Employers, take note of the this year’s employment trends.
According to a Canadian survey by CareerBuilder, here are the seven to watch in 2014.
Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) occupations continue to grow—These types of occupations are expected to increase, with nearly two in five (38%) companies planning to create jobs in these areas over the next 12 months.
Full-time hiring—Employers plan to recruit full-time permanent employees across a variety of business functions and levels.
Companies relying on temporary and contract hiring—61% of companies plan to hire contract or temporary workers over the next 12 months. Of these employers, 45% plan to transition some temporary employees into full-time, permanent members of their staff.
Skills gap—While the growth of high-skill, specialized occupations is a positive sign for the economy, companies are struggling to keep up with the demand to fill these jobs. Thirty-eight percent of employers say these positions go unfilled for three months or longer.
Companies building the perfect employee instead of waiting for one—In light of the skills gap, 55% of employers plan to train people who don’t have experience in their industry or field and hire them in 2014. Thirty-six percent of employers are sending current employees back to school to get an advanced degree—and picking up all or part of the cost.
Companies looking for recruits in high schools—More companies are connecting with future generations of workers to establish a constant pipeline of job candidates. Thirty-six percent of hiring managers have promoted careers at their firms to high school students or, in some cases, even younger; 31% plan to do so in 2014.
Compensation increases in the New Year—In order to recruit and retain the best talent, companies have to offer competitive salaries, especially for hard-to-fill positions. Compensation is becoming more competitive for specialized labour, with 33% of employers planning to raise starting salaries for high-skill roles in 2014.
“As we begin 2014, 62% of Canadian companies tell us that they are in a better financial position now than a year ago, and 61% of them expect sales to increase in the first half of the year,” says Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. “As a result, we expect hiring to increase in areas that support sales such as customer service, information technology and research/development.”
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