More than half of Alberta non-profits can’t find skilled staff: report

A new report has found that flexibility and benefits don’t compensate for low wages in staff recruitment and retention at Alberta non-profits. 

Data relied on by the Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations’ (CCVO) 2023 State of the Sector report, Facing the Storm, found that only five per cent of Alberta non-profits describe staff recruitment as easy or very easy, despite efforts to make workplaces more attractive by offering benefits packages, continuing education and workplace flexibility.

Emphasis on good leadership and a healthy workplace culture also proved ineffective at improving employee recruitment, said those who responded to the organization’s annual survey.

“That recruitment is a big challenge, but it isn’t incredibly surprising,” said CCVO CEO Karen Ball. 

“But these numbers are probably validating for a lot of people who are in the process of trying to recruit talent into their organizations right now.” 

Fifty-six per cent of survey respondents described filling open positions as challenging or very challenging. A further 62 per cent said their organization also had difficulty recruiting volunteers, contributing to staff burnout.

According to the report, 28 per cent of Canadian non-profit employees are working additional hours to take on work previously done by volunteers. 

The annual survey did find that revenue at Alberta non-profits is stabilizing post-pandemic, but funding levels remain low, while demand for services continues to be high. 

Nearly 65 per cent of survey respondents said it was challenging or very challenging to meet their current demand for service.

Inflation also continues to increase costs for charitable organizations in the province, prompting some Alberta non-profits to cut staffing levels to pay remaining employees an adequate wage.

“Here’s the irony of it: we are trying to prevent poverty, but we may be, in some instances, creating poverty,” Ball said. 

“And a lot of non-profits are saying, you know, we don’t want to contribute to the impacts of people living close to the margins or close to the poverty line. We want to be able to pay a living wage, and we’re going to start to prioritize that where we can.

“But not a silver bullet.”

Some stakeholders shaping the annual report said their staff relied on the same services as their clients, such as food banks, to make ends meet.

What’s happening in Alberta’s non-profit sector mirrors the rest of Canada.

According to a recent Imagine Canada study, the average salary of an individual working at a community non-profit is about $18,000 less than someone working in the overall economy. Those working in the sector say that low wages compound the effects of Canada’s unaffordability crisis.

Canadian grocery prices have increased 23 per cent since 2020, while rental rates jumped by an average of 22 per cent in the last two years.

Mental health

The CCVO report also found that more than half of all Alberta non-profits were concerned about the mental health of their staff, with one-third of survey respondents having experienced a big or moderate impact “from rising hate and anger.”

Participants reported resentment, anger, and hate stemming from age, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity, political affiliation, medical status and perceived service quality. 

Some noted that people are also more likely to seek out topics of conversation that make them angry now than in the past.

“According to the Pollara Rage Index, we are the angriest province, but there’s obviously rising levels of hate and anger around the world,” Ball said. “Though that there’s a bit of a silver lining to that, which is that non-profits are really the heart of every community … and they can play a massive role in bridging those divides and building understanding.”

Concern about mental strain and low wages continue to be significant barriers to hiring. Still, she added non-profits are also grappling with skills gaps, such as finding early-career employees with experience organizing live events.

“There are just some places where it’s difficult to find the skills for the types of jobs that we have,” said Ball. 

“It’s a complicated problem that will require a multifaceted solution.”

However, there has been a shift in focus at many non-profits as the peak years of the pandemic recede. 

“What we’re hearing more and more now from non-profit leaders is that they are putting on their own oxygen masks first,” Ball said. 

“They’re thinking about how do they help their staff before they can help those that they serve.”

That might look like prioritizing wage increases at the expense of some programming, she said.

“What we heard from non-profits in the sort of throes of responding to the impacts of the pandemic was that they were only thinking about helping the people that we serve,” said Ball. 

“And now we are thinking about that, but also, how do we help ourselves so that we can keep doing this for the long term?”