Work-from-home could have ‘catastrophic’ effect on Victoria economy: business groups

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.

In a letter to Shannon Salter, head of the B.C. public service and deputy minister to Premier David Eby, six groups headed by the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce said new hiring policies to fill public-service ranks will harm local businesses that have long been established to cater to government workers.

Effective April 1, postings for provincial government jobs will open up to qualified people wherever they live in B.C., an initiative that in the future may see small government offices set up in more rural communities.

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.