ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey: Canadian Employer Hiring Intentions Improve Amid Covid-19 Pandemic with Modest Employment Prospects for Job Seekers

• Employers report a +6% National Outlook for 4Q 2020. It's a 15-percentage point increase from the 3Q 2020 Outlook and 6 percentage point decrease from the 4Q 2019 Outlook.
• Employers in eight Canadian industry sectors have positive hiring outlooks for Q4 and three of the four regions of the country have positive employment outlooks for the upcoming quarter.
• Employers in the Public Administration sector report the highest industry Outlook (+17%) followed by the Transportation & Public Utilities sector (+13%) and the Manufacturing Non-Durables sector (+12%). The Mining sector anticipates a subdued Outlook of -4%, the weakest of all sector Outlooks in Canada.
• The strongest regional Outlook is reported by employers in Ontario (+10%), increasing by 22 percentage points in comparison with 3Q 2020, and the same percentage in comparison to the same period last year.

TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2020 /CNW/ - According to the latest ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, the most extensive, forward-looking employment survey in the world, Canadian employers expect a modest hiring pace over the next three months. Employers in the Public Administration sector report the strongest job prospects while job creators in the Ontario region are forecasting the strongest Outlook of the four regions in Canada with an employer outlook of +10%.

With seasonal variations removed from the data, the Net Employment Outlook is +6%. This is a 15 percentage point increase when compared to the previous quarterly Outlook (3Q 2020) but it's a six percentage point decrease from the Outlook reported during the same time last year (4Q 2020). Employers in two of the four regions of the country and in eight industry sectors expect to increase payrolls next quarter. 

The survey of over 1,200 employers across Canada reveals that 12% of employers plan to increase their staffing levels in the fourth quarter of 2020, while 9% anticipate cutbacks. Meanwhile, 73% of the employers surveyed expect their current staffing levels to remain unchanged, while the remaining 6% are unsure of their hiring intentions.

"While Canadian employer hiring intentions remain modest, there has been a great improvement in the outlook for Q4 when compared to the previous quarter," said Darlene Minatel, Country Manager of ManpowerGroup Canada. "A real benefit for job seekers is that eight of the ten industry sectors are expecting to add workers in the upcoming quarter with the exceptions being the education and mining sectors. With three of the four regions of the country having positive employment outlooks for Q-4, employment prospects for job seekers appear to be on the upswing."

SOURCE ManpowerGroup

Tony D'Archi, The iPR Group, 416.420.1413, [email protected]