Rural vs. cities: How career development differs

Canadians recognize that differences and similarities exist regarding career development in the workplace between regions in this country. However, newly released breakdowns of CERIC’s National Business Survey by location – Rural setting, Outside Major Cities and Major Cities – likewise show that perspectives on career development are also shaped by urban vs. more remote setting.

CERIC recently commissioned Environics Research Group to survey 500 employers of small-, medium- and large-scale enterprises to surface their views on challenges facing Canadian businesses in general, labour needs, the importance of soft skills, and approaches toward employee recruitment, training and career management. A summary of findings was released at the Cannexus14 National Career Development Conference. Regional breakdowns revealing how employers share some challenges but also have different approaches in addressing skills gaps were disseminated in the spring. Now, a new analysis, probes the survey findings based on business location – Rural setting, Outside Major Cities and Major Cities.

For instance, twice as many industry leaders in Rural settings (41%) believe that it is “very challenging” to find young workers to meet their business needs compared to those Outside Major Cities (21%) and those in Major Cities (16%). The location breakdowns also show that business heads in Major Cities (33%) are willing to hire and train new employees who may lack in some technical skills compared to their colleagues Outside Major Cities and in Rural regions (39% and 44%). Also notable is the discrepancy between these groups about the obligation of employers to provide career management programs for their employees. While 79% of respondents from Major Cities agree that organizations are responsible for doing so, 69% Outside Major Cities have the same opinion, while only 63 % of those in Rural regions agree.