TORONTO, July 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid