D a l l y J o u r n a l- R e c o rd P ro g re s s E d it io n . Tues., M a rc h 30, 1965 Oakville Employment Rated At High Level Oakville is technically n o w a t the point of " full employment'1 under the definition and form ula used by the experts on labor trends. And while that does not mean that nobody in Oakville is out of work, it is an extrem ely healthy sign for the area from an economic standpoint, officials of the National Employment Service feel. For industrialists planning operations here it is also a good omen as to t h e availability of skilled and semi skilled workers, for the Oakville N.E.S. can call on the 1 a b or pool locally, from Toronto, Ha milton, and indeed, through a new fast action telex commun ication system, anywhere i n Ontario. .The " local" area labor pool is placed a t 26,000 and a t the end of last monh there were 444 men and 369 women regis tered at the N.E.S. Oakville of fice for jobs, according to Miss Evelyn Hartwell, m anager of the Oakville branch. Not all were unemployed however. Of the men 392 were out of jobs, and 328 of the women w e r e unemployed. This represents 2 8 per cent of the Oakville a re a labor force seeking work, a reduction this year from the 3.6 per cent of job hunters a t the sam e date in 1964. JOBS FOR 400 An example of the N.E.S. placement success is that i t found jobs for 400 people o f both sexes during February, the peak month of tlie y ear for Canadian unemployment totals. Then too after showing an in crease of 11 per cent in jobs found during 1964 over 1963 (5,000 during the - calendar year 1964) the Oakville N.E.S. is al so expanding its services an the e x e c u t i v e and professional branch. This means that on two days each week, instead of once weakly, a specialist will be on hand to interview applicants with qualifications in these ca tegories. Interviews are conducted o n Tuesdays and Fridays, with the E. and P. section now working with the Toronto N.E.S. office instead of Hamilton. E. and P. interview ers also contact area employers to learn their needs and N.E.S. officials say that it is essential employers keep N. E.S. informed of their require ments so that these can be fil led quickly from the local pool o r through' the far-flung telex system which flashes word of the job to all N.E.S. offices. In January, for example i^ t was noted that there were more from such regions. Happily they can usually fina a location where their hirings will not be influ enced by the recreational area, but close enough to a l l o w employees to take advantage of the facilities. On the basis of this simple classification scheme we can see the areas where recreation con siderations are becoming more and more of a factor in plant location. The more people a firm tiles to attract to a new plant in an area, the greater the importance of the availab ility of recreational facilities. The g reater the number of em ployees, the greater the weight a firm will place on the area's facilities. The lower the profit margin of the firm relocating, the less the consideration is given t o recreation. The more a firm can be hurt by the seasonal loss of employ ees, the less desirable is a larger recreational or resort area for that firm 's location. It is these and sim ilar consid erations of which recreation au thorities should be aware when establishing recreation p o l i c y for a region, or community. Growth has always marked the course of operations b y Canadian General Electric and the Oakville fluorescent Lamp and automobile headlight plant of the company lived up w e l l this year to the tradition. No physical plant extensions have been made since tlie last of three additions in 1956 but output has risen and employment figures tell a story of progress. In ten years the num ber o f employees quadrupled and this year the plant employs 575 per sons, an increase of about 75 over tlie same period in 1964. Because much of tlie work done in the Oakville plant is p a i t s assembly about 65 per cent of employees are women and girls and labor is sought from t h e ranks of both skilled and unskill ed workers. Canadian General Electric is one of the industrial giants that led the industrial trek to Oak ville in the post-war years, with its lamp departm ent on t h e South Service Road facing Che Queen Elizabeth Highway. LAMPS ONLY It produces flourescent lamps from a five-inch tube with a ^g-inch diam eter to huge 96inch tubes IV2 inches in diameter, as well as incandescent lamps from ten to 200 watts. Sealed beam lamps for automobile head lights, spotlights and floodlights are also made here in Oakville, j From the outset the p l a n t ; operations grew rapidly on the ! 5.2 acres of land, or about 225,165 square feet that represent the built-up area. Good relations with the com munity are notable in the case of General Electric. J. C. Cor- kery, G. E. manager says the company has enjoyed its expan ding association with Oakville activities and is "proud to be a corporate citizen of the town." Q UALIFIED T O H A N D L E ALL YOUR DECORATINQ NEEDS RECREATION FOR WORK ERS -- In the open spaces of northern Oakville there are stream s and bridges in a rural setting that provide a relaxing opportunity to escape from the indusrial life in summer. E x cellent recreation facilities too are provided by a number of Oakville clubs, sports groups and other agencies in central Oakville where industry recog nizes these amenities as essen tial to workers' health and morale. INTERIOR DECORATING Oakville's Most Complete Home Furnishing H eadquarters 2373 Trillcr St., Bronte Measure By RONALD M. REIFLER la nt Location Consultant Fifty years ago woods, golf courses, and forest preserves were not considered as a fac tor in industrial location b y textile mills. Garment shops moving were not concerned with the availability of f i s h i n g stream s or tennis courts. Today, however, the picture is changing. Managers a r e I taking a different view and Oakville has what they seek. In recent years firms h a v e tended to feel more responsible for t h e environment within which they and their employees live. The establishment of rec reational facilities are usually too costly for the industry