Companies set to rehire workers
Manpowergroup projections based on survey of 1,000 Canadian companies
There aren’t a lot of “Help Wanted” signs in storefront windows in Atlantic Canada these days, thanks to COVID19, but there is reason to be a little more hopeful on the jobs front, according to a recent report from a private employment firm.
Data collected by Manpowergroup says about 75 per cent of Atlantic Canadian companies will be rehiring or hiring workers in the third quarter of 2020.
“We do know from the surveys that were done that Atlantic Canada reported the strongest prospects for hiring,” said Mindy Stoltz, a manager for the Atlantic Canada office of Manpowergroup, a hiring firm working under contract to other companies.
For a fee, it seeks employees and manages the hiring process for clients.
For its Employer Outlook Survey for Quarter 3 (July to September) 2020, Manpowergroup surveyed 1,000 of its clients across Canada.
It shows that 12 per cent of employers plan to increase their staffing levels in the third quarter of 2020, while 17 per cent anticipate cutbacks. Meanwhile, 60 per cent of the employers surveyed expect their current staffing levels to be unchanged, while the remaining 11 per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions.
The picture in Atlantic Canada looks slightly better, with just four per cent of companies unsure of their hiring intentions.
Rhonda Tulk-lane is executive director of the St. John’s Board of Trade. Of the 750 members, she said, 120 are restaurants and another 190 are in retail. The other members represent companies in the legal, financial and technology sectors.
While she could not offer comment on the Manpowergroup report — Tulk-lane had not seen it or the data presented — she said as businesses begin to reopen some people will be able to get back to work.
However, COVID-19 created a mixed bag of scenarios in the St. John’s business community.
“If I look at all 750 members of the board of trade, we’ve got companies that because of COVID-19 are in the struggle of their lives and some that are prospering.”
She said many of the members are in the professional services sectors — legal, financial and technology— and were able to transition quite well to working from home and continue business. And in some of those sectors, she said, companies maintained staff and some are still hiring.
Even during COVID-19, she added, there were some success stories that stood out, including startups.
“There’s one company called Cyno, and they do online ergonomics.”
With hundreds of people shifting to working from home, the time of COVID was a time of growth for them, said Tulk-lane.
Stoltz said they don’t have a breakdown on how many employers were polled in Atlantic Canada, or where. However, she noted, the research shows the manufacturing sector is a bright spot, with companies polled indicating an eight per cent increase in hiring during the quarter.
“Manufacturing was the big one. People seemed to say that they either didn’t have many cutbacks, or they stayed the same or they hired,” she said.
“We deal with a company that manufactures chips and they were crazy (with production). They were still seeking employees through all of this. They were booming.”
Stoltz acknowledged there are some business sectors that are being affected by COVID19, especially those in the restaurant and tourism fields.
Still, she said, the positive thing to take away from the report is that about 75 per cent of Atlantic Canadian companies are planning to hire or rehire workers over the next three months.