CAMM, Automate Canada Release Coronavirus Impact Survey Results-Week 2

The joint forces of Canadian Association of Mold Makers (CAMM) and Automate Canada are taking immediate action in response to their most recent two surveys.

Employee anxiety was listed as the number one problem by survey respondents to a question on what is the biggest impact on their Canadian manufacturing business to date. Financial concerns and declining sales were a close second to anxiety and protection of employees.

“We asked. We listened and now we are jumping in to take immediate action,” says Mike Bilton, board chair of CAMM. “Fear is about not knowing so we are ready to support our industry and the workers who are so vital to stepping up to help out our healthcare workers as well.”

Stats on employee anxiety increased so sharply that CAMM and Automate Canada reached out to the local Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) branch and decided to collaborate on a webinar to deliver targeted information to Human Resources staff, managers and company owners.

“We knew this issue needed to be addressed immediately,” said Shelley Fellows, of Automate Canada, who has been assisting on analysing the data from surveys. “The red flag was raised when we saw 70 of our 90 respondents this week listed ‘employee anxiety’ as a concern.”

Bilton says their surveys are not just an exercise in asking questions. “We are in action mode for sure. We have been juggling many things to work quickly to assist our members as well as jump in to help with the overall manufacturing industry.”

An info sheet is attached with further info on action items also underway to address other issues that emerged from the survey data, like financial concerns and challenges in stepping up to assist with medical equipment manufacturing.

“We are ready to step up to help,” says Kim Willis, CMHA-WECB Direction, communications and mental health promotion. “We launched our On The Front Lines campaign earlier in March before this crisis hit – and we certainly are ready and willing to help immediately. We know all the other concerns raised in the survey contribute to anxiety. And kudos these organizations for prioritizing this need and reaching out to us.

“Our mandate is always to assist in a time of need. Our Sole Focus Project campaign has allowed us to have these building blocks in places thanks to our volunteers and our donors and sponsors. We are now ready to jump in to help these two amazing organizations. Clearly their members are lucky to have people representing them and taking action on issues of mental health, which we know is so closely tied to physical health.”

CMHA-WECB has waived the fees for this webinar to ensure this very urgent issue is addressed during this time of crisis.