May's Unemployment Rate Lowest in 2 Years! It's Time to Hire Again!

Today's Labour Force Survey from Stats Canada announced that the unemployment rate has dropped to its lowest in 2 years thanks to Canada adding more than 22,000 jobs in May. Better still was an increase in hours-worked as employees turned towards more full-time than part-time jobs this month.

This echoes what we've been hearing from our clients who are adding additional sales & marketing staff through to technical & trades positions. As everyone else is chasing top talent, are you growing your business plans for 2011?

If you'd like to be kept in the loop with articles like this or as we add more positions, please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

You can view the report at this link or read it on our blog below;

Labour Force Survey

May 2011 (Previous release)

Employment rose by 22,000 in May, bringing gains over the previous 12 months to 273,000 (+1.6%). The employment increase in May, combined with a decline in the number of people looking for work, pushed the unemployment rate down 0.2 percentage points to 7.4%.

Employment increased in Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan in May. At the same time, employment declined in Newfoundland and Labrador, while there was little change in the remaining provinces.

Employment gains were in retail and wholesale trade as well as in information, culture and recreation, while there were declines in educational services and manufacturing.

The number of private sector employees and self-employed workers rose in May. At the same time, there were declines among public sector employees.

Full-time employment increased by 33,000 in May. Over the past 12 months, full-time employment rose by 224,000 (+1.6%) while part time was up 50,000 (+1.5%).

Employment was up mainly among men aged 25 to 54, while it changed little among the other demographic groups.

The unemployment rate for students aged 20 to 24, at 15.0%, was lower in May compared with May 2010.

Note to readers

Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are based on a sample, and are therefore subject to sampling variability. Estimates for smaller geographic areas or industries will have more variability. For an explanation of sampling variability of estimates, and how to use standard errors to assess this variability, consult the "Data quality" section of the publication Labour Force Information (71-001-X, free).

Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitates comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations.

Gains driven by retail and wholesale trade

Employment in trade increased by 34,000 in May, offsetting declines in the previous two months. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment in this industry was down 0.7% or 19,000.

There were also employment gains in information, culture and recreation (+15,000). Employment in this industry has risen by 41,000 (+5.5%) in the past 12 months.

Following steady increases in the first four months of the year, employment in educational services declined by 27,000 in May. Most of the declines occurred in post-secondary institutions.

Manufacturing employment was down by 23,000, following little change in the previous four months. Despite this decline, employment in this industry has risen by 25,000 or 1.4% since May 2010.

Employment in construction was little changed, although it has increased by 3.3% (+41,000) over the past 12 months.

Despite little change in public administration in May, this industry was up 1.8% over the previous 12 months. Employment gains from 2011 Census activities in May were offset by slight declines in other sectors of the federal administration.

There were employment gains of 37,000 among private sector employees and 30,000 among self-employed workers in May. At the same time, employment fell by 44,000 among public sector employees.

Over the past 12 months, employment in the private sector has grown by 178,000 (+1.6%), compared with 48,000 (+1.4%) in the public sector and 48,000 (+1.8%) among the self-employed.

Increases in Quebec, Alberta and Saskatchewan

Employment in Quebec rose by 25,000 in May, bringing total gains over the past 12 months to 74,000 (+1.9%). The unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 7.3%, the lowest since October 2008.

Employment increased by 8,500 in Alberta. The unemployment rate fell to 5.4%, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous month. Over the previous 12 months, employment grew by 2.8%, the fastest growth rate in the country.

In Saskatchewan, employment increased by 2,500, yet was little changed compared with May 2010 (+0.2%). The unemployment rate, at 5.0%, was unchanged from the previous month and was the lowest in the country.

Following an increase in April, employment declined by 2,700 in Newfoundland and Labrador in May. At the same time, the unemployment rate rose to 11.9% (+0.8 percentage points). This province has the second fastest employment growth rate over the previous 12 months, up 2.1% (+4,700).

Employment edged down in Ontario in May (-16,000). Over the past 12 months, employment growth at 1.7% (+116,000) was slightly above the national average, and all in full-time work. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.9% in May.

Employment growth primarily among core-aged men

Employment rose by 21,000 among core-aged men (25 to 54 years) in May, while it held steady among the other demographic groups.

Compared with 12 months earlier, employment increased at the fastest pace among workers aged 55 and over, with growth of 6.6% (+86,000) among women and 4.1% (+67,000) among men. Over the same period, employment among core-aged men increased by 2.0% (+118,000), while it was little changed for core-aged women and youths.

Student summer employment

From May to August, the Labour Force Survey collects labour market information about young people aged 15 to 24 who were attending school full time in March and who intend to return to school in the fall. The May survey results provide the first indicators of the summer job market, especially for students aged 20 to 24, as students aged 15 to 19 are not yet out of school for the summer. The data for June, July and August will provide further insight into the summer job market. The published estimates are not seasonally adjusted, and therefore comparisons can only be made from one year to another.

The employment rate or the proportion of students aged 20 to 24 who were employed in May was 60.8%, higher than the May 2010 rate of 58.9%. It was also 4.5 percentage points higher than in May 2009 (56.3%), when students were especially affected by the labour market downturn.

The unemployment rate for the students aged 20 to 24 was 15.0% in May, down from 16.5% in May 2010.

What's the Secret to a Business' Success?

How many times have you asked yourself what makes a business succeed? Is it a great product, flashy sales or the best website? Well, a recent study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business set out to answer that question and came up with some interesting points.

