Ongoing skills and labor shortages, along with advancements in business and technology, will mean an increased demand for five key occupations in Alberta in 2014, according to Alberta-based Collective Technical Recruitment. The recruitment firm targets the oil and gas, construction and financial sectors.

“This year we’re going to see a number of recruitment challenges in Alberta,” said Trevor Mahl, senior executive recruiter for Collective Technical Recruitment. “In particular, employers in the oil sands, construction and finance are going to have a tough time finding the right people for the right positions.”

Collective Technical Recruitment’s top five in-demand jobs for 2014 are:

1. Steam and power engineers: According to Enform, power engineers are the most in-demand occupation in the oil sands.
2. Environmental science jobs: Also driven by Alberta’s oil sands, environmental careers such as soil reclamation technologists will be increasing in demand.
3. Construction professionals: With a reported 845 major construction projects in the works in Alberta, demand for construction managers and supervisors is expected to increase.
4. Management or skilled positions: There will be about 4.3 million management positions and other jobs requiring post-secondary education over the next 10 years.
5. Finance and insurance professionals: There will be about 1,000 job openings for jobs like auditors, accountants and insurance professionals in 2014.