Reduced budgets and headcount restrictions look set to inhibit Canada’s hiring growth in 2024

Majority of Canadian workers are unhappy with benefits packages.

A new survey revealed that 60% organisations in Canada have found hiring ‘quite competitive’ in 2023. 20% have lost out on hiring new talent in the last six months as they ‘can’t compete on salary and benefits’, and 40% see ‘no sign-off for new headcount available’ as their greatest recruitment challenge in 2024.

Despite this, the research, conducted by global talent services company Morgan McKinley as part of its 2024 Salary Guide, found that 40% of businesses in Canada still plan to hire in the next six months.

On the jobseeker side, 45% of professionals in Canada are looking to move roles in the next six months - down from 76% when the same question was asked at the end of 2022. The survey also found that Canadian workers were not happy with the benefits they received: 65% being ‘neutral’, ‘dissatisfied’ or ‘highly dissatisfied’ with their current packages. The top five most desired benefits were: Health insurance, work from home, pension, health and wellbeing support, and life insurance.

‘Higher salary’ and ‘meaningful and impactful work’ were the most valued reasons for wanting to move jobs, both at 23%. 55% of professionals are optimistic that they will receive an increase in 2024, and 43% of employers plan to increase salary offers in 2024 for certain in demand roles.

Contracting appears to be more attractive for many, as 79% of professionals currently employed in permanent roles would consider making the switch to contracting, with the main reasons given being ‘better rates of pay’, ‘greater opportunities to develop skills’, and ‘more flexibility’.

Ian Kinsella, Managing Director of Morgan McKinley Canada, commented: “The Canadian economy outperformed expectations in the first half of 2023, causing interest rate hikes that somewhat dampened job creation and created a saturated candidate market.”

“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.”

“Employers have continued to adapt and find the equilibrium between in office presence and work from home. Those mandating ‘return to office’ have found it challenging to find the right candidates, despite a saturated market.”

Kinsella concluded: “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. Offering meaningful benefits, with a clear focus on flexibility, will continue to play a key role.”

“Still, the need to get work done remains - and new talent will always be required. With fewer A players actively looking for work, organisations need to move fast to identify and secure top talent. Also, a strong push toward contract hiring in early 2024 will help companies kick off transformation projects with little investment in new resources.”

The Morgan McKinley 2024 Salary Guide presents up-to-date and accurate salary data for a wide range of roles across Canada, providing hiring managers with industry benchmarks when they are working out what to pay employees and giving professionals more visibility over what they can earn.

Research from 650 businesses and 3,400 professionals was conducted to find out what companies’ hiring intentions are for 2024, what the key motivators are for changing jobs, and what the expectations are for movement on salaries.

For the Morgan McKinley Canada 2024 Salary Guide, visit:

https://www.morganmckinley.com/ca/salary-guide

About Morgan McKinley

Morgan McKinley is a global talent services expert, offering the full spectrum of solutions to meet employers’ and jobseekers’ needs. With 19 offices in 10 countries and nearly 1000 employees, it provides 3 distinct solutions for customers. Morgan McKinley Recruitment Solutions encompassing deep expertise across 10 professional disciplines offering temporary, contract and permanent recruitment; Morgan McKinley Executive Search for targeted C-Suite talent searches; and Morgan McKinley Talent Solutions including RPO, MSP, Project Recruitment and more.

Morgan McKinley is part of Org, a more human kind of professional services company that harnesses the power of talent to bring better business outcomes for clients across the world through advisory, managed services and talent services.

https://www.morganmckinley.com