According to Statistics Canada data, more than half of Canadian companies (56.1%) believe their employees do not have all the skills required to perform the job at the required level.
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Of all the industries, the hospitality industry has been hit the hardest. In fact, nearly 80% of companies in this sector reported skills gaps among their employees.
It is followed by companies in the public sector (69%), retail (67.8%) and manufacturing (67.3%). On the other hand, the lowest rate was found among companies in the professional, scientific and technical service sector (34.3%).
Of the companies surveyed by Statistics Canada, 44.5% said they had difficulty finding candidates who had the skills needed for the position.
“Companies in Quebec (55.6%) and the Territories as a whole (50.7%) were more likely to report hiring difficulties than companies in other parts of Canada. On the other hand, a smaller proportion of Alberta businesses reported having difficulties hiring employees (37.7%),” the federal agency found.
Across the country, a majority of companies (55.4%) said the main reason for these difficulties was the lack of candidates willing to take on the type of work in question, while 13.7% said competitive salary was a brake on looked at the candidates.
The Staff Skills Employer Survey was conducted by Statistics Canada from March to May 2022 among 17,880 establishments.