Survey finds 71% of employers agree they have a responsibility to provide career management programs but only 29% offer them
A shortage of skilled workers is the single biggest issue facing Canadian executives in 2014 but employers are split on how to address the skills gap, according to a survey released by the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC). Environics Research Group conducted the survey of 500 Canadian business leaders about the skills shortage and skills gaps, employee training and recruiting workers, as well as career management practices.
Finding skilled employees not easy
Employers from across the country face a number of challenges, but the most commonly noted (68%) is a shortage of skilled workers. The survey found that a majority of executives (72%) perceive a gap between the skills they are looking for, and what most jobseekers have. More than one in three businesses (36%) feel that gap has grown.
Among Canadian businesses, there is an even split between those who feel the best way to close the gap is for employers to provide more training (43%), and those who say it is prospective employees who should better prepare themselves for the labour market (43%).
Nearly two-thirds of executives say they would hire an employee with the right soft skills and provide training on the more technical aspects of the job. Yet two out of three businesses (66%) have difficulty finding candidates with the soft skills they’re looking for – a positive attitude, good communication ability and a strong work ethic.
Although willingness to provide training is high, a majority of employers (64%) also express concern about losing employees after investing in training.
When it comes to recruiting, just half of Canadian executives (52%) say that a potential employee’s online footprint is important to them, with only one in 10 (11%) saying it is very important. Small businesses are the least likely to consider a potential employee’s online profile.
Seventy-six per cent of executives said resumes are still important, while an additional 10% see resumes as having become more important.
Who is left out of Canada’s workplace?
To consider the issue of high youth unemployment in Canada, executives were provided a series of possible reasons, and asked to pick which they feel is the greatest. The most commonly selected reasons are that young people are too demanding in the jobs that they want (19%) and that they lack real-world experience (18%).
What do Canadian businesses do to attract young workers? Half of all Canadian executives said that they post their job openings to online job sites (55%) or recruit through social media (49%). Campus recruitment (34%), job fairs (31%) and paid internships (29%) are used by three in 10 businesses, while fewer recruit through youth service agencies. Of note, nearly a quarter of businesses (24%) reported offering unpaid internships.
Canadian executives were also asked about their organizations’ efforts to recruit candidates from under-represented groups, such as visible minorities, Aboriginal people, people with disabilities and new Canadians; half (50%) say that this is not something in which they invest a great deal of time or effort.
Career planning and coaching
Seven in 10 executives (71%) agree that employers have a responsibility to provide career management programs for their staff. However, only three in 10 (29%) say such programs are currently being offered by their organization with larger organizations being more likely to offer them. A lack of time is the greatest challenge, and for small organizations, the main reason is a lack of expertise. The most frequently offered programs include tailored coaching (29%) and career planning (25%).
A strong majority of executives (88%) agree that it is at least somewhat important that employees have the opportunity to reach their own career goals with 44% of businesses stating it is very important.
How do regions of Canada differ?
What region of Canada is being hit hardest by skills shortages? Where are employee referrals the most common recruitment practice? In what part of the country are employers least likely to invest in staff training? Find out the answers to these questions and more in newly released regional breakdowns of CERIC’s National Business Survey.
For instance, a much higher proportion of employers in Ontario (38%) believe it is “easy” or “somewhat easy” to find the right people with appropriate skill sets to fill vacant positions than is the case in the other regions of Canada (BC 22%, Prairies 26%, Quebec 21% and Atlantic Canada 25%).
Also notable is the fact that finding people with adequate soft skills seems to be most difficult in Ontario compared to the other regions. Almost three-quarters of employers (73%) stated it was “somewhat difficult” or “difficult” in the former while the average was nearly 10 percentage points lower across the other regions (64%).
The survey was co-sponsored by TD Bank Group. The complete report, Career Development in the Canadian Workplace: National Business Survey, as well as the detailed regional breakdowns, are available online at ceric.ca/surveys/.
