Canadian companies to continue hiring, poll finds

Canadian companies are planning to continue hiring in the coming quarter, with the manufacturing sector likely to add jobs at the fastest pace in a decade, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Almost 21% of 1,900 companies surveyed plan to increase their payrolls in the fourth quarter, with 7% anticipating cutbacks, the poll by Manpower said. Seasonally-adjusted that gives a net employment outlook of 15%, a four percentage point increase from the previous quarter, it said.

In the manufacturing and durables sector, the net outlook was 21%, up nine percentage points from the prior quarter and compares with minus one percent in the same period of last year.

The mining industry was even more optimistic with a net employment outlook of 25%.

"This quarter's Net Employment Outlook indicates that the hiring climate will remain steady for the fourth quarter of 2010," said Byrne Luft, vice-president of staffing operations for Manpower Canada. "Employers are telling us that they plan to continue to increase their payrolls at a similar pace for the rest of the year.”

Canada has recouped most of the job losses from the recession, though economists say the pace of hiring is likely to slow as the economy cools.

Statistics Canada will release employment figures for August on Friday, with an increase of 30,000 jobs expected. The unemployment rate is likely to remain unchanged at 8%, according to forecasts.

While Canadian companies may be willing to hire, there are signs they may be having problems attracting talented staff, according to a separate poll.

About 61% of Canadian companies reported problems recruiting “critical-skill” employees, the survey by Towers Watson found. While 57% have problems hiring top-performing, talented workers, it said.

The survey also found that the job reductions and cost-cutting carried out during the recession has harmed employees’ ability to manage their work loads and stress levels.

As a result many companies are being forced to reevaluate reward programs to retain and motivate their workers, it found.

Over the next three years, 63% of Canadian companies said their priority would be to increase investment in building an internal pipeline of talent, while one-half ranked creating more movement and development opportunities for talent as a top priority.