Labor / Workforce

Fredericton’s workforce is young, highly-skilled and loyal. Over 59 per cent of the population between the ages of 20 and 65 holds an advanced degree or diploma from a trade school, college, or university. Fredericton’s workforce is continually replenished with over 5000 graduates of high school, training institutions, universities and colleges entering the work force each year.

The variety of public and private educational and training institutions in New Brunswick means that the workforce is diverse. Since most New Brunswicker’s are willing to commute between the three major urban centers, Fredericton’s employers have access to a diverse labor pool much larger than the regional population.

Labor costs account for up to 50 per cent of the costs of doing business. In Fredericton, savings are considerable. Mandated fringe benefits account for only 16.3 per cent of payroll costs, as compared to the 18 per cent national average. This constitutes a savings of about 20 per cent compared to the average cost of US fringe benefits which can amount to as high as 35 per cent. Overall, Fredericton labor costs are more than 25 per cent lower than average US costs.

Additional savings are realized as a result of a region-wide low employee-initiated turnover rate—less than 5 per cent. Employers can expect to save on average $4,300 CDN per employee on costs associated with hiring, firing and re-training. Fredericton employees stay on the job twice as long as the Canadian average and miss work less often with absenteeism rates of less than 3 per cent. Doing business in Fredericton means larger profits per employee—profits per employee in Fredericton’s high-tech sector are 2.5 times higher than the national average.

The average Fredericton resident working full-time, all year round earns over $38,000.00 and the average household income is over $55,000.00. Despite Fredericton’s relative prosperity, payroll costs are more than 10 per cent below the Canadian average. In high demand industries such as information technology and advanced manufacturing, Fredericton offers a wealth of human resources at a fraction of the price of other Canadian and US jurisdictions.

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Average Salary by Occupation - Fredericton has lower average salaries by occupation than most Canadian and US jurisdictions. Cost advantages in Fredericton are most striking in high-demand occupations like information technology and precision manufacturing.

Average Cost of Sites - Compared with nine jurisdictions in the Canada and United States, Fredericton has the lowest overall labor costs. Average labor costs in research and development, software and manufacturing sectors are consistently lower than other sites.

	Atlantic Canada's Workforce draws IT companies >> Expansion Management Magazine January/February 2006 Download (801 kb)