IS2 Workforce Solutions moves into SWO
Industrial staffing firm IS2 Workforce Solutions expands into the SWO region with new offices in London, St. Thomas and Woodstock
Photo: IS2 Workforce Solutions’ Amanda McNair, manager of the Woodstock office, Mike Johnson, regional manager of Southwestern Ontario, and Justin Hoffer, manager of the London and St. Thomas offices
GOOD NEWS FOR jobseekers and industrial employers in the London area: a new staffing company is expanding into the region with three offices over the next month.
The staffing firm IS2 Workforce Solutions, which was founded in Edmonton in 1996 and is now based in Brampton, announced that they would be opening staffing offices in London, St. Thomas and Woodstock, expanding their reach into Southwestern Ontario.
Heading up the operation will be Mike Johnson, who is coming on to lead the regional expansion.
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“IS2’s expansion to the Middlesex, Elgin and Oxford counties will allow us to support growing businesses and the local economy,” Johnson says. “We are looking forward to fostering strong partnerships with employers and the workforce. Ultimately, our goal is to boost Southwestern Ontario’s manufacturing and agricultural industries.”
Over the past 25 years, IS2 has grown to become one of the largest industrial Canadian staffing services companies, with operations in Barrie, Belleville, Brampton, Burlington, Cobourg, Guelph, Kitchener, Mississauga, Newmarket, Vaughan, Vancouver and Calgary.
“We are looking forward to fostering strong partnerships with employers and the workforce. Ultimately, our goal is to boost Southwestern Ontario’s manufacturing and agricultural industries” ―Mike Johnson
With the London-area unemployment rate in the region hovering at around 10 per cent, it will be welcome news for both sides of the job-seeking equation. It could also be taken as a good sign: The expansion follows a steady period of strength for London’s industrial sector, which has seen a “noticeable uptick” according to the real estate firm Colliers. Where steady economies with major forthcoming operations like the Maple Leaf plant go, staffing agencies are often quick to follow.
“The expansion of IS2 Workforce Solutions into our region will support business growth by helping to fill open positions,” notes LEDC president, Kapil Lakhotia. His counterpart at the St. Thomas Economic Development Corporation, Sean Dyke, adds that they were “very pleased” to welcome IS2 to the community.
The company certainly thinks the London economy to be a strong bet, touting provincial projections that the population is expected to increase by around 30 per cent over the next 25 years, with growth in London and Woodstock being particularly strong. In press materials, they highlighted distribution, auto manufacturing, farm work and the agri-food and cannabis sector as an indication of where their strengths and focus will be.
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Offices in London and St. Thomas are opening this week, while the office in Woodstock will be open by late August, the company says, and will be a relatively lean operation to start — just six employees.
With over 10,000 placed employees across the country in 2020, including past contracts with FedEx, P&G and American Eagle, and serving as the official staffing partner for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the hope for the company is that they will be replicate their substantial client list.
According to IS2, they will be launching with between 15 and 30 ongoing assignments and are expecting to place around 200 employees in the region in the coming weeks. Kieran Delamont