‘Cautious’ hiring climate projected for Peterborough area in 4th quarter of 2020: survey

A new survey suggests Peterborough-area employers are expecting a “cautious” hiring climate for the fourth quarter of 2020.

The latest Manpower Group Employment Outlook Survey shows that five per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter. Another 10 per cent anticipate cutbacks.

According to Neal Kearney of Manpower’s Pickering, Ont., office, another 80 per cent of Peterborough employers plan to maintain their current staffing levels in the upcoming quarter. The remaining five per cent of employers are unsure of their hiring intentions.

The numbers are a drop from Manpower Group’s third-quarter survey in June which showed 15 per cent of employers anticipated hiring for the upcoming quarter and 20 per cent expected cutbacks.

“With seasonal variations removed from the data, Peterborough’s fourth-quarter net employment outlook of zero per cent is a seven percentage point increase when compared to the previous quarterly outlook,” Kearney said. “It is also a five percentage point decrease from the outlook reported during the same time last year, indicating a reserved hiring pace for the upcoming months.”

Peterborough’s numbers are below Manpower’s national survey of 1,200 employers, which overall showed 12 per cent of them plan to increase staffing levels in the fourth quarter. Another nine per cent anticipate cutbacks. As well, 73 per cent of the employers surveyed expect their current staffing levels to remain unchanged, while the remaining six per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions.

“While Canadian employer hiring intentions remain modest, there has been a great improvement in the outlook for Q4 when compared to the previous quarter,” said Darlene Minatel, country manager of ManpowerGroup Canada.

“A real benefit for job seekers is that eight of the 10 industry sectors are expecting to add workers in the upcoming quarter with the exceptions being the education and mining sectors. With three of the four regions of the country having positive employment outlooks for Q4, employment prospects for job seekers appear to be on the upswing.”

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