British Columbia seeking workers!
British Columbia has job openings to fill and is seriously short of candidates! It is launching a major promotional campaign to attract workers and students to B.C. It has spent about $400,000 to implement two events in Toronto and Montreal, held in early March in these two cities' main subway stations. The promotion featured full floor daffodil graphics and government employees handing out daffodils to transit users. The message is simple: "All we're saying is if they want to move to British Columbia, we have job openings to fill," said Colin Hansen, Minister of Economic Development. Before this operation, the B.C. government participated in four job fairs in Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo, Hamilton and Toronto.
Recruiting is top concern of chief financial officers
According to a recent survey by Robert Half International, specializing in senior-level accounting and finance professionals, recruiting experienced professionals remains the top concern of Canadian companies. Forty-three per cent of chief financial officers polled stated that finding qualified personnel will be the biggest challenge they will face over the next 12 months, almost double the figure in a similar poll five years ago. Competition was the second biggest concern of respondents, with 18% stating that the market for talent is increasingly competitive.
HRPAO becomes HRPA
To better reflect its reach beyond Ontario, the largest human resources association in Canada, the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario (HRPAO), has changed its name to HRPA. In an e-mail sent to members, CEO Bill Greenhalgh highlighted that large human resources associations, such as the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in the U.S. do not specify their location. He underscored that the new name will mirror the association's leadership and influence.
Work week is shorter, and women are working longer hours
Statistics Canada has just published a study on the polarization of work hours, showing that the number of regular work hours has decreased. Over the past 30 years, the work week has gotten two hours shorter and the employment rate of mothers has almost doubled. Conversely, the average number of part-time hours has increased, as have hours worked by women. Men, on the other hand, have reduced their hours worked.
Q2 2008 should experience a positive hiring climate
Employers are expecting a sustained rate of hiring for the next three months, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. Among the 1,700 Canadian employers polled, 21% plan to increase their payrolls between April and June while 5% per cent anticipate cutbacks, for a net employment outlook of around 10%, once seasonal variations are eliminated. Most hiring will take place in the Atlantic provinces, Western Canada and Ontario. Public administration, services, mining, and wholesale and retail trade should show the highest growth.
Half of all working women are in vulnerable jobs
More women are working than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid jobs, with no social protection, basic rights or voice at work, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO). Over the past decade, the number of women in the workforce increased by almost 200 million, reaching 1.2 billion in 2007, vs 1.8 billion men. The number of unemployed women also increased during this period. Globally, the unemployment rate for women is slightly above that for men (6.4% vs 5.7%).
Greater Montreal: First in job growth among northeastern North American metropolitan regions
Among Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and New York, Greater Montreal ranked first in job growth with 2.5% in 2007. Over the past ten years, the Montreal Metropolitan Region also ranked first for northeastern North America, and fourth among the 20 largest North American agglomerations in job creation. This data was compiled by Montréal International, further to analyses by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor and Statistics Canada.