IT, customer service, administrative workers most in demand
Amid economic uncertainty across the globe, Canadian employers expect to add more jobs in the second half of 2012, but at a slightly lower rate than anticipated this time last year, according to a survey by CareerBuilder.
Forty per cent of the 292 hiring managers surveyed said they are planning on hiring new permanent, full-time employees between now and the end of the year compared to 43 per cent in 2011.
"Canada's job market continues to grow with jobs opening up in a wide variety of functions and industries," said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. "While employers are more confident about their revenue prospects and expansion opportunities in the back half of 2012, they remain watchful of the global economic recovery and market dynamics in their own backyard."
More than one-quarter (26 per cent) of employers surveyed plan on hiring contract or temporary employees; 22 per cent part-time employees; and 17 per cent interns, found the survey.
Job creation continues in big cities, though opportunities in outlying towns are becoming available as well. Of employers who are hiring, 84 per cent said they will be recruiting for positions in large metropolitan areas while 36 per cent will be hiring in non-metropolitan, rural areas.
The top functional areas for which businesses plan to hire first are those directly impacting and supporting revenue and innovation. IT (21 per cent), customer service (21 per cent), and administrative positions (21 per cent) are the top three areas that employers plan to recruit for in the second half of 2012. Sales (15 per cent) and accounting/finance (12 per cent) are also in demand.
More employers are also reporting that their organizations have created entirely new job functions within their organizations to respond to evolving business demands. When asked if their organizations currently have positions that didn't exist in their firms five years ago, employers pointed to positions for storing and managing data (25 per cent), social media (20 per cent), financial regulation (18 per cent) and cyber security (12 per cent).