The study polled 8,901 of CFIB's members to see what qualities they found to be the most important. Here's the rankings of the national study;

1) Employees
2) Customer Loyalty
3) Hard Work
4) A Good Product or Service
5) Passion for Work
6) Innovation
7) Family Support
8) Defined Business Plans

This is an interesting study both for employers and employees because it clearly ranks Employees as more important to a business' success than the product or service it offers!

It also gives insight into what employees are looking for in a successful company. Does your employer share similar values or do you think you should head over to our current jobs to look at some of the positions we are filling across Canada.

Here's a link to the study in full by the CFIB called The Secrets of Entrepreneurial Success.

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More reviews of this month's Job Report

As we reported on Friday, the Labour Survey released by StatsCan on April 8 was immediately embraced by the media so they could cry afoul about all of the jobs lost. The news was actually pretty good when you read the survey but of course many in the media treated it as little more than a headline so they did not go into that detail.

On April 11 the National Post published this article pointed to the positive in the report and the article is compelling. It points to the drop in Canada's unemployment rate as well as the increase in wages, the huge gain in hours worked and the fact that March's addition of 90,600 jobs was the best showing in 18 months!

If you'd like to be kept in the loop with articles like this or as we add more positions, please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

The Good News and the Very Good News in Today's Job Report

As with every first Friday of the month, StatsCan released their Labour Force Survey today. As the headlines across Canada's news outlets scream about the net loss of jobs, they fail to recognize the good news in today's survey - and almost altogether ignore that the good news outweighs the bad.

Granted Canada did not add as many jobs as experts anticipated. We did however add a substantial 91,000 new full time jobs but this number is almost exactly offset by the 92,000 part time job losses. Factoring in some common sense, this means Canadians who were making it by on less than 30 hours a week are now working full time jobs. The study assures us that Canadians are working more hours and isn't this the goal in the first place?

Further good news comes as no surprise to us at CMS. Of the two leading industries for growth, the construction sector added 24,000 new full time jobs. We've seen this construction growth on our job board and have been talking about it on our blog.

If you'd like to be kept in the loop as we add more positions, or kept informed on news pertaining to recruitment & hiring please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Here is the study in full from StatsCan;

March 2011 (Previous release)

Overall employment was unchanged in March, as gains in full-time work were offset by declines in part time. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 7.7%. Over the past 12 months, employment has risen by 1.8% (+305,000).

Full-time employment rose by 91,000 in March, and was offset by a decline of 92,000 in part time. This large full-time increase brought gains in full-time employment to 251,000 (+1.8%) over the past 12 months, while part time increased by 54,000 (+1.7%).

There were employment gains in accommodation and food services as well as construction in March, and losses in health care and social assistance and in public administration.

The number of public sector employees fell in March. Compared with 12 months earlier, public sector growth (+2.4%) was slightly faster than that of private sector employees (+2.1%), while self-employment was unchanged.

In March, employment declined in Quebec and increased in Prince Edward Island. There were no notable changes in overall employment in the other provinces.

Note to readers

Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are based on a sample, and are therefore subject to sampling variability. Estimates for smaller geographic areas or industries will have more variability. For an explanation of sampling variability of estimates, and how to use standard errors to assess this variability, consult the "Data quality" section of the publication Labour Force Information (71-001-X, free).

Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitates comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations.

Employment increased for men aged 25 and over, while it declined among youths aged 15 to 24 and women 55 and over.

Gains in accommodation and food services as well as construction

The number of workers in accommodation and food services increased by 36,000 in March. This gain brought employment in this industry to roughly the same level as 12 months earlier.

Employment in construction rose by 24,000 in March, continuing an upward trend that began in July 2009. Over the past 12 months, employment in this industry has increased by 5.3% (+64,000), one of the highest rates of growth among all industries.

There were small losses in health care and social assistance (-17,000) and in public administration (-13,000). Over the past 12 months, employment in these industries increased by 2.9% and 2.1% respectively.

Little employment change across provinces

Employment in Quebec edged down 15,000 in March, and the unemployment rate held steady at 7.7%. Over the past 12 months, employment growth in the province was 1.6% (+62,000).

In March, employment in Prince Edward Island increased by 1,400 and the unemployment rate was 11.2%. This increase brought employment just above levels of one year earlier.

In Ontario, total employment was little changed, as full-time gains of 63,000 were offset by part-time losses of 58,000. The unemployment rate was 8.1%. Over the past 12 months, employment grew by 2.1% in this province.

While there was little change in employment in British Columbia, the unemployment rate fell from 8.8% to 8.1% as fewer people looked for work.

Gains among adult men offset by losses among youths, women 55 and over

Employment for men aged 25 and over was up 32,000 in March, with increases in full time. The gains were shared between men 25 to 54 and 55 and over. Employment growth over the past 12 months among core-age men was 2.1%, while that of men 55 and over was 4.9%.

Employment in March was unchanged for core-age women and fell by 17,000 for women aged 55 and over. Compared with 12 months earlier, employment was unchanged for core-age women, while it increased by 6.6% for women 55 and over.

The number of employed 15- to 24- year-olds fell by 17,000 in March, with notable losses in part-time work. The unemployment rate was little changed at 14.4%. Compared with 12 months earlier, youth employment increased by 0.5%.

Quarterly update for the territories

The Labour Force Survey also collects labour market data about the territories. These data are produced monthly in the form of three-month moving averages. The territorial estimates presented in this release are not seasonally adjusted; therefore, comparisons are made on a year-over-year basis.

All three territories saw employment gains in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the same quarter of 2010.

