More than half of Canadian companies have plans to add new permanent positions in the second half of the year, a new report suggests.
Half of the 1,800 hiring managers surveyed said company growth was the main factor influencing hiring decisions, while 38 percent said they are looking for skills their current employees don’t have. Nearly 40 percent said their hiring plans are focused on talent for project-based work, and 41 percent said they are hiring because of employee turnover.
Difficulty Finding Skilled Professionals
The report found that 90 percent of managers face challenges finding skilled professionals, and more than half (51 percent) believe they will lack job applicants with the skills they are looking for. Another 46 percent said they anticipate difficulty hiring quickly enough to recruit top talent, while 51 percent said they lost their top candidate to competitors for taking too long to make an offer.
“Hiring challenges and subsequent lengthy hiring cycles can have a big impact on projects and business priorities,” said Koula Vasilopoulos, senior managing director of Robert Half Canada, in a release.
“Employers have crucial roles that need filling, and need to ensure they have strategic hiring strategies in place to attract talent and keep projects on track.”
Nearly half of hiring managers (49 percent) think they’ll have trouble finding prospects who align with their company culture, the report said. Similarly, 46 percent believe that meeting candidates’ salary expectations will be a major hiring challenge.
Latest Employment Trends
According to the latest Statistics Canada’s labour force survey, the employment rate in June was 61.1 percent, down 1.3 percentage points from its peak in January and February of last year.
Compared to the previous month, the employment rate in June fell slightly by 0.2 percentage points, marking the eighth decrease in the last nine months. But compared to the same period last year, the employment rate in June rose by 1.7 percent in 2024.
According to the agency, employment growth in the 12 months leading up to June was faster in the public sector than in the private sector, at 4.3 percent and 0.8 percent respectively.