shift in the workforce demographics over the last five years," Stenta said.

"Historically, in the steel industry. there were hiring cycles," she added. "So the steel industry had really large periods of growth where there was a lot of hiring, and then it levelled off for almost about 10 years, where across North America there was a lot of consolidation and there wasn't much in the way of hiring. And then there was growth again."

During one of the last major hiring bubbles in the mid-1970s, Essar focused on bringing in mostly 20-somethings, which have remained at the company through the course of their careers. That cohort has now reached retirement age.

"After 1990, there was really no hiring in this company, through to 2004." said Jim Rennie. Essar's vice-president of human resources. "So we've taken a lot of effort since 2004 that when we hire, we make sure that we hire across the spectrum of ages, so that we don't recreate that bubble."

That means hiring a mix of graduates fresh out of school who are familiar with the newest theories, and older workers nearing the ends of their careers, who bring experience and knowledge to the table, Rennie said.

Job postings typically see very healthy responses across the board, with the exception of the trades, where there continues to be a shortage. he added.

Essar started addressing that problem several years ago when it created its in-house apprenticeship program, which trains workers in up to nine different trades. The program currently boasts 49 people at various stages in their apprenticeships.

"It's costly to do it that way, but if you can't find (tradespeople), you have to grow them," Stenta said.

In many cases, workers hired into production roles...

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