In Yukon, employment increased by 2,500 in the three months ending in March 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. In the first quarter of 2011, the unemployment rate was 5.1%.

Employment in the Northwest Territories rose by 1,700 from the first quarter of 2010 to the same period in 2011, pushing the unemployment rate down to 6.3%.

In Nunavut, employment increased by 500 in the first quarter of 2011 compared with the first quarter of 2010. However, the number of people searching for work also increased, bringing the unemployment rate up to 17.3%.

Available on CANSIM: tables 282-0001 to 282-0042, 282-0047 to 282-0063, 282-0069 to 282-0095 and 282-0100 to 282-0121.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3701.

A more detailed summary, Labour Force Information (71-001-X, free), is now available online for the week ending March 19. From the Key resource module of our website under Publications, choose All subjects, then Labour. LAN and bulk prices are available on request. The DVD-ROM Labour Force Historical Review, 2010 (71F0004X, $209), will be available on April 11. See How to order products.

Data tables are also now available online. From the Subject module of our website, choose Labour.

The next release of the Labour Force Survey will be on May 6.

For general information or to order data, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-866-873-8788; 613-951-4090; labour@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Jason Gilmore (613-951-7118; jason.gilmore@statcan.gc.ca) or Vincent Ferrao (613-951-4750; vincent.ferrao@statcan.gc.ca), Labour Statistics Division.

Further proof that Canada's beating the recession - another drop in EI claims.

The EI Offices across Canada aren't nearly as busy as they were in the past few years. Proof of this can be found in StatsCan's newest study on EI claims which was released today. The study shows a whopping decrease of 13,300 recipients, or 2% of the overall claimants. This is Canada's 6th decline in 7 months, leaving the current number of recipients at 640,200.

Leading the pack in decreases was Ontario, shedding 11,200 beneficiaries (2.4%), followed by British Columbia at 1,900, Quebec lost 1,500 and Alberta lost 1,400.

Simply put, this means more people are working and it is becoming more & more difficult for employers to find that perfect employee. More & more employers are realizing that their ideal candidate isn't reading the newspaper's classifieds or looking at online job posting sites. We're seeing evidence of this through the dramatic increase of job postings on our site.

If you'd like to discuss how CMS can help you find that elusive employee, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.

Here's the study in full from Statistics Canada.

Employment Insurance

January 2011 (Previous release)

The number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance (EI) benefits declined by 13,300 (-2.0%) in January to 640,200, the sixth decline in seven months. The number of beneficiaries decreased in seven provinces, with the fastest decline in Ontario.

Fewer Employment Insurance claims

To receive EI benefits, individuals must first submit a claim. There were 242,400 initial and renewal claims received in January, down 4,900 (-2.0%) from December. With this decline, the number of claims was similar to levels observed last June.

Note to readers

All data in this release are seasonally adjusted unless otherwise specified.

Each month, Statistics Canada provides analysis of the current labour market situation, using Employment Insurance (EI) statistics and other sources. Earlier this month, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) provided a picture of overall labour market conditions, including unemployment, total employment and those affected by changes in the labour market.

In this release, Statistics Canada provides additional sub-provincial detail through the EI statistics. Details by industry will follow with data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours.

EI statistics are produced from an administrative data source from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. These statistics may, from time to time, be affected by changes to the Employment Insurance Act or administrative procedures. The number of regular beneficiaries and the number of claims received for December 2010 and January 2011 are preliminary. In this release, large centres correspond to those with a population of 10,000 or more.

The number of beneficiaries is a measure of all persons who received EI benefits from January 9 to 15. This period coincides with the reference week of the LFS.

EI statistics indicate the number of people who received EI benefits, and should not be confused with data coming from the LFS, which provides information on the total number of unemployed people.

There are always a certain proportion of unemployed people who do not qualify for benefits. Some unemployed people have not contributed to the program because they have not worked in the past 12 months or their employment is not insured. Other unemployed people have contributed to the program but do not meet the eligibility criteria, such as workers who left their job voluntarily or those who did not accumulate enough hours of work to receive benefits.

The change in the number of regular EI beneficiaries reflects various situations, including people becoming beneficiaries, people going back to work, and people exhausting their regular benefits.

The situation across Canada varied. Ontario experienced the largest decline (-8,400), followed by Quebec (-1,600) and Alberta (-500). Claims increased in all other provinces and territories, most notably in New Brunswick (+1,100).

Claims provide an indication of the number of people who could become beneficiaries.

Largest declines in beneficiaries in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta

All provinces except those in Atlantic Canada recorded a fourth consecutive monthly decline in the number of beneficiaries in January.

In Ontario, the number of regular beneficiaries fell by 11,200 (-5.5%) to 192,600, and was the largest of four consecutive monthly declines in the province.

In British Columbia, the number of beneficiaries fell by 1,900 (-2.4%) in January to 76,100, while it declined by 1,500 (-0.8%) to 184,000 in Quebec. In Alberta, the number declined by 1,400 (-3.0%) to 44,800.

In New Brunswick, the only province with a notable increase in January, the number of beneficiaries rose by 840 (+2.5%) to 34,300.

Sub-provincial and demographic overview

Employment Insurance data by sub-provincial region, sex and age are not seasonally adjusted and are therefore compared on a year-over-year basis.

Year-over-year declines in most large centres continued

Between January 2010 and January 2011, the number of regular beneficiaries fell by 98,900 (-11.3%) at the national level, with decreases in 122 of the 143 large centres (see map). The number of large centres reporting year-over-year declines has been relatively stable over the past 10 months. Large centres are those with a population of 10,000 or more.

