There’s been a lot of debate in recent years about Canada’s skilled labour shortage, and whether it really exists. A new international labour survey says it does — but Canada’s shortage is mild compared to those in many other countries.
According to Manpower Group’s Talent Shortage Survey, 32 per cent of Canadian employers report having difficulties filling some positions. That’s the same percentage as in the U.S. and below the international average of 38 per cent.
Canadian Employers Have The Hardest Time Filling for the job. At the opposite end of the spectrum is Ireland, where only 11 per cent of employers report talent shortages.
“The working population is declining, forcing employers to select from shrinking talent pools,” writes Jonas Prising, CEO of ManpowerGroup.
“Technology is evolving faster than ever, changing the skills needed for jobs and shortening the life cycle of those skills. We are also seeing a bifurcation of the workforce — those with in-demand skills versus those with high-supply skills.”
In Canada, employers have the hardest time finding skilled tradespeople; drivers and business executives are also hard to come by, according to the survey.
That’s a similar state of affairs as seen in much of the rest of the world. Skilled trades vacancies are the hardest jobs to fill worldwide, the survey found, with engineering and sales rep vacancies rounding out the top three.