Job Growth On The Rise In New Year

It’s always good to start off a new year with good news. Of course, it’s one thing to say “Happy New Year” and it’s another thing to provide news that will ensure that your new year starts off with a bang! Just before ringing in the new year, the QMI Agency reported that Canadians should “expect steady employment growth and pay increases in 2011.”

New reports note that other developed countries are unable to boast such lofty predictions. According to a recent CareerBuilder.ca survey of more than 200 hiring managers nationwide, it was discovered that 70% of employers feel that they are in a better financial position today than they were one year ago.

Business owners are pretty optimistic about the coming year. About 30% of employers intend on adding full-time staff this year. This is up from 29% in 2010 and 18% in 2009, notes the QMI report. Only 11% have plans to decrease their staffs while 49% don’t expect a change in their employee count at all.

Said Brent Rasmussen, the president of CareerBuilder North America: “Our survey results and an increase in job posting activity on CareerBuilder.ca point to continued, steady job growth in 2011.” So clearly, this is some good news for Canadian job seekers who are looking to start off the new year with a new job.

Here’s a resolution that Canadians will surely hope is kept. A recent Regus poll discovered that among Canadian employers, the number one new year’s resolution is to increase staff in addition to lowering overheads and implementing more performance-related incentives.

QMI reveals some other important findings: “Nearly 80% of bosses polled for CareerBuilder say they will increase pay for their existing staff in 2011 to help retain talent as the economy improves. Raises will average 3% or less, though 9% of employers plan to hike wages by 5% or more. Another 46% will offer higher pay to new job candidates right off the bat.”

The report goes on to mention that both full-time and part-time work positions will be on the rise in 2011. Among the strongest sectors for employment this year are customer service, information technology, administrative, marketing, sales, research and development, engineering and human resources.