Half of Canadian workers feel underpaid: survey

Many workers are not satisfied with the pay they are currently receiving from their employers – and many say they’re ready to walk out the door if their employers don’t boost their pay.

Overall, 51% of employees report feeling underpaid.

And one-third of workers say they’ll look for a new role if their employer does not raise their salary, found Robert Half.

In looking for a new job, the following are the top considerations for employees, according to Robert Half’s survey of 1,750 workers and 1,800 managers with hiring responsibilities at Canadian companies with 20 or more employees, conducted in June:

_{Source: Robert Half}

Employers are projecting smaller pay increases in the year 2025 compared to actual salary bumps this year, according to a previous report from Mercer.

And these are what employers are offering to attract talent, found Robert Half:

_{Source: Robert Half}

“Salary continues to be the biggest priority for professionals, as cost of living remains top of mind,” says David King, Robert Half’s senior managing director for Canada and South America, in the Financial Post.

Inefficient hiring process for managers, candidates

In addition, 46% of managers say an inefficient hiring process is a big obstacle, according to Robert Half.

Three in 10 (30%) of hiring managers say numerous procedures slow down the hiring process, while 26% point to unrealistic expectations about finding ideal candidates

There’s also pressure coming from the candidates: 32% of candidates say they will lose interest in a role if they don’t receive a status update from an employer after two weeks of interviewing while 22% will wait one week.

However, it takes an average of five weeks to staff an open position.

The Robert Half study also suggests that long recruitment processes lead to:

• High turnover due to heavy workloads (44%)
• High recruitment costs (42%)
• Losing candidates to competitors (40%)
• Delayed or cancelled projects (39%)

A slow hiring process could lead jobseekers away from possible employers — but an influx of job applications can worsen the process, according to a previous Robert Walters report.

Regrettable hires in Canada

With all these factors coming in, 41% of managers made a regrettable hire in 2023, more than double the 17% that did the same in 2022.

Managers say these are the factors that played a role in making the regrettable hire:

• Taking too long to offer top candidate (51%)
• Placing too much weight on technical skills (45%)
• Hiring unqualified candidates to stay within salary range (42%)