2007年的招聘趋势（加拿大）

1月31日

By Laure Marcus – www.hrjob.ca

With an unemployment rate at its lowest level in 30 years, 2007 promises to be a challenging one for Canadian recruiters, who have made their New Year’s resolutions—employee retention, diversity, flexibility and training are among the popular themes. What lies in store for the coming year? We outline 10 major trends to help you better understand the coming changes.

1. Hiring intentions similar to 2006
According to the Manpower employment outlook survey, employers in Canada and the U.S. foresee a relatively similar rate of hiring for the first quarter of 2007 as for 2006. According to the site CareerBuilder.ca, more than a third of employers expect to recruit up to 10 new employees in 2007. Manpower, however, predicts more modest recruiting in the beginning of the year: for Q1 2007, the net employment outlook of +18% is less than Q4 2006 by three percentage points.

The picture is radically different from one province to the next—while employers from Atlantic Canada and Ontario predict a rather weak hiring climate with a net employment outlook of –12% and -2% respectively, Western Canada has a net employment outlook of +25%, the highest rate in the country. In Quebec, employers anticipate rather stable recruiting, with a +4% growth in potential jobs.

2. Hiring in the mining and services sectors
The mining and services sectors will most likely be the biggest recruiters in 2007. Mining sector employers forecast the most prosperous results for the coming months, with a net employment outlook of +36%. Services and public administration, for their part, are anticipating +26% employment outlook. Finance, wholesale and retail trade, education, transportation and construction will not be far behind with an employment outlook of +14% to +21%.

3. Increasing salaries
Salaries continue to go up, driven by increasingly apparent recruiting difficulties. 83% of employers reported that their companies will increase the salaries of current employees, most by +3%. About half want to increase the base pay of new employees. The use of bonuses, indemnities, options and other premiums is also on the rise.

4. Greater mobility and flexibility
Improving mobility within the company is one of the keys to decreasing turnover. In order to promote internal recruiting, 37% of employers plan on offering more promotions and opportunities for professional advancement this year.

In terms of retaining employees, the work/family life balance is increasingly a consideration. 27% of employers are very or extremely willing to providing more flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing and alternate schedules. 16% are willing to authorize telework.

5. Reinforcement of training
To make up for the shortage of qualified labour, more than 8 out of 10 employers are ready to recruit employees without experience in their own industry, but that they can train in the field. 78% declare themselves ready to provide the required training and certifications.

6. Promise of diversity
As a result of the talent war, employers are increasingly inclined to look elsewhere. In addition, companies are more inclined to recognize the positive influence of diversity on their bottom line. In 2007, employers will seek to vary their staffing demographics—48% of employers, for example, said that bilingual (French/English) workers will be the most valuable to their companies.

7. Retirees on the job
In 2007, many baby boomers will turn 60, but will not necessarily retire. A study conducted last year by Desjardins Financial Security found that 91% of Canadians do not think they will be able to afford to retire at this age. Changing manners, the demographic situation and labour requirements have profoundly changed the environment.

Moreover, close to one quarter of Canadian employers stated wanting to hire retirees or to set up incentive programs to convince workers approaching retirement age to stay on the job.

But will this willingness reduce age discrimination? In 2006, 60% of executives older than 50 stated that their applications had already been rejected due to age, according to the U.S. ExecuNet network.

8. Hiring abroad
Canadian companies continue to grow on external markets. In 2007, 8% of them plan to expand operations and hire employees overseas. This is slightly less than the U.S., which will do more recruiting abroad (13% of companies), primarily in China and India.

9. More rational outsourcing
With the wisdom of several years of experience, recruiters are now better selecting the activities to be outsourced. Large companies are more selective in outsourcing, targeting certain stages of the recruiting process or certain types of jobs. Small companies, on the other hand, tend to outsource all of their recruiting. Recruiting providers are slowly organizing and making themselves indispensable.

10. Virtual pre-selection
The Internet is becoming an invaluable information tool for recruiters. Social networking, blogs and online discussion groups already provide a vast quantity of information on candidates. In 2006, 35% of executive recruiters using the Internet as a source of information had already eliminated candidates further to an online discovery. This number was 10% higher than 2005, which foreshadows strong growth for 2007, based on ExecuNet network forecasts.

There are more and more tools available to help recruiters find information on their candidates. Sites such as Zoominfo, W3 Data and Accurint deliver invaluable data: virtual CVs, contact information, hobbies and leisure activities, etc.

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