TORONTO – 24 SEPTEMBER 2015 – Unable to find candidates with the skills they need, many employers are struggling to fill in-demand positions. Fifty per cent of employers feel there is a shortage of skilled workers in Canada, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.ca.
The survey also found that 3 in 10 employers (29 per cent) currently have positions in their organization that, on average, stay open for 12 weeks or longer. Of those with extended job vacancies, 75 per cent say the vacancies have adversely affected their firm.
The national survey was conducted online on behalf of CareerBuilder.ca of more than 400 hiring managers across Canada.
“Companies nationwide are feeling the effect of a skills gap, from lower morale to higher retention rates to a loss of revenue,” said Ryan Lazar, managing director of CareerBuilder Canada. “Our findings indicate, however, that taking proactive efforts to train and reskill workers can go a long way in overcoming these challenges. While we still have a long way to go, the more we can identify the root of these challenges, the more opportunities we will find to bridge this gap.”
Morale, productivity and retention are among the victims of extended vacancies, according to employers. When asked how extended job vacancies have adversely affected their firm, employers cited the following results:
When asked what they think is causing the skills shortage, employers offered the following opinions:
In effort to overcome these challenges, many employers are taking matters into their own hands and training workers on the job. Forty-six percent of employers say they have hired a low-skilled worker and trained him/her for a higher-skill job within their firms in the last two years. When asked how this practice has affected their firms, employers cited the following benefits:
For some employers, automation may be the answer to their staffing challenges. Three in ten employers (28 per cent) foresee certain jobs at their organisations being replaced by technology in the next decade. When asked which areas they see being replaced by technology, employers identified the following:
Survey Methodology
The survey was conducted among 500 employees and 400 hiring managers in Canada. The interviews were conducted online by Redshift Research in June & July 2015 using an email invitation and an online survey. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation. The magnitude of the variation is measurable and is affected by the number of interviews and the level of the percentages expressing the results. In this particular study, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4.4 percentage points from the result that would be obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.
About CareerBuilder.ca
CareerBuilder.ca is a leading job site in Canada. Owned by TEGNA Inc. (NYSE:TGNA), Tribune Media (NYSE:TRCO) and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI),CareerBuilder.ca powers the career centers for more than 250 Canadian partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. Job seekers visit CareerBuilder.ca every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic e-mail job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.ca products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.ca.
CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:
Michael Erwin
CareerBuilder.ca
(P) 773-527-3637
(E) [email protected]