Published on June 24, 2022 at 10:52 am
Workforce Planning Hamilton, in partnership with the city’s economic development team, released the results of its 2022 Employer Survey this week.
Workforce Planning Hamilton, in partnership with the city’s economic development team, released the results of its employer survey this week. The results revealed which industries are hiring and which employers are struggling to find quality workers.
Earlier this year, 1,085 employers from all industries in Hamilton shared their hiring experiences on the jobs most in demand and highlighted recruitment, retention and skills issues.
According to the report, 66% of employers said they would hire at least one position in the coming year, an increase from last year, when 52% said they planned to hire. .
Service workers are the most in demand in Hamilton this year, with 188 employers hiring. Exchanges came in second at 184.
“The industry that selected service workers the most was overwhelmingly accommodation and food services, where more than half of the selections came from this industry alone,” according to the report.
“Jobs in the trades came primarily from manufacturing and construction. Managers and executives were selected primarily from the accommodation and catering and manufacturing sectors. »
The employers surveyed were disappointed with the quality of the hiring pool.
The largest proportion of employers said the availability of skilled labor in Hamilton was “poor” at 39%. The second highest was 36% for “fair”. Only 3% said “excellent”.
Compared to last year, the share of respondents who said they were poor or fair increased from a combined 55% to 75% this year.
Meanwhile, 68% said the recruitment process was ‘negative’ or ‘very negative’.
The main reasons why employers found positions difficult to fill were related to lack of qualifications and/or motivation (59%). Not having enough candidates was the second most common answer (20%).
“Employers are struggling to find qualified candidates among those who apply,” according to the report. “Most industries had a share of nearly 20%, but employers in retail and accommodation and food services had it at 24% and 23%, respectively.”
The survey also revealed that most employers (65%) do not have policies or practices in place that encourage the hiring of members of underrepresented groups. Health care and social assistance (66%) and arts, entertainment and recreation (49%) had the highest proportions of employers with a policy or practice in place.
The larger an employer, the more likely it is to have a policy.
The highest proportion said they don’t get many newcomer immigrant applicants at 19 percent.
“It shows that many immigrants/newcomers would benefit from applying to a broader group of employers, but since many employers do not have (equity, diversity and inclusion) policies, this can act as a barrier to employment opportunities,” according to the report.
“It shows that some employers do not consider the qualifications of immigrant/newcomer workers on an equal footing with those of domestic workers.
As expected, the effects of inflation weighed heavily on employers.
“This impact will affect the cost of production and the cost of their goods,” reads the report. “If they feel they can’t pass on costs, rising levels of inflation could hurt profitability.”
The mental health of employees and employers topped the list of concerns, ranked 2nd and 4th.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact on people’s mental well-being, with potential lasting impacts.” read the report.
“Another major concern of employers is “The inability to reasonably forecast the business environment in the short term”. This shows that long-term planning has become very difficult for employers due to pandemic-induced trends and structural changes within the labor market.
The full report and survey results are available online at workforce planninghamilton.ca.
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