The five large centres in Newfoundland and Labrador all had fewer EI beneficiaries in January. The fastest decrease occurred in St. John's, where the number fell by 710 to 5,700. This was the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year declines.

The number of regular beneficiaries fell in 29 of the 33 large centres in Quebec between January 2010 and January 2011. The fastest declines occurred in Saint-Georges, Granby, Dolbeau-Mistassini and Rouyn-Noranda. Montréal recorded 7,800 fewer beneficiaries, the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year declines. In the census metropolitan area of Québec, the number of beneficiaries declined by 430, the first decrease in eight months.

In Ontario, 36 of its 41 large centres posted declines between January 2010 and January 2011. The most notable declines were in Greater Sudbury, Windsor, Tillsonburg, Leamington and Belleville. In Toronto, 80,400 people received benefits in January, down 19,500 from 12 months earlier. This was the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year declines.

In Alberta, all 12 large centres had fewer regular beneficiaries. The pace of decline was fastest in Brooks, Grande Prairie, Red Deer, Camrose and Medicine Hat. In Calgary, the number of beneficiaries fell by 6,200 to 14,600, the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year declines. In Edmonton, the number of beneficiaries decreased by 3,200 to 15,300, also the 10th consecutive decline.

In British Columbia, the number of beneficiaries fell in 21 of 25 large centres in the 12 months to January. The fastest declines were in Fort St. John, Williams Lake, Prince Rupert and Prince George. In Victoria, the number of beneficiaries declined year over year for the 10th consecutive month, down 370 to 4,400. In Vancouver, those receiving benefits fell by 3,800 to 34,800, the eighth decline in a row.

Demographic groups

Faster year-over-year decline for men than women

Between January 2010 and January 2011, the number of male EI regular beneficiaries fell by 79,000 (-13.4%) to 512,500. This was the 11th consecutive month with a year-over-year decline.

For men, the fastest rates of decline occurred among those aged under 25 years (-15.9%) and 25 to 54 (-15.7%). Over the same period, the number of beneficiaries decreased by 3.2% among men aged 55 and over.

The rate of decline was slower among female beneficiaries. The number of women receiving regular benefits decreased by 19,900 (-6.9%) to 267,200. This was the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.

For women aged under 25 years, the number of beneficiaries decreased by 3,400 (-14.9%), while among those aged 25 to 54, it decreased by 18,700 (-8.9%). In contrast, the number of female beneficiaries aged 55 and over rose by 2,200 (+4.1%).

Available on CANSIM: tables 276-0001 to 276-0006, 276-0009, 276-0011, 276-0015 and 276-0016.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 2604.

Data tables are also now available online. From the Key resource module of our website under Summary tables, choose Subject then Labour.

Data on Employment Insurance for February will be released on April 18.

A set of maps, Employment Insurance Statistics Maps, January 2011 (73-002-X, free), is now available online. The maps show percent changes in the number of people receiving regular EI benefits for all census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations in Canada. From the Key resource module of our website, under Publications, choose All subjects, then Labour.

For more information, or to order data, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-866-873-8788; 613-951-4090; labour@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Kevin Forneris (613-951-8235) or Vincent Ferrao (613-951-4750), Labour Statistics Division.

How Engaged Are Your Employees? It's Up To Your Management

A new study released by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the UK reveals that employees take their queues to 'go the extra mile' from their management.

Obvious factors from management, such as feedback, praise and guidance were all elements that affect employee engagement - but the study went on to reveal that autonomy and empowerment from management also go a long way and the level of interest the manager shows in an employee.

This is a huge area for management to consider, given this article published by the Edmonton Journal which points to the Edmonton Research firm Psychometrics Canada where of 368 executives polled, nearly 70% found the level of employee engagement to be problematic. The study by Psychometrics can be read in full at this link.

Employers, you should look to CMS Management Consulting Services is in order to assess the level of engagement at work and what can be done to optimize it. In the mean time, here is an article regarding the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's study.

The extent to which managers provide guidance, feedback and the appropriate level of autonomy for staff is key to whether employees go the extra mile for their organization, according to research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) in the United Kingdom.

"The central role of managers in boosting individual and organizational performance is well recognized…” said Ben Willmott, senior public policy adviser at CIPD. “But managers need more specific, tried-and-tested guidance on what they can do on a day-to-day basis to fulfill this key role well.”

The research asked employees what management behaviours supported them in focusing on what they do; feeling good about themselves in their role; and acting in a way that demonstrates commitment to their organization’s values and objectives.

The most frequently mentioned management competencies for supporting employee engagement were:
•reviewing and guiding
•feedback, praise and recognition
•autonomy and empowerment
•level of interest the manager shows in employees as individuals

"In today's tough economic environment, how managers manage is even more important in supporting employee commitment and motivation in the face of job cuts, pay freezes and cuts to training and development budgets," said Willmott.

Running late today - you're not alone!

Career Builder released a study today with Harris Interactive that points to tardiness in the workplace. Shockingly, the study says that one in five employees are running late to work at least once a week!

In contrast, the next day Career Builder released this study as reported by HRReporter.com that points to the recession for improving the punctuality of US employees.

As an employer, do these numbers add up to you? Perhaps you're one of the three in ten employers that the Canadian study says have fired an employee for tardiness?

