Half of Canadian workers planning to look for new job

Half of Canadian professionals (50%) have started looking or plan to look for a new job in the second half of 2024, according to a Robert Half survey. The HR consultancy polled 600 professionals and 200+ hiring managers in Canada in April 2024.

The 50% figure is up nine points from the prior year, when 41% of workers reported plans to look for new jobs in H2 2023.

Gen Z are by far the likeliest to be seeking a new position, at 69% compared to millennials (47%), Gen X (44%), and boomers (40%).

The most popular reasons for seeking a new job are, as always, a higher salary (60%) and better benefits (50%). Other top reasons are more flexibility (32%) and a higher-level title (31%).

For those staying put in their workplace, the top reasons for sticking around are liking their team and culture and not wanting to lose their current flexibility.

Professionals say the top challenges in the application process are making their resume stand out (58%), lack of salary transparency in the posting (54%), and finding the time to apply to jobs (50%).

Nonetheless, 78% of workers say they are confident in their abilities and have learned new skills to boost their employability.

“As the economic outlook has evolved, professionals’ optimism in the job market has evolved too”, said Koula Vasilopoulos, senior managing director of Robert Half, Canada. “Workers are feeling confident in their abilities and in the opportunities available to them, especially for those with in-demand skills and experiences.”

The top reasons applicants say they might lose interest in a position are a mismatched title for experience/education required in the description (39%), a requirement to work on-site (39%), and vague or unreasonable job responsibilities (36%).

“Even though optimism is high, job seekers continue to face challenges in the labour market, and they need to take a strategic approach to their job hunting,” Vasilopoulos added. “In addition, employers looking to attract top talent should be ensuring that their hiring processes, compensation packages, and perks and benefits are competitive and aligned with what workers are looking for.”