A new survey suggests Peterborough area employers are expecting another “flat” hiring climate for the third quarter of this year.
It follows a trend of a survey in March by the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey. For the third quarter, the report says 15 per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter — an increase of five per cent from the survey in March.
However, the report says another 20 per cent of employers anticipate cutbacks.
“The remaining 65 per cent of employers plan to maintain their current staffing levels in the upcoming quarter,” said NealKearney of Manpower’s Pickering, Ont. office.
Kearny said at that -7.0 per cent, with seasonal variations removed from the data, Peterborough’s third-quarter net employment outlook is a seven percentage point decrease when compared to the previous quarterly outlook.
“It is also a 15 percentage point decrease from the outlook reported last year in the third quarter, indicating a slow hiring pace for the upcoming months,” Kearny said.
Peterborough’s data is close to the national survey of 1,000 employers which showed that 12 per cent plan to increase staffing levels in the third quarter while 17 per cent anticipate cutbacks.
Sixty per cent of the employers expect their staffing levels to remain unchanged while the remaining 11 per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions.
The report also shows that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted businesses with 71 per cent of employers saying their normal business activity has been either halted or suspended by the outbreak. However, 59 per cent of employers still expect to return to pre-COVID-19 hiring levels within the next 12 months.
“A dim hiring outlook is not unexpected, given the economic lockdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 health emergency,” said Darlene Minatel, country manager of ManpowerGroup Canada.
She said the companies that are hiring generally fall into the category of being essential service or supportive of essential services. This goes beyond those jobs that got the economy through the crisis, such as grocery workers, and that will now help lead the recovery.
“Think of roles in the IT sector, including chip manufacturers and app developers, who are leading the shift to more flexible and remote work,” she said.
Comments