If you're interested in further recruitment and employment related articles, please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Nearly One-in-Five Workers Late to the Office at Least Once a Week, Finds New CareerBuilder Canada Survey

    -- Hiring Managers Share Most Outrageous Tardiness Excuses --

TORONTO, Feb. 23, 2011 /CNW/ -- Workers may be having a tough time with their time management as more are arriving late to their desks. A new CareerBuilder.ca survey reveals that 19 per cent of workers said they arrive late to work at least once a week, up from 17 per cent last year. Eleven per cent said they are late two or more times a week. This survey was conducted among 227 Canadian employers and 550 Canadian employees between November 15 and December 2, 2010.

Workers shared a variety of reasons for being tardy, such as lack of sleep (24 per cent) and traffic (24 per cent). Fifteen per cent blamed public transportation for their tardiness, while twelve per cent indicated bad weather delayed them. Other common reasons included getting kids to school or daycare, Internet use or their spouse.

"While workers will sometimes be late due to circumstances out of their control, they need to be aware of their companies' tardiness policies," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder. "Regardless of the reason, workers who are running late should always be honest with their managers."

While some employers are more lenient with worker tardiness, others have stricter policies. Three-in-ten (30 per cent) employers said they have terminated an employee for being late.

Hiring managers provided the following examples of the most outrageous excuses employees offered for arriving late to work:

    --  Employee claimed a bear stopped his car and broke his window and tried
      to grab them.
  --  Employee claimed a prostitute stole his car keys.
  --  Employee claimed he couldn't find his clothes.
  --  Employee claimed his dog ate his Blackberry.
  --  Employee claimed he ran over himself with the company truck.
  --  Employee claimed he was playing a video game and didn't want to break
      up the group he was playing with.
  --  Employee claimed her grandmother went missing.
  --  Employee claimed he forgot it was a workday.


  Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within Canada by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 227 Canadian employers and 550 Canadian workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government) ages 18 and over between November 15 and December 2, 2010 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 227 and 550 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 6.5 and +/- 4.18 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

    About CareerBuilder.ca:

CareerBuilder.ca is a leading job site in Canada. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), the Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder.ca powers the career centers for more than 250 Canadian partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include leading portals such as MSN.ca and Macleans.ca. Job seekers visit CareerBuilder.ca every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic e-mail job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.ca products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.ca.

New Challenges in Obtaining Work in Canada

Over the past several months, we at CMS have been encountering increasing problems in the justice system in terms of obtaining criminal record checks. The majority of our clients hire background checking firms to assess any candidates they are interested in hiring. The background check includes a criminal record check.

CMS encourages the use of background checks and historically this has been a straight forward procedure. In recent months however, the systems have been failing and have been returning inaccurate results. So people who have no criminal record are mistakenly being identified as “unclear” (indicating the individual has or may have a criminal record).

Later it is being identified that the system made a mistake and confused a person with someone with the same name who is actually of different gender or birth date. The trouble is that the only way it was eventually determined that the report was wrong was after the candidate, in attempting to prove their innocence (having been accused of being guilty) had to have their finger prints taken and resubmitted into the system to prove who they are and that they don’t have a criminal record.

The further problem is that this process takes up to six months and in that time the opportunity for the job has been lost. One has to wonder what the criminal justice system does with those finger prints once they have them. Will the upshot of this be that one day our finger prints will accompany all of us to a job interview? It makes me think of my time in China training HR managers who had very little work to do in assessing someone’s work history because their personal file contained every bit of information about them and followed them from one job to the next.

The enclosed article by Derek Sankey, as printed in the 02.05.11 edition of the Calgary Herald, paints an interesting picture of the 'bottle-neck' in today's background checks. I would call it a 'must read' for job seekers and employers alike.

Cindy Saunders
Principal - CMS Management Consulting

Background checks hit bottleneck

New RCMP rules delay hiring process for months

By Derek Sankey, For The Calgary Herald

Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/Background+checks+bottleneck/4229038/story.html#ixzz1DbgcWp1N

Recruiters are struggling to deal with a surge in criminal record checks under new RCMP rules for "vulnerable sectors" and private screening firms say the backlog is creating some difficult human resource challenges.

Vulnerable sectors include construction, medical, law enforcement, volunteers, lawyers, retail jobs involving cash, the financial sector and many more.

"It is a massive issue," says Ainsley Muller, director of business development for Express Pardons. "It certainly has escalated since mass layoffs have occurred. There is an onslaught of (job) applications."

Hiring managers often use criminal record checks as a screening tool to immediately rule out anybody who comes back with a positive result for a record. The problem is that oftentimes, the 24-hour check flags people with absolutely no record -- just the same name and date or place of birth as a criminal.

That type of check has two possible results: "clear" or "may or may not have a record."

"They tend to throw out a lot of really good candidates based on the check coming back with a positive hit," says Muller.

Under new rules introduced last July by the RCMP, a person is also matched by birthdate and gender -- but not by name -- against a list of 14,000 pardoned sex offenders.

Thousands of people are being incorrectly flagged, while the number of longer and more in-depth fingerprint checks has skyrocketed.

It's an imperfect system, and one that police are working with pre-employment screeners to resolve, but the concept behind it both helps and hinders various organizations in their search for the best and brightest talent.

"Your gut feeling is only 50 per cent of the equation," says Julie McLean, with preemployment screening firm Canpro HR Services Inc. "Criminal records and education are the two things that we see most often that don't match up to what the individual says."

It does, however, create some pressing HR challenges for recruiters. Long wait times -- it can take three to five months for some fingerprint criminal record checks, says Muller -- makes many volunteers simply move on, while good employees are also being overlooked.

