Flexible work strategies — including work-from-home models and remote- location hirings being embraced by the B.C. public service — could have a catastrophic effect on Greater Victoria’s small businesses and overall economy, say concerned business groups.
The 36,000-member-strong B.C. public service lost about 3,000 employees last year. Filling vacancies and expanding the talent pool is an “urgent issue,” Salter has told the Times Colonist.“We urge you to consider the potentially catastrophic domino effect that changing the nature of public sector work could have on the economy of our provincial capital,” the business groups said in the letter. “The proposal by the B.C.
“Many family-supporting businesses have been built on providing service to government workers,” the letter said.
right now people dont have work life balance.. victoria is all work, many companies - were talking about offices not stores and grocers and eateries.. those need more staff to work shorter hours ... or something
The drug addicts crimals are having a catastrophic effect on Victoria. We won't shop down in that shithole and the fact that you're not reporting that shows how out of touch you are. Build jails and lock them up!! 🤬
The correct response by GVCC should have been - we recognise how employment/work practices are changing locally & globally this is an opportunity to transition & redefine the economic future for the city & region. Let's work with all levels of gov to make it happen.
Gov employees will still spend their money in businesses. Just not in the same areas anymore. I think allowing people to work in other cities, be it remote or in-office in a different location, will bring a fairer distribution of spending throughout the province.
The new hiring practices have the potential to innovate and sustain the public sector.
Lastly, consider this: Business opportunities are not disappearing, but spreading throughout the area. This is an excellent opportunity to move your business outside of the downtown cracktoria core and thrive in the next cook street village.
Imagine the outflow of employees when the overpriced 25% tip begging good-but-not-great downtown businesses manage to hold the BC Government hostage and pin down employees downtown for them to squeeze like a lemon.
'Salter said earlier this month that embracing flexible work is essential to fill job vacancies and attract and retain a diverse workforce, noting that half of the public service is already working remotely.' There's your reality checkl
“Many family-supporting businesses have been built on providing service to government workers,” the letter said. Not every business model lasts forever, the world has changed since early 2020, and if you haven't adapted or even woken up to the facts yet
'The 36,000-member-strong B.C. public service lost about 3,000 employees last year. Filling vacancies and expanding the talent pool is an “urgent issue,” Salter has told the Times Colonist.' The outflow will be bigger if govt won't adapt so this is a great strategy.
Here we go: 'new hiring policies to fill public-service ranks will harm local businesses that have long been established to cater to government workers' To cater to government workers: This business model will no longer be viable, in order to survive business need to adapt.
I can't tell you how fucking annoying these stories are to read, as a public servant. It's not our resp to keep these places afloat. We support the businesses close to us - what about them
Let's all make our lives worst and our rests shorter to artificially keep obsolete businesses afloat so a layer of petty bourgeois can keep profiting from location location location
why are BC GOVERNMENT workers unwilling to work in downtown Victoria? unsafe? homeless? still afraid of covid? what is the reason?
Obviously an idea thought by someone who has never operated a small business unbelievable how out of touch some people are living in a polyanthus world of unlimited money hence why the federal and bc governments have doubled the dedt easy to operate. Real Taxpayers can’t do that
Work from the office so you can buy our crap. There did I did it?
People are more productive when they work from home.
I’d find being forced to work in an office again catastrophic on my personal, emotional, and mental economy
I worked for many years in downtown Victoria, spending lunchtime breaks at local stores that are no longer there, on streets that are no longer safe. Try again.
This is so true. When fully implemented it will suck the life out of downtown Victoria. The economic well being of the downtown core is at stake as well as the identity of the city as an entity.
This is bigger than DT Victoria. It opens up options for people to work for gov but live in more affordable places and gives people in other places career options. I was able to hire someone in small interior town who is amazing but can’t afford to live in Van or Vic
This government had no problem lecturing people on “personal responsibility” through multiple crises so they should have no problem telling a business to adapt to changing markets, a “fact of life” in the free market system.
I say just outsource the public sector to call centres in India.
here's an alternative headline: 'businesses want people to spend an hour commuting to sit at a desk as if it's 1989'
It’s nice to know public servants are just seen as disposable income.
it also could have catastrophic effects for the environment making people go to the office for no real purpose. why are you giving just this one side airtime?
In a city with a huge housing crisis maybe those downtown offices can be turned into housing. Bring the people the money will follow.
'higher productivity and long-term benefits of having employees back in a well-designed workspace experience' is not the experience of many workers.
Can't see how economy in Victoria could suffer with a tax base of over priced multi million $$$$$$$$$ homes.
Workers are always told to adapt. Tighten your belt. Recently saw a headline, food prices too high then skip breakfast. There are so many benefits to wfh including work/life balance, personal finances and the environment. Business’ turn to adapt.
