Hiring climate expected to remain steady

Regina area employers expect a steady hiring climate for the second quarter of 2015, with more than 90 per cent of employers planning to maintain current staffing levels or increase them, according to the latest Manpower employment outlook survey.

“Survey data reveals that 16 per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter (April to June), while six per cent anticipate cutbacks,” said Carman Gosselin of Manpower’s Regina office in a press release Tuesday.

Another 77 per cent of employers plan to maintain their current staffing levels in the upcoming quarter, while the remaining one per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions.

“With seasonal variations removed from the data, Regina’s second quarter net employment outlook of 12 per cent is an increase of six percentage point when compared to the previous quarterly outlook,” said Gosselin.

“It is also a four percentage point increase from the outlook reported during the same time last year, indicating a favourable hiring pace for the upcoming months.” The net employment outlook is calculated by subtracting the number of employers planning to decrease employment levels from the number of employers planning to increase hiring.

Nationally, employers expect a modest hiring climate for job seekers in the second quarter of 2015, with employers in the finance, insurance and real estate sector reporting the strongest job prospects.

“The provinces of Quebec, Alberta, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island saw a rise in employment in January, and the nation’s unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been in over five years,” said Michelle Dunnill, Manpower area manager for Toronto, Mississauga and Markham.

“However, while the outlook for Canada is cautiously optimistic, we cannot ignore the obvious concerns over the plunging oil prices and the Canadian dollar’s decrease in value, not to mention that youth unemployment is still nearly double the national average.”

With seasonal variations removed from the data, the net employment outlook of 10 per cent is unchanged when compared to the previous quarter, and a one percentage point increase compared to the outlook reported during the same time last year.

The survey of more than 1,900 employers across Canada says that 18 per cent of employers plan to increase staffing levels in the second quarter, while five per cent anticipate cutbacks. Of the employers surveyed, 75 per cent expect their current staffing levels to remain the same and two per cent are unsure about their hiring intentions for this quarter.