"Until they know what their (criminal) record is, they can't make an offer of employment," says McLean. "Who's going to risk hiring someone for maybe eight months to a year and not know what the 'unclear' result is for?"

She says she's working with RCMP and industry to find a solution that works for all parties and does not put the RCMP at risk of liability for providing potentially inaccurate results.

Human rights legislation varies by province in Canada, with some areas protecting individuals from discrimination for not being hired due to a criminal record with or without a pardon, depending on province.

In Alberta, for example, neither pardoned nor unpardoned records are protected. In B.C., both types of records are protected.

Muller says recruiters need to arm themselves with the tools to handle the delicate subject of criminal records appropriately and in a way that puts matters into perspective. His job is to help people clear their names by working with employers to get pardons for past minor offences -- a process that can take six months to a year or more by itself.

Muller refers to Mike Quinn of IBM Canada when approaching the subject of criminal records, who put it this way: "The operative phrase is to apply common sense and judgment to these situations. A person who did something silly 25 years ago when he was still in high school would be looked at differently than somebody charged with bank robbery three years ago."

Background checks include more than just criminal record checks. They include credit checks, personal reference checks, credential and academic verification and any other requirements unique to any given field.

The current problem is the delay in finding out what the criminal record is for, given the lengthy wait times to access a definitive result from the RCMP and the Canadian Police Information Centre.

There is also the possibility that a positive result with one police force will not yield the same result on municipal databases and people also change names, confusing things further.

In Calgary, the average time for police checks is about six weeks, exceeding its target of 10 days to two weeks, but measures are being taken to reduce the wait.

derek.sankey@telus.net

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

More New Sales Jobs With CMS Management Consulting

Take a look at our new Sales Jobs. As a sign of things to come, employers across Canada are picking up their sales teams and are looking to our expertise in filling these types of positions.

More notably, we are working on new Edmonton Sales Jobs and Grande Prairie.

If you're interested in hearing up to the minute news about any new positions please follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

CMS Management Consulting Has More New Jobs

Things are really heating up in the employment market of 2011 and out current job opportnuities are proof of that. Our clients are all expecting growth over the coming year and have assigned us new positions.

For instance, the Oil & Gas jobs are growing with the addition of Coil Tubing jobs and Cementing Technologist jobs.

Our Trades & Technical positions are also growing with today's addition of a Flexographic Press Operator and a Journeyman Millwright Job.

Are you interested in any of these positions? Get in touch with one of our headhunters to discuss what we can do to help. It always pays off to follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Mobility is key to economic growth - pack your bags!

A New report released earlier this week by the Boston Consulting Group and the World Economic Forum says that as certain skills become in higher demand, the ability to move is crucial to the global economy.

The reports says that China for instance, will need to double its talent base by 2020. Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States will need more immigration and better education to balance the loss of talent from aging workforces.

It says the highest demand will be for highly educated professionals, technicians and skilled managers, adding health care research & development will create huge demand world-wide. The report is clear in saying that if you do not have critical knowledge or technical skills you will be left behind.

So, are you ready to move? Ready to improve your level of experience? Get in touch with one of our headhunters to discuss what we can do to help. It always pays off to follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Here's the press release from BCG and WEF;

• A new report on looming labor and skills shortages finds that global mobility of talent is as critical to economic growth as global mobility of goods and financial capital.
• To retain their growth momentum, most economies will need to import highly skilled professionals, technicians, and managers, and act fast to develop and diversify their domestic talent bases.
• China will need to double its talent base by 2020. Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States will need more immigration and better education to balance the loss of talent from aging workforces.

Industries and countries worldwide will require major increases of highly educated people in their workforces to sustain economic growth, argues a new report prepared by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, Global Talent Risk -- Seven Responses, analyzes projected talent shortages by 2020 and 2030 in 25 countries, 13 industries, and nine occupational clusters. The report concludes that:

• Demand will be biggest for highly educated professionals, technicians, and managers. Professionals will be in particularly high demand in the trade, transportation, and communications industries in developing nations.
  
  
• In the next two decades, demand for professionals in manufacturing will peak at more than 10 percent in developing countries, exceeding 4 percent across all countries sampled. (Labor-demand growth rates are compounded annually.)
  
  
• Health care research and development alone will generate enormous demand for skilled labor worldwide.
  
  
• Employees without critical knowledge and technical skills will be left behind.

If left unaddressed, talent scarcity will become a threat to sustained growth, particularly in knowledge-based economies. "Human capital has replaced financial capital as the engine of economic prosperity," said Hans-Paul Bürkner, BCG's president and chief executive officer.

The roots of the global talent risk include the widely uneven quality of educational systems, erratic employability of the workers in the Southern Hemisphere, and demographic changes in the Northern Hemisphere, where retirement of the baby boomers will result in an unprecedented talent deficit. In Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, expected immigration and birth rates will not offset the workforce losses caused by aging populations. Today, foreign-born workers with university degrees or equivalent qualifications make up just 2 percent of the European labor market, compared with 4.5 percent in the United States and nearly 10 percent in Canada. Improved education and training must go hand in hand with increased labor migration.

"The global problem is no longer a mere talent mismatch. The scale of the predicted talent gap requires concerted action, starting with -- and going well beyond -- removing barriers to the mobility of talent," said Piers A. Cumberlege, senior director, head of partnership, World Economic Forum.

The report proposes seven core responses to global talent risk:

• Introduce strategic workforce planning to address imbalances between labor supply and demand.
  
  
• Ease migration to attract the right talent globally.
  
