The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, Ja nu ar y 27 ,2 02 2 | 10 oakville.ca Take the 2022 Citizen Survey and let us know what you think! Survey closes February 6 The Town of Oakville has partnered with Forum Research Inc. to conduct the 2022 Citizen Survey - a telephone and online survey to gather information on residents' overall satisfaction with town programs and services, identify emerging issues important to the community, and to help guide strategic priorities. During January and February, residents who are 18 years or older may be contacted by a Forum Research telephone interviewer on behalf of the town. The telephone survey will take about 15-20 minutes to complete and will be strictly confidential, anonymous, and voluntary. To complement the random phone survey, an online survey will also be available to residents to provide candid feedback. Scan the QR code and participate today! The survey closes on February 6, 2022. To learn more about the Citizen Survey, visit oakville.ca. The following is the final instalment in a three-part series on the Halton job market, with this week's story focusing on the chal- lenges facing local employ- ers. The pandemic burnout is causing some to weigh their career options more carefully. In Oakville -- and Hal- ton at large -- this has con- tributed to "a fight" for tal- ent. "A lot of businesses are looking for employees, but finding the right fit for spe- cialized and niche posi- tions is a little more diffi- cult than normal," said Le- naee Dupuis, a human re- source consultant with HR Made EZ. Dupuis, whose consult- ing firm serves clients in Oakville, Burlington and across the GTA, said many people are "re-evaluating their work and life bal- ance." "Salary expectations are a bit higher right now. With the COVID (lock- down) period, a lot of peo- ple were able to work re- motely and, I think, they want to remain working re- motely," she said, while noting it is dependent on the job sectors. Scott McCammon, pres- ident and CEO of Milton Chamber of Commerce, has a similar take. "Bottom line is, hiring is still a challenge," he said, which he put down to the region's low unemploy- ment rate, people moving and switching careers, and those not re-entering the workforce as quickly. "The competition for staff is probably a lot higher than it's been in a few years." As for the desire for flex- ible work arrangements, a recent labour market study by Peel Halton Work- force Development Group, which surveyed 700 em- ployers across the GTA -- including 62 in Oakville, 56 in Milton, 52 in Burlington, and 17 in Halton Hills -- showed around one third of employers expect that em- ployees will work from home 30 to 70 per cent of the time. But McCammon said many of the open positions HALTON BUSINESSES FACE HIRING SQUEEZE Lenaee Dupuis, a consultant with HR Made EZ, has found more and more people are re-evaluating their career choices. Graham Paine/Metroland BAMBANG SADEWO bsadewo@metroland.com NEWS DIFFICULTIES CONTINUE FILLING MANY POSITIONS See - page 11