Nearly one in three Canadian employers has difficulty filling skilled positions, a new survey suggests. While that's down slightly from last year, the reprieve is temporary and the skills shortages will get worse, says Manpower Canada in an analysis of Manpower's third annual global survey released yesterday.
"The situation is set to worsen over the next 10 years as social and demographic changes such as falling birthrates, ageing populations and increased migration take hold," said Lori Procher, Manpower Canada vice-president. "This leaves employers not only with a requirement to increase the flow of workers across the entire talent spectrum, but also with the need to find the right candidates with the right skills to fit the demands of their companies."
The latest survey found 31% of employers across Canada are finding it more difficult to fill skilled positions, down from 36% last year, while the proportion not having difficulty edged up to 69% from 64%.
The easing of the shortage reflects the impact of the global economic slowdown, Ms. Procher said in an interview, noting that in the United States, the proportion of companies having difficulty finding skilled workers fell to 22% this year from 41% last year, and in Mexico to just 28% from 82%.
"The demographic shift that fuels the shortage is not going to change," she said.
The release of the report follows a warning to members of Parliament last week that the economy is threatened by a skills shortage "crisis." "The opportunity cost for students, employers and the economy is enormous," James Knight, president of the Association of Canadian Community Colleges told the Commons Industry Committee. "Pressure on colleges and institutes to meet the needs of employers is intense," he said, citing a survey that found 42% of the skills shortages are in occupations that require college or apprenticeship training, compared with 7% in jobs requiring university education.
"Unfortunately, thousands of qualified students, who with training would be employed immediately, languish on wait lists owing to a capacity shortfall," Mr. Knight said.
The problem is community colleges and technical institutes are suffering from a shortage of capital investment that's needed to repair and expand classroom facilities and modernize technical equipment.
"Waiting will not make the problem go away," Mr. Knight warned MPs. Meanwhile, the Canada Manpower survey found that the 10 skills most in demand are skilled manual trades, sales representatives, engineers, accounting and financing, labourers, nurses, teachers, drivers, machinists and machine operators, and secretaries and other office support staff.
"Talent shortages are rendering to-day's organizations leaner than ever before," Ms. Procher said. While businesses have long warned Canada is facing a growing skills shortage, and one that will increase as Baby Boomers retire, the shortage of some other industrial countries is even greater, it noted, suggesting there will be increased global competition for skilled workers.
Manpower Inc. surveyed nearly 43,000 employers across 32 countries and territories including 1,742 employers as part of its third survey in Canada.
