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Hiring patterns in Regina should resemble a conservative approach once the new year hits to mark the final quarter of fiscal year 2017-18, according to U.S.-based hiring firm ManpowerGroup.
The firm says that its employment outlook survey shows that 17 per cent of Regina employers plan to hire new employees once the new year hits; 13 per cent anticipate cutbacks, and 67 per cent plan on maintaining what they have.
“When we remove seasonal variations from the data … it’s about a 10-percentage point decrease from the previous quarter, but it’s also a seven-percentage point increase that was reported for the same time last year,” said Stepan Amran, a regional director for Manpower in Canada.
That’s why he described the results as a hands-off approach.
“It’s certainly not negative, but it’s certainly not gang-busters as well,” Amran said. “We’re seeing a great amount of disparity between talent available in the market and what employers are looking for.”
He explained that employers are having some trouble finding potential candidates with the specialized skills needed for a given job.
“(They’re) taking a little bit of a wait-and-see approach to see what the fallout will be with the new agreement between the U.S. and Canada, what’s going on with oil, but at the same time wanting to make sure the engines behind their businesses continue to run,” Amran said.
He said the survey numbers shouldn’t be considered negative, especially in the context of historical Q4 numbers.
“If I do look at western Canada and the historical tendencies, what we do see for that quarter is in line. We’re pretty much on par, with the exception of 2016, with (that quarter) going back to 2014,” Amran said.
Manpower said that to conduct its survey, it contacted 1,900 total businesses in 47 cities across Canada, asking them if they plan to hire, cutback and maintain staff, once the new year starts.
The hiring firm said it took that data and extrapolated it for Regina, but it didn’t have the actual number for how many Regina businesses were contacted.