Nearly one million job vacancies in Canada makes hiring difficult as cost-of-living outstrips low wage increases
Summary
Businesses are having difficulty filling positions, as employees become more selective where they work in the face of inflation and other factors [1] For context, in the second quarter of 2016, there were 113 new hires for every 100 job openings. The accommodation and food services industry has been all over the news in recent months, as many restaurants have been forced to close their doors due to the pandemic. Nathan Janzen, a senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, explains: These baby boomers either reached the golden age of 65 or decided to retire early due to burnout from working during the pandemic. Due to the labor surplus experienced by Canada for the past decades, most marginalized groups that could ideally replace this retirement wave were not given the opportunity to enter these professions. Avery Shenfield, managing director, and chief economist at CIBC Capital Markets discusses how this pertains to the healthcare industry, where workers quit in waves during the pandemic.