This is absolute BS because productivity hasn’t suffered from remote work: “but employers, including the federal government, are returning to the higher productivity and long-term benefits”
Sounds like these businesses need to innovate and adapt
It's called the free market. Adjust or go out of business. Free markets work themselves out. No need to step in to play favourites.
People 👏 can't 👏 afford 👏 to 👏 live 👏 here!!!!! 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏
Has anyone considered the very large population living and working from home in the downtown core? I see a lot of high rise buildings with a plethora of units. Maybe the downturn in the DT economy is because of something else?
Watch to see how many of CityOfVictoria council’s actions make getting downtown or parking more difficult. Telecommuting is the best for their climate action goals. Will they subvert attempts to get government workers back downtown by sabotaging their access? Adam_Stirling
As tax payers we should demand gov workers get back to the office and productive!
Work from home is better for carbon emissions. Less people driving to work means less traffic. Aside from the cars just not being on the road, fewer cars mean less congestion, which means those who do have to drive spend less time idling in traffic
If capitalists didn't want their peons to work from home, then they shouldn't have funded disinformation that dissuaded people from wearing masks, purifying the air and getting vaccinated. Sucks to suck, Porky.
So risking people’s health/lives to protect downtown coffee shops and other small businesses, because workers shop/eat on coffee and lunch breaks, is most important? Give me a break. People deserve work/life balance & safety…PS…we’re still in a pandemic…
Oh ok so thousands of workers are supposed to commute downtown further harming our planet and making family life even more challenging just to sit 8 hours a day in a virus infested office because the downtown business lobby is mad no one's buying their $18 sandwiches?
VoteYYJWilliams But an extremely positive effect on many other things. Adapt.
The Horgan way was to jump when businesses barked The Eby way is to notice that govt jobs aren’t being filled It is not the job of office workers to float the businesses
Get exercise go to WORK enough with this silliness of staying at home and surely they do not work as hard.
Has there been any consideration to the effect of a city income in a small town where these workers will relocate to? Will it make housing less affordable there?
It could have a massive improvement on mental health, family cohesion, sick days... oh, and the environment. Renovate the office space into housing. Then residents can shop downstairs in the downtown. Adapt or die.
Well, you better get used to it. It’s a thing in the future too bad certain businesses are going to be hurt, but that’s life.
Vote4VIVA Boo-hoo. The money that woulda been spent in the DT core is now spent in the outlying communities. The DT core priced out the middle class to work in your cubicles, it’s not our problem. Free-market enterprise at work.
But this seems BETTER for the workers. Save on commute $. They can then afford rising costs in groceries etc..and will support their local businesses.Downtown business is not what needs to 'survive'. People and their families & value in living needs to survive.
So no new ideas or solutions, & no acceptance of the fact that things have changed, we should just make everything the way it was before? Yes, that always goes well…
Make living/accessing yyj affordable then. Working from home gives greater accessibility to work for people who financially cant live close to yyj , and helps them avoid hrs commute (transit bad and Council throttles car access). Also ⬇️ COVID spread 😷
Feels like governments are working to bankrupt Victoria.
we've been staying home since the pandemic started. It's amazing how much money we have saved. It's like we got a 30% increase
15 days to level the curse. We are all in this together. It will be worth it. So how are we doing TC and company? The “cure” appeases to be worse than the disease.
The success of downtown businesses should not be borne by any class of worker. Change the downtown building leases. Lower the rental costs, make mixed use and get rid of the friggin SROs, homeless, and crime!
We could do without 90%+ gov ‘workers’
Not much they can do about it. Evolve or perish.
This is a bad economic, social and environmental idea. Just like others, the 45 min commute both there and out is expensive, more childcare costs and bad for our environment. You want people downtown like that - make everything mixed use.
It’s only fair that everyone in BC gets to have a shot at those plum govt jobs.
I think the condition of downtown Victoria is having a catastrophic effect on those businesses. People don't feel safe being there anymore. They need to focus on housing the homeless and creating programs to deal with mental health and addiction.
My husband keeps saying this. Working from home may seem great for the government employees but it will kill the small businesses in Vic who depend on them for coffees, lunches, shopping after work.
Average house price in Victoria is around $1million. Average govt employee salary is no where near enough, so employees will need to live elsewhere. That works for some jobs that can be done remotely, but what about health care workers forced away from Victoria? It's a pickle.
Government workers not returning to the office is the least of Victorias problems.
They should increase cost of parking and add more bike lanes.
The lack of drive and ambition from people under the age of 30 in Victoria is going to be catastrophic.
Convert the empty office spaces to other uses. Lower the rent on commercial space so new businesses will open. These commercial landlords demanding increasing rent every year and then whining when no one can afford to rent their space is totally entitled and pathetic.
So does all the crime!