  
• Foster "brain circulation" to mitigate brain drain.
  
  
• Increase employability by advancing technological literacy and cross-cultural learning skills.
  
  
• Develop a talent "trellis" by focusing on horizontal and vertical career and education paths.
  
  
• Encourage temporary and virtual mobility to access required skills easily.
  
  
• Extend the pool by tapping women, older professionals, the disadvantaged, and immigrants.

Members of the Global Agenda Council on Skills and Talent Mobility, as well as more than 100 high-level experts and practitioners, contributed to the recommendations in the report and to the talent mobility dialogue hosted by the World Economic Forum online and at meetings in Brussels, Doha, Davos-Klosters, Dubai, Montreal, New Delhi, and New York in 2009 and 2010.

The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2011 in Davos-Klosters will seek to catalyze a pragmatic, result-driven action focused on effective sharing of good practices.

For more information about the Global Talent Risk -- Seven Responses report, please contact:

• Anna Janczak, Associate Director, Head of Professional Services, World Economic Forum, by telephone at +1 917 562 0533 or by e-mail at anna.janczak@weforum.org
  
  
• Eric Gregoire, Global Media Relations Manager, The Boston Consulting Group, by telephone at +1 617 850 3783 or by e-mail at gregoire.eric@bcg.com

About The World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a not-for-profit foundation in 1971 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is tied to no political, partisan, or national interests (www.weforum.org).

About The Boston Consulting Group

The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients in all sectors and regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their businesses. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 71 offices in 41 countries. For more information, please visit www.bcg.com.

How many jobs did Canada add in December?

The results of StatsCan's Labour Force Survey are in and Canada surpassed expectations with 22,000 new jobs. The average estimate of new jobs was 20,000 so today's study is impressing most.

Interestingly, the private sector added more than 50,000 new jobs but this number was offset dramatically by a substantial drop in self employment.

Despite the job creation, Canada's unemployment rate held steady at 7.6% due to more people entering the work force.

Finally, while December 2008-09 saw an overall job loss of 1.1%, the past year has seen creation of 2.2% - meaning we're back on the growth track.

Here's the study in full as released by Stats Can.

Employment edged up for the second consecutive month in December, with an increase of 22,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 7.6%. Compared with December 2009, employment increased by 2.2% (+369,000), following a decline of 1.1% the previous year.

There were notable employment increases in December in manufacturing; transportation and warehousing; as well as in natural resources. At the same time, there were declines in construction; health care and social assistance; wholesale and retail trade; business building and other support services; as well as agriculture.

Full-time employment was up 38,000 in December, the fourth increase in the past five months. Despite these recent gains, part-time employment has grown faster (+3.4%) than full time (+1.9%) over the past 12 months. Full-time employment accounted for 81% of total employment in December.

Increases in the number of private sector employees in December were partly offset by declines in self-employment.

Among the provinces, Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador saw employment gains in December, while British Columbia posted declines. Employment was little changed in the other provinces.

Note to readers

Following the release of final population estimates from each census, a standard revision is applied to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates. The revised estimates are scheduled to be released on Friday, January 28, 2011, and will include the following:

LFS estimates are currently based on the 2001 Census population estimates. These data will be adjusted to reflect 2006 Census population estimates and will be revised back to 1996.

Industry estimates will be reclassified to the 2007 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) from the 2002 NAICS and revised back to 1987.

Geography boundaries will be updated to the 2006 Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) rather than the current 2001 SGC. With this change, six new census metropolitan areas (CMAs) will be added and the boundaries of seven existing CMAs will be modified. New CMA tables will be created based on the 2006 census boundaries and will date back to 1996.

Finally, the 2006 National Occupational Classification for Statistics (NOC-S) will replace the 2001 NOC-S. This change will not affect the LFS estimates as there were only minor changes to the description of the categories.

Please note that the above-mentioned revisions will have a minor impact on the LFS estimates. However, rates of unemployment, employment and participation are essentially unchanged.

During the revision, CANSIM data for the LFS will not be available from Friday, January 21 to Thursday, January 27, 2011. To facilitate access to the revised data, LFS data on CANSIM will be free from January 28 to February 3, 2011.

LFS estimates are based on a sample, and are therefore subject to sampling variability. Estimates for smaller geographic areas or industries will have more variability. For an explanation of sampling variability of estimates, and how to use standard errors to assess this variability, consult the "Data quality" section of the publication Labour Force Information (71-001-X, free).

Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitates comparisons by removing the effects of seasonal variations.

Strong gains in manufacturing and transportation and warehousing

Following a decline of 29,000 the previous month, manufacturing employment increased by 66,000 in December. The bulk of the gains were in Ontario and Quebec and were spread across a number of industries. This follows little overall change in the manufacturing sector in the previous 18 months.

Transportation and warehousing also saw a notable gain in December (+45,000). With this gain, employment in this industry was up 10.8% (+85,000) compared with December 2009.

Employment in natural resources increased by 7,700 in December, bringing growth in the industry to 10.8% (+33,000) over the past 12 months.

Employment in construction fell by 27,000 in December, the first notable decline since July 2009. Despite this decline, construction employment was up 4.8% over the past 12 months.

In December, employment in health care and social assistance declined by 24,000, following gains the previous month. Employment growth in this industry totalled 3.3% (+67,000) from a year earlier.

Employment in wholesale and retail trade fell by 22,000 in December. However, employment in this industry was relatively stable in 2010 (+0.7%).

