It wasn't too long ago that Fort McMurray faced a work shortage due to cuts in the oil industry amidst falling energy prices.

Now, however, the city is facing a worker shortage in various sectors due to The Beast.

The Fort McMurray wildfire devastated many parts of the city. Re-entry began over a month ago on June 1 and businesses are just starting to reopen. Alexis Foster of the Fort McMurray Chamber of Commerce says many businesses have been affected by the fire, whether it's via smoke damage or a complete loss.

"We're in the process of getting back in business," Foster said of the transition period on Edmonton AM Thursday. But a worker shortage has been an inhibiting factor. Some businesses have had a tough time getting back up and running because employees haven't returned yet, or no longer plan to call Fort McMurray home.

"Some employees aren't coming back, they've found something in a different location, or they're just waiting until September," Foster said, adding the service and hospitality industries have been hit the hardest.

There are people and traffic around but different industries, especially the hospitality industry, worry that their workers may not come back, or have found better-paying jobs, she said. This means some restaurants have had to operate with limited hours and menus.

'We've had quite a difficult two-year period'

Workers put out markers around a devastated area of Timberlea in Fort McMurray last month. Some home businesses were destroyed by the fire. (Jason Franson/Canadian Press)

With struggling oil prices, Fort McMurray hadn't quite been the boomtown it once was since oil prices started to plummet in late 2014. "We've had quite a difficult two-year period," Foster said.

But if the worker shortage shows anything, it's that the other services in Fort McMurray are just as vital to the success of the city. "It is a great business community," she said. "This whole evacuation gave us the opportunity to show the world what a great place we live in."

The steady influx of construction services needed in the next few years should provide Fort McMurray with a much-needed boost in multiple sectors, Foster says. The hope is the construction sector will give the economy the jolt it needs to get back to where it was a few years ago.

"We'll definitely be reliant on the price of oil once again," Foster said. "I am optimistic about our community because we are so strong together."