Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online
This is the Jerry Mainil Ltd. shop in Weyburn. The company could use several more workers to put more iron into the field. Photo by Brian Zinchuk
Could helping Ukrainian refugees be part of the solution?
WEYBURN – Like many other oilfield service companies, Jerry Mainil Ltd of Weyburn is looking for workers. Quite a few, actually.
CEO Darcy McCormick said on July 4 they could use ten.
They’re busy. “It’s going good,” he said.
“We’re really having trouble finding any quality type of people, even green people. I don’t know what’s the problem with finding people in this industry right now.”
“If I had another 10 people, I’d probably have another 10 pieces of equipment going.”
They need equipment operators, crew foremen and labourers.
“We’ve had some good laborers come in. But crew foreman, operators, it’s been a tough thing trying to find them,” McCormick said.
“Not just this industry, but all industries. I’m talking to people and I hear the same story from them. Not just in Canada. It’s kind of like a global pandemic, or epidemic. Where did they go? Did we lose them in because of COVID? We didn’t lose that many people because of COVID.”
The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation reaching retirement age. McCormick thinks that took a lot of the Boomers out of the workforce. “Anybody that was close (to retirement), they’re just gone. They found a way to adapt their living situation, their current income statues. They’ve adapted now to other lifestyles.”
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As for wages, he said, “We start people anywhere from low $20s to mid-$40s kind of thing, depending on experience and depending on the position and skills they bring to the table. But yeah, it’s very competitive.”
Ukrainian refugees
That has McCormick looking at another possible source of employees – Ukrainian refugees. With the United Nations Refugee Agency now reporting more that 4.8 million refugees from the Ukraine war and a further 7.1 million internally displaced people within Ukraine, there are a lot of people looking for a safe place to live, and work.
And one of the best ways to help people in need is to provide them with a job, so they can help themselves.
McCormick is exploring working with the Sunflower Network, a small group of mostly Saskatchewan people, most of whom are in business, working to assist Ukrainian refugees. Several contributors with Pipeline Online, including columnists Steve Halabura (founder of the Sunflower Network), Brian Crossman and editor Brian Zinchuk are involved. The group has already helped seven families totalling 26 people to date, with Estevan and Martensville being where most have ended up so far.
When Pipeline Online spoke to McCormick again on July 6, he was working with the Sunflower Network on bringing over a family of seven, finding work and housing for them. Hopefully some members of that family might find work with Jerry Mainil Ltd. They are expected within a few weeks.
It’s a matter close to his heart, as McCormick was a soldier in the Canadian Army and in one of the first groups that deployed to Bosnia in the 1990s, when that war was very heavily engaged.
“I’ve been wanting to do something for a while,” he said on July 6. “Out of a lot of people, I’ve probably got the closest experience to understanding what they’ve gone through. I’ve seen it firsthand.
“I was a member of the second group of Canadians into Bosnia.
“I’ve seen the death, hatred, the explosions. I didn’t live their side. I saw what it could do firsthand, and how horrible it is.”
So he’s working on arranging possible employment, not just at their firm, but other places in Weyburn.
If you want to assist this group coming to Weyburn, contact the Sunflower Network at SunflowerNetwork.ca
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- 0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow0065 Anova Resources field operator Oxbow
- 0064 Estevan OTS0064 Estevan OTS
- 0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher0063 Turnbull Excavating hiring crusher
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- 0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask0061 SIMSA 2024 For Sask Buy Sask
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- 0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator0059 Southeast College Heavy Equipment Operator
- 0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket0058 Royal Helium Steveville opens anonymous rocket
- 0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office0055 Smart Power Be Smart with your Power office
- 0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text0053 Kingston Midstream Westspur Alameda Click Before You Dig large text
- 0052 Predator Inspections0052 Predator Inspections
- 0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly0051 JML Hiring Pumpjack assembly
- 0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar0049 Scotsburn Dental soft guitar
- 0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan0046 City of Estevan This is Estevan
- 0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build0041 DEEP Since 2018 now we are going to build
- 0032 IWS Summer hiring rock trailer music
- 0022 Grimes winter hiring
- 0021 OSY Rentals S8 Promo
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