Dear HR Managers and Business Owners,

According to a report released by the Business Council of BC, over the next 12 years BC is projected to have one million job openings to fill. Over 60% of these will arise as a result of retiring workers. Yet, the same report indicates that if productivity in the BC workforce were to increase by 1% per year over the next two decades, then the maximum sustained rate in with BC's economy will fall inline with the shortage of labour forecasted.

The implication for most companies? Attracting and retaining top talent will remain imperative, but so is the need to improve the productivity and engagement levels. These two metrics will dictate strategic advantage for years to come. What is your company doing to steadily build on the strengths and productivity of your best people?

In this month's issue one of our articles focuses on an unusual strategy that may be worth taking a look at - the employee sabbatical. Can strategic downtime pay for itself in the long term? Read on to find out.

On behalf of the People First Team I wish you a productive and profitable month ahead.

Cheers,