Jobs market cooling but recent grads don’t have to fret
TORONTO — The jobs market may be cooling but recent graduates don’t have reason to fret — at least not yet.
That’s because more than half (64 per cent) of companies say they plan to hire entry-level professionals in the first half of 2024, according to a survey from talent solutions and business consulting firm Robert Half.
“Onboarding early-career professionals to your organization can be a strategic hiring move,” said Koula Vasilopoulos, senior managing director of Robert Half Canada.
Vasilopoulos said recent grads and other entry-level professionals — generally defined as those with zero to two years of experience — can bring new ideas and enthusiasm, different skills and perspectives, and have great potential to contribute to organizations in new and meaningful ways.
The poll found that 70 per cent of the companies surveyed have plans to hire for entry-level positions in administrative and customer support. It said at least 66 per cent of companies plan to hire for legal, marketing and creative, and human resources entry-level roles, while 56 and 57 per cent of companies plan to hire for technology and finance and accounting.
Larger and mid-sized companies plan to hire for more entry-level jobs than companies with fewer than 100 employees.
Onboarding early-career professionals to your organization can be a strategic hiring move
Robert Hall also conducted a separate survey to find out what challenges professionals faced as entry-level hires.
It said 39 per cent of professionals reported not feeling well-compensated as the main obstacle. Meanwhile, 34 per cent reported not having an assigned mentor and 33 per cent had a lack of training for key tasks.
Vasilopoulos said workers should be researching appropriate salaries when searching for and starting a new job.
They should also make sure to ask questions about mentorship opportunities, focus on building connections through networking and advocate for the support they need during training, he added.
Robert Half’s salary guide also featured entry-level positions that have strong starting salaries.
Entry-level financial reporting accountant start salaries from $68,000 to $80,750, while marketing coordinator positions start from $50,750 to $61,500.
The online polls were conducted from Nov. 1 to 20, 2023 and Mar. 4 to 11, 2024. They include responses from over 1,090 hiring managers at companies with 20 or more employees and 609 professionals across Canada.