Ho hum
Canadian Oil Sands Trust (2) (C-COS) - In the News
Globe says Cdn Oil Sands comes up empty on workers
2007-05-14 09:32 ET - In the News
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COS.UN Close 2007-05-11 C$ 31.50
The Financial Post reports in its Saturday, May 12, edition that Canadian Oil Sands Trust's Syncrude Canada is asking potential employees to "Think big -- think Syncrude." The Post's Claudia Cattaneo writes that the company is also asking the new recruits to think money. In a St. John's ballroom two recruiters offer a presentation with generous-sounding benefits, and then finish with the icing on the cake: $44 per hour base pay for experienced journeymen, a 20-per-cent retention bonus for Fort McMurray, Alta., employees, shift premiums and overtime pay at $88 per hour. This is all in addition to tens of thousands of dollars in moving allowances and extras. For experienced recruits this all adds up to more than six figures in base pay. Companies from all over the world, including Total SA of France and Statoil ASA of Norway, are setting up multibillion-dollar projects to harvest Alberta's oil sands. Recruiting the manpower to build and operate them is becoming more difficult, even with the offered salaries. Despite the Syncrude pitch, only about 35 people showed up for the weekend recruitment drive. Hundreds of expectant seats are empty. Some wonder if the market is tapped out.
