Newfoundland and Labrador's minimum wage rose Tuesday, although it's expected to have little effect on employers who are already desperate to find workers.

Help-wanted signs are familiar sights at many St. John's fast food outlets and retailers.
(CBC)

The lowest allowable wage increased 50 cents to $8 per hour, the last in a series of bumps that started in 2006, when the wage was $6 per hour.

The extra pay, though, has not been enough for many retailers and other businesses — particularly in the St. John's area — who have had remarkable difficulty finding workers.

"We have had people come to work for three days, and they're on a flight the next morning to Fort McMurray," said Jason Dickie, who owns two Boston Pizza franchises in St. John's.

The job magnet of Fort McMurray and the Alberta oilsands isn't the only problem facing employers, though. The economy in St. John's has been on a roll, largely because of a boom in the offshore oil business.

With more than 100 minimum-wage workers on his payroll, Dickie said finding workers is one problem, and keeping them is quite another.

"Part of it is … the growth the city is seeing," he said. "[With] a lot of other chains opening in the last couple of years,  there just aren't the bodies around for them."

Employers are facing a demographic squeeze, apart from a growing economy. Newfoundland and Labrador's birth rate started dropping in the 1960s, and the number of teenagers and young adults is its smallest in decades.

Boston Pizza franchise owner Jason Dickie says he's finding it harder than ever to find and keep staff.
(CBC)

Jenny Brothan, an employment counsellor with the YM-YWCA, said the competition among employers is working in favour of prospective employees.

"[It] seems like the employment trends are changing," she said. "There are more jobs available, so it's now a market where the employees can be a bit choosier."

Help-wanted signs, which have been a common sight for several years in the St. John's area, show how companies are already upping the ante for new workers. Would-be workers are often offered health benefits, flexible hours, full-time commitments and other perks, like educational opportunities.

At a Tim Hortons franchise in downtown St. John's, managers are willing to hire new workers right off the street, with a walk-in interviewing service.

Further increases in the minimum wage are likely. The government recently concluded a round of public hearings on its plans to increase the minimum wage to $10 per hour by 2010.

Employment Minister Shawn Skinner said the province's minimum wage is now competitive with other provinces in Atlantic Canada.