Half of hiring managers worried about job posting scams in Canada

Hiring will continue to be a challenge for many Canadian employers this year, and fake job postings are adding to companies’ recruitment troubles, according to a survey.

A majority of hiring managers (57 per cent) are aware of such scams, and 45 per cent are concerned about their company name being illegitimately used for a job post scam, reports Express Employment Professionals.

Over two in five (41 per cent) also fear candidates will avoid applying to legitimate postings because they mistake it for a scam.

Encouragingly, a majority of job seekers (57 per cent) are also aware of such job posting scams.

In fact, more than one in 10 (11 per cent) say they have already fallen for a job post scam, while another nine per cent are not sure if they have.

The rise of remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic may have diminished the ability to actively and properly vet the people you meet online, leading to more fraudulent groups seeking out people, according to a previous report.

What is the biggest challenge in recruitment in 2024?

Half of Canadian companies plan to increase their employee count in the first half of this year, but 89 per cent expect to face challenges when it comes to hiring in 2024, according to the survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Express.

The top challenges, they say, are: 

• finding qualified candidates (45 per cent)
• increased job market competition (25 per cent)
• uncompetitive pay (24 per cent)
• the available talent pool not matching their needs (23 per cent)
• uncompetitive benefits (21 per cent)

Company growth is the most popular reason behind employers' plan to increase their employee headcount in the first half of 2024, according to a previous Robert Half report.

Skills mismatch in job postings

More than a third (36 per cent) of employers say they have open positions that they cannot fill, according to the Express-commissioned survey, which took input from 504 Canadian hiring decision-makers between Oct. 31 and Nov. 10, 2023.

This is a challenge because of a lack of applicants with the required hard skills (45 per cent), relevant experience (36 per cent) and soft skills (26 per cent). However, 35 per cent of employers also note a concern about the general lack of applicants overall.

Why are job-seekers not applying for these jobs? The biggest challenges they face is finding job opportunities that match their qualifications (56 per cent), including lacking the required hard skills (26 per cent), soft skills (13 per cent) or communication skills (13 per cent) for open positions, according to the report.

Thirty-four per cent also claim that some companies claim to be hiring but are only collecting applicants and resumes to review.

“The optimism hiring managers feel heading into 2024 is encouraging, but the expected challenges can be daunting,” says Bill Stoller, Express Employment International CEO. “The key to solving most of these issues is for job seekers to gain skills for in-demand positions. With so many training resources readily available, this is the year for job seekers to invest in their future, which will ultimately create a more well-rounded workforce.”

Canadian employers’ biggest concern this year is rising costs (82 per cent), according to a Peninsula report.