Business, building and other support services also saw employment losses in December (-18,000). Compared with December 2009, however, employment was up by 8.1% (+50,000).

Agricultural employment fell by 8,000 in December, bringing total losses to 4.2% (-13,000) over the past 12 months.

More people working in the private sector

The number of private sector employees increased by 53,000 in December, while self-employment fell by 38,000. At the same time, public sector employment was little changed.

Over the past 12 months, 332,000 (+3.1%) employees were added to the private sector and 143,000 (+4.2%) to the public sector. The number of self-employed declined by 106,000 (-3.9%) over the same period.

Employment gains in Quebec, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador

Employment in Quebec increased by 25,000 in December, pushing the unemployment rate down 0.3 percentage points to 7.6%. With December's gain, Quebec employment was up 102,000 (+2.6%) from a year earlier.

In Ontario, employment increased for the second consecutive month, up 23,000 in December. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points to 8.1%. With December's increase, the number of workers in Ontario grew by 2.8% (+186,000) from a year earlier, above the national growth rate of 2.2%. Over the 12 months of 2009, Ontario's employment was down 1.8%, the largest decline among all provinces.

Newfoundland and Labrador saw employment increases of 2,500 in December, bringing total employment growth in the province to 4.6% (+9,900) compared with the same month a year earlier, the fastest rate of growth in the country.

Employment in British Columbia fell by 23,000 in December, pushing the unemployment rate up 0.7 percentage points to 7.6%. Compared with December 2009, employment in the province grew by 1.5% (+35,000).

More youths working in December

Following a large decline in the number of 15- to 24-year-olds participating in the labour market in November, youth employment increased by 26,000 in December. Employment was little changed for the other demographic groups.

Compared with December 2009, youth employment was up 1.8% (+42,000), below the overall employment growth of 2.2%. Over the same period, people aged 55 and over saw their employment levels increase by 6.6% (+186,000), of which half was due to aging of the population, as the number of people in this age group grew by 3.3% over the period. While this age group makes up less than a third of the working-age population, it accounted for 50% of the total employment growth over the past 12 months.

At the same time, people aged 25 to 54 saw their employment level grow by 1.2% (+141,000), primarily driven by men (+2.3%), compared with little growth among women (+0.1%).

Quarterly update on territories

The Labour Force Survey also collects labour market information about the territories. This information is produced monthly in the form of three-month moving averages. Not all estimates are seasonally adjusted; therefore, comparisons should only be made on a year-over-year basis.

All three territories saw employment gains in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with the same quarter of 2009.

In the Northwest Territories, employment rose by 1,300 in the fourth quarter of 2010. The unemployment rate also increased by 1.7 percentage points to 7.7%, the result of an increase in the number of people seeking work. The participation rate reached 73.0%, the highest in the country.

In Yukon, employment rose by 1,000 during the three months ending in December 2010 compared with the same period in 2009. This increase pushed the unemployment rate down by 3.5 percentage points to 4.0% in the fourth quarter of 2010, the lowest nationally.

Nunavut saw employment gains of 900 in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. The unemployment rate increased by 2.5 percentage points to 15.2%, as there were more people participating in the labour market.

Available on CANSIM: tables 282-0001 to 282-0042, 282-0047 to 282-0064 and 282-0069 to 282-0108.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3701.

A more detailed summary, Labour Force Information (71-001-X, free), is now available online for the week ending December 11. From the Key resource module of our website under Publications, choose All subjects, then Labour. LAN and bulk prices are available on request. The DVD-ROM Labour Force Historical Review, 2009 (71F0004X, $209), is now available. See How to order products.

Data tables are also now available online. From the Subject module of our website, choose Labour.

Two New Surveys Anticipate Employment Growth in 2011

Now that the new year has begun, employers are thinking about growth much more than they were at the beginning of 2010. Two new surveys were released today but Harris Interactive and The Business Roundtable which both provide encouraging news to the employment market.

The Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with nearly $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 12 million employees - many of these CEOs oversee Canadian operations as well. Their study shows that 80% of these companies expect an increase in sales and more than twice as many companies expect staffing growth when put in contrast to last year's Q4 study.

On a more Canadian front, a study by Harris Interactive for Career Builder shows that 70% of Canadian employers believe they are in a better position this year compared to this time last year. A whopping 33% of Canadian employers in the survey plan on hiring full time staff (which blows 2009's figure of only 18% out of the water!) A further 20% plan on hiring additional part-time staff and an overwhelming 51% of respondents said that they would be hiring temporary & contract staff in 2011.

These studies underline what we've been seeing at CMS. The trend is definitely pointing towards a larger workforce in 2011 and as an employer are you prepared? Maybe you should review our Recruitment page for more information on how we can help you keep up with your competition in terms of growth.

And to you job seekers; are you prepared to re-enter a Job-Seekers Market? Get in touch with one of our headhunters to discuss what we can do to help. It always pays off to follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

More than 90% of C-Level Executives are Expecting Growth in 2011

Toronto based public opinion research firm The Gandalf Group has become a relied upon outlook on the Canadian economy since they began their C-Suite surveys in 2006. The quarterly surveys provide an indication of how Canadian C-Level executives are feeling about the economy. Today they’ve released their 2010 Q4 survey and you can look at it here. The study is great news to those of us following Canada’s expected growth – 92% of executives see growth in 2011.

As we noted in previous blog posts, this comes as no surprise to us at CMS. Our pages of current jobs are getting bigger as our clients are creating more new positions inside their company than they have since 2008. Stay in touch with us through our Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook sites for constant updates on new positions.