How many are planning to hire in the next 6 months?
A new salary survey has revealed that 20% of Canadian employers have had new talent slip through their fingers in the last six months, because they “can’t compete on salary and benefits”.
Sixty percent of the companies said hiring in 2023 has been “quite competitive”, and the greatest recruitment challenge for 2024 for 40% of the employers was “no sign-off for new headcount available”.
Despite this, 40% of businesses in Canada still plan to hire in the next six months, found the survey by global talent firm Morgan McKinley, using research from 650 businesses and 3,400 professional individuals.
"As many companies are facing reduced budgets for 2024, employers will be counting on more from their current employees – having a formal retention strategy is vital,” said Ian Kinsella, Managing Director of Morgan McKinley Canada. “Offering meaningful benefits, with a clear focus on flexibility, will continue to play a key role.”
Canadian employees not happy with benefits
Canadian workers’ opinions of their benefits packages was not positive – 65% of respondents said they are “neutral”, “dissatisfied” or “highly dissatisfied” with their current employers’ benefits offering.
The top five most desired benefits are health insurance, work from home options, pensions, health and wellbeing support, and life insurance.
Despite the grim outlook on benefits, fewer Canadian professionals are planning to change roles in the next six months (45%) than when they were asked the same question at the end of 2022 (76%).
When asked why they were planning on leaving their current jobs, those who were moving said they were seeking “higher salary” and “meaningful and impactful work” more than anything, both at 23%.
Contract work on the rise with Canadian professionals
A high percentage (79%) of permanently employed Canadian professionals said they would leave their jobs to be independent contractors. They cited “better rates of pay”, “greater opportunities to develop skills” and “more flexibility” as reasons they might be enticed away from their employers for contract work.
"Hiring processes lengthened due to leaner TA teams, and the influx of applicants impacting the ability to efficiently qualify and assess incoming talent, from both a technical and soft skills perspective. This poor recruitment experience frustrated many candidates,” Kinsella added.
“With fewer A players actively looking for work, organisations need to move fast to identify and secure top talent.”