Gradual Hiring to Hold Steady in Second Half of the Year, CareerBuilder
Canada's Job Forecast Reveals

    
    -Employers to focus on retention and hiring in revenue generating
    positions-





    
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<p><span class="xn-location">TORONTO</span>, <span class="xn-chron">July 7</span> /CNW/ -- Canadian employers are feeling optimistic about the job market in the latter half of 2010 with hiring trends expected to stay steady.  Fifty-eight per cent of Canadian hiring managers said they plan to add new employees in the months of July through December, according to CareerBuilder Canada's latest survey.  The study, titled "2010 Canadian Mid-Year Job Forecast" was conducted by Harris Interactive between <span class="xn-chron">May 22</span> and <span class="xn-chron">June 3, 2010</span> among more than 200 hiring managers and human resource professionals in private sector companies.</p>
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<p>"Employers' confidence levels are returning, as Statistics <span class="xn-location">Canada</span> has reported consistent monthly increases in jobs on a national level in the first half of the year," said <span class="xn-person">Brent Rasmussen</span>, President of CareerBuilder <span class="xn-location">North America</span>. "While companies plan to hire more workers in the second half of the year, they report they will do so gradually. In addition, they will continue to focus on revenue generating positions and maintaining their current staff levels in an effort to facilitate growth and sustain their businesses through the rest of 2010."</p>
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<p>Employers are primarily focused on preserving clientele and fueling new revenue opportunities, and are recruiting for the following functional areas first:</p>
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    --  IT (30 per cent of hiring managers)
    --  Customer Service (26 per cent)
    --  Sales (22 per cent)
    --  Administrative (19 per cent)
    --  Business Development (17 per cent)
    --  Accounting/Finance (16 per cent)


    FOUR TRENDS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2010:

    
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<p>1. Emerging Jobs - Employers are also looking for personnel to fill emerging positions that are relatively new to the workforce. Forty-two per cent reported they are recruiting for jobs focused on areas such as social media, green energy, cyber security, global relations and health care reform.</p>
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<p>2. Changing Jobs - Employers are implementing measures to retain top performers. Forty-six per cent of hiring managers fear that their top talent will leave their organizations as <span class="xn-location">Canada</span> produces more jobs. Their concern is substantiated with 29 per cent of workers planning to change jobs once the economy improves.</p>
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<p>3. Shortage of Skilled Labor - More than half of hiring managers (54 per cent) reported that, despite an abundant labour pool, they still have positions for which they can't find qualified candidates.  IT, customer service and sales are the skill sets where employers see the greatest deficit within their organizations.</p>
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<p>4. Restoring Compensation - Twelve per cent of employers reported they instituted pay cuts at their organizations in the last 12 months.  Of these employers, 34 per cent were restoring pay levels in the first half of the year, 31 per cent in the latter half and 14 per cent in 2011 and 2012.   Nineteen per cent were unsure if and when pay would be restored to previous levels.</p>
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    THE WORKER'S PERSPECTIVE

    
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<p>As <span class="xn-location">Canada</span> continues to move toward greater financial health, workers are re-evaluating their employment situations.  Twenty-two per cent of workers reported they have a worse opinion of their employer in the wake of the recession, 14 per cent have a better opinion and 64 per cent stayed the same.</p>
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<p>Twenty-nine per cent of workers plan to pursue new job opportunities when the economy shows more improvement. Thirty-one per cent of all workers are likely to leave their organizations in the next 12 months.</p>
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<p>Several factors influenced these decisions.  Twenty-four per cent of workers attributed their desire to leave their organizations to factors related to the recession such as feeling over-worked, feeling the climate changed in their work environment and harboring resentment over other workers being laid off.</p>
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<p>Nearly one-third of workers (31 per cent) reported they feel overqualified for their current jobs and 43 per cent of workers who are looking for or planning to look for a new job stated that a lack of interesting work was one of the main motivators for changing employers.</p>
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<p>When asked what their employers could do to retain them as employees, workers first pointed to increased compensation. If their employers weren't in a position to elevate salary levels, the top thing that workers said would inspire them to stay with their organizations was employee recognition. This was followed by the company making an investment in training and setting realistic performance expectations and manageable workloads. Taking the time to evaluate employee potential and discuss career paths, and increased communication were also cited.</p>
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    Survey Methodology
    
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<p>This survey was conducted online within <span class="xn-location">Canada</span> by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder <span class="xn-location">Canada</span> among 239 Canadian hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions; non-government) and 521 Canadian workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government) ages 18 and over between <span class="xn-chron">May 22</span> and <span class="xn-chron">June 3, 2010</span> (percentages for some questions are based on a subset of Canadian employers and/or employees, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 239 and 521 one could say with a 95 per cent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 6.34 and +/- 4.29 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.</p>
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    About CareerBuilder.ca:
    
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<p>CareerBuilder.ca is a leading job site in <span class="xn-location">Canada</span>.  Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), the Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT), CareerBuilder.ca powers the career centers for more than 250 Canadian partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences.  These include leading portals such as MSN.ca and Macleans.ca.  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 <a href="http://www.careerbuilder.ca">http://www.careerbuilder.ca</a>.</p>
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    Media Contact
    Allison Nawoj
    CareerBuilder
    [phone]
    [email protected]





    

For further information: Allison Nawoj of CareerBuilder, [phone], [email protected] Web Site: http://www.careerbuilder.ca