Canada Hiring Plans and Challenges 2024

Over half (52%) of hiring managers are actively seeking talent for new roles, mostly to support company growth, and organizations are primed to move ahead with strategic initiatives.

However, competition for professionals with in-demand skills remains high. Most managers (90%) face challenges finding skilled talent, and of those who made a regrettable hire in the last year, 51% reported that they lost out on their top candidate after taking too long to make an offer. Companies risk losing skilled people to competitors if they don’t streamline hiring processes.

At Robert Half, we know talent. This report can help you navigate the nuances of today’s challenging labour market to make the best decisions for your company’s unique hiring needs. Schedule a walk-through with one of our talent solutions professionals today.

What the hiring market looks like right now

In the second half of 2024, 52% of companies plan to add new roles, 41% plan to fill vacated roles, and 58% plan to increase contract hiring. The factors influencing hiring are anticipated company growth (50%), employee turnover (41%), project-based needs (39%), and lack of requisite skills among employees (38%). Hiring varies by industry and organization and is dictated by both business needs and macro-economics. See Statistic Canada’s data below.

Unemployment rate: 6.8% (November)

Jobs Increased: 51,000 (November)

Fully remote and hybrid openings rate: 39% (Q3 2024)

*Small = Less than 100 employees; Midsize = 100 to 999 employees; Large = 1,000+ employees

Organizations of all sizes are hiring in the second half of 2024. However, 90% of managers report difficulty finding skilled talent — with a third (33%) saying it’s very challenging.

Hiring
for new
roles Hiring for
vacated
positions Freezing hiring/
eliminating
roles Hiring
for new
roles Hiring for
vacated
positions Freezing hiring/
eliminating
roles

Finance and
Accounting Technology Marketing and
Creative Legal Administration Customer
Support Human
Resources Finance and
Accounting Technology Marketing and
Creative Legal Administration Customer
Support Human
Resources

Entry level Entry level

Managerial Managerial

Director and above Director and above

Company
growth Employee
turnover Project-based
or short-term
needs Company growth Employee turnover Project-based or
short-term needs

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Lack of applicants
with the required
skill sets Finding candidates
who align with
company culture Hiring quickly
enough to land
the best talent Meeting applicants’
salary expectations Finding people
with the required
skills Finding candidates
who align with
company culture Hiring quickly
enough to land
the best talent Meeting applicants’
salary expectations

Industry calculations are based on job postings provided by Textkernel. Positions are categorized to over 350 job titles within Robert Half’s 2024 Salary Guide using a proprietary mapping methodology that employs state-of-the-art large language models. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources professions.

Data from Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey November 2024. Updated December 09, 2024.

Surveys were developed by Robert Half and conducted by independent research firms. Respondents included executives, senior managers and workers from small (1-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000-10,000 or more employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across Canada.