t o provide. Therefore, the f i r m \ must look to the community for . these services. More firms are looking carefully at the living · amenities b e f o r e considering locating a plant in in y region, including Oakville. Naturally, costs that can be directly measured (labor, frei ght, power, water, taxes, etc.) are, of course, considered first. But, after a general area has been selected, consideration of local factors (of which recrea tion is one) become exceptionj ally important. £ ENJOY THE GOOD LIFE Executives planning to move Into an area want their work ers and themselves to be able to live as pleasantily as possible. ,| They feel that good living i conditions makes for h i g h er productivity on the part of the employees. Higher productivity can then be transferred i n t o wage increases, which in turn means a higher standard o f · living. Thus, if a firm wants to attract workers into an area, it must select an area which i must be able to offer a chance ' to enjoy the "good life" that is, facilities with room to relax and enjoy one's self. From a public relations point of view, many firms enjoy pointing with pride to a factory in a setting selected for its recreational fa cilities. Firm s with highly seasonal Good Industry production could seek a location near large - scale recreational facilities which could employ persons during the portions of the year when the factory is not busy. For example, a firm manu facturing Christmas tree lights and decorations whose p e a k production comes in the sum mer. might very well locate in a winter or ski resort area. The winter period of inactivity would coincide with peak rec reational employment -- and, would provide more balanced employment to people who live in the area. On the other hand, however, many firms with a constant le vel of production and a high proportion of their total cost as labor, tend to shy away f rom locating near large resort areas. The lure of the outdoors is so great that labor turnover (and absenteeism) becomes a costly factor. The first day of the fishing season, the final day of the hunting season, and the first good weekday golfing days are all automatic signals f o r many workers to play "hooky" This is cosily to employers. If it is accepted as a regular oc currence it can become a ser ious operating problem. Along every measuring rod, there is a highest and a lowest value. In the case of recreation as a factor in industrial location-there are some firms that value recreation most highly, other firms consider it j u s t highly, others do not consider it at all, or a few who consid er it as a negative factor. DRAWING CARD The boss wants a good place in which to live. If the firm is attem pting to attract such skilled persons as engineers, draftsmen, chemists, physicists, m athem aticians, tooland die m akers, top machinists, etc., from m ajor metropolitan areas, developed recreational av ailability usually m akes the dif ference whether or* not 'these people will come to the job. Many of these people are willing to l e a v e the metropolitan areas-provided they can share in the advantages of countryside living. As a result, amenities are sometimes the sale basis of location choice as illustrated by Minneapolis Honeywell's recent establishment of an engineering division in Florida. Firm s who value recreation highly tend to be those who em ploy larg er numbers of people. Firm s s u c h as Westinghouse IBM. Philco, etc., would reject areas without proper recreation al facilities for their employees. Their theory is that opportunity for relaxation m akes for a bet ter well - rounded employees mean, over the long run-better productivity and higher rates. F irm s who do not consider re creational facilities in the loca tion decision are those firms who either are unaware of the importance of looking into such m atters, who are unaware of its importance, or, who a r e currently operating on such a low m argin of profit that they are not in a position to consid er anything except the pure cost factors. NEGATIVE FACTOR What about those who 1 0 ok upon the existence of highly de veloped recreational facilities as a negative factor? A distant minority are those firms that might suffer from the seasonal activities of a recreation cen ter. Nevertheless, they actively try to locate at least beyond commuting distance, i.e. *30-40 miles from the area. While they may appreciate the virtues of such an area -- the impact on their costs and profit margins have taught them to stay away Oakville, Ont.-- Halifax, N.S.-- Montreal, Que Atwood The firms that consider re creation most highly are those companies that hope to bring new people into an area. They know that people will come to work in another area if they can live around lakes, g o l f courses, fishing streams, state and national parks. If the own ers or the top executives of the firm move into an area themselves-then recreation consider ations become all - important. SWISS INTERIORS Specialists In O ld Fashioned Attention To Quality On The Most Modern Of Home Furnishings V ery eoon no w renovation of our C olborne S treet sto re will begin, to be followed by the rem oval of our C hurch S treet building. W e ask y ou r patience d u rin g th e construction w ork an d prom ise no change in the kind o(f service and quality offered for m ore th an 12 years. . . . J. M. Atwood Limited was formed in 1950 as a custom plant to serve Cana dian industry. Our services are used by more than 100 Canadian companies at a savings to them of thousands of dollars each year. Industry is well aware of the loss, not only in dollar value but also in delayed production and delivery, through rejects caused by porosity in castings. In prac- tically every case, these rejects can be salvaged to a decided economic advantage through impregnation. # Standard techniques for impregnation of castings are now being recognized and used in m ilitary, government and com mercial applications. In fact, many companies have employed this as a routine step in their production. A ll requests or inquiries w ill be promptly acknow ledged. SWISS * 220 C hurch S treet NT E R I OR S and 217 C olborne S treet Oakville. O n tario