More than half of Canadian businesses (56.1%) believe that their staff do not have all the skills needed to perform the job at the required level, according to data from Statistics Canada.
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Of all the sectors, accommodation and food services is the most affected. In fact, almost 80% of companies in this sector reported skills gaps among their staff.
Next come companies in the public sector (69%), retail (67.8%) and manufacturing (67.3%). Conversely, the lowest rate was found among businesses in the professional, scientific and technical services 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 to be filled.
“Companies in Quebec (55.6%) and in the territories as a whole (50.7%) were more likely to report recruitment difficulties than those located elsewhere in Canada. On the other hand, a lower proportion of companies in Alberta indicated having difficulty in terms of hiring (37.7%),” noted the federal agency.
Across the country, the majority of companies (55.4%) said that the main reason for these difficulties was the lack of candidates willing to do the type of work in question, while 13.7% who consider the competition salary as a brake for candidates.
The Staff Skills Employer Survey was conducted from March to May 2022 by Statistics Canada among 17,880 establishments.