TORONTO – A new study shows that Canadian employers are willing to hire workers with no work-related experience due to the tight labor market.
A study published today shows that experience and education – once crucial for many positions – are becoming less and less important in the face of labor shortages.
The findings are based on an online survey of 1,000 employers in Canada conducted in May by Censuswide on behalf of Indeed, a job advertisement website.
The survey found that 77% of Canadian employers see value in hiring a candidate based on their “soft” interpersonal skills and attitude to learning, rather than work-related knowledge and “hard” skills.
He also found that four out of five employers say their company will consider hiring candidates who do not have a diploma or certificate related to the job, and will instead offer on-the-job training to new workers.
The survey shows that employers are also willing to sacrifice the need for relevant experience in light of the challenges of finding candidates.
“Honestly, we’re facing one of the narrowest labor markets we’ve ever had,” said Michelle Slater, director of Indeed. “There is a clear shortage of labor.”
Unemployment in Canada fell to 5.1% in May, Canadian statistics said earlier this month.
This is the lowest percentage since at least 1976, which is as far as comparable data.
The shrinking labor market is driven by a stable recovery from a pandemic and a changing demographics.
“An aging population and a fast-growing economy mean that the number of skilled workers available is quite low,” Slater said. “Employers need to be much more creative.”
A survey of Canadian employers was conducted to find out what employers are doing differently to fill some of the gaps in labor, she said.
The study found that employers are increasingly inclined to hire on the basis of skills such as communication, adaptability and attention to detail – instead of so-called solid skills such as technical knowledge or training.
“Canadian employers are more concerned about what a person can contribute to the team in terms of their attitude to the skills they have, which they bring to the role,” Slater said.
The results are positive not only for young people who have not finished school or starting their first job, but also for older workers who are changing careers, she said.
“This means that people who may not have this difficult skill in their resume may still have the opportunity to get the job of their dreams.
While labor shortages affect all industries, the survey found the most difficult jobs to find candidates for the necessary skills in digital and information technology, project management, engineering, software development and coding skills.
The professional body of the sociological industry, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says that online surveys cannot be attributed a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
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