New Brunswick’s Summer Students May Not Find Work
A recent article in the New Brunswick Business Journal has forecasted a bleak outlook for students looking for summer jobs.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business’ (CFIB) monthly business barometer measures business owners’ optimism, while gauging the province’s recent general economic performance.
“New Brunswick seems to have weak expectations for employment for this year, so the big picture is kind of weak,” said Andreea Bourgeois, director of provincial affairs for the CFIB, in the New Brunswick Business Journal’s article.
They also suspect that the scheduled provincial minimum wage raise will be a factor. Minimum wage will go up 50 cents to $9.50 per hour on April 1st, and then grow again to $10 on Sept. 1st. While this may be good news for students who are making minimum wage, it’s bad news for the small businesses hiring them.
“What I’ve heard from numerous business owners is that students are going to have a very difficult time this summer finding seasonal employment,” said Bourgeois.
“Most of the students work in either retail or hospitality sectors and they are the ones that are significantly affected by the market and by minimum wage increases.”
Leave a Reply