It might seem unsavoury, but it’s a great time to look for opportunities to pick up where others leave off. Furniture, fixtures and equipment of all kinds can often be bought at auction for about 10 cents on the dollar as businesses close, downsize or struggle through crises of liquidity. Industrial auctioneer Ritchie Bros. has been setting records this year, and much of the fodder came from companies winding down operations, like Top Notch Construction Ltd. in Calgary, which sold about 95% of its equipment fleet this May.
The real estate market is currently favouring tenants and buyers as well, and retail, office and warehouse space is no exception. “We are definitely seeing landlords offering more inducements,” says Jon Mook, vice-president and partner in the industrial leasing division with Colliers International in Calgary. “They’re offering free rent or are offering to take over existing leases. And there’s availability out there, which we haven’t seen in some time. For tenants looking for bigger space, this is the first time we’re seeing multiple options where there’s spaces available that are 40,000 square feet or larger. There are options and the conditions are favourable for tenants to negotiate.”
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There are talented workers available right now, and you don’t have to fly them in from Dubai or buy them a condo in Barbados to get them to sign on. Of course, there are also those who’ve been let go for a reason.
“Many organizations did take the opportunity to downsize or right-size their organizations keeping only their strongest contributors, so there definitely is a blend of stellar and not-so-stellar candidates on the market,” says Sheila Musgrove, founder of TAG Recruitment Group Inc. in Calgary. That said, company closures released employees indiscriminately, and mid-level managers in a variety of sectors also experienced layoffs, she adds. “So, no question, there are some really talented people on the market.”
With the province’s unemployment rate now north of 7% (nearly double what it was a year ago), the chances of locating accessible talent increase, says Briar McGinnis, Alberta Employment and Immigration communications and operations manager for the Calgary region. But don’t expect the labour pool to teem with highly qualified workers for long, she warns. Calgary is already seeing job gains in several areas, including construction, manufacturing, health-care services and education.
It can be tough to find the motivation and money to invest in fine-tuning your operations when it seems, at least in the short term, like there’s nowhere to go anyway. But when businesses get the green light to grow again, it will be those well-oiled machines, newly emerged from months of maintenance, that will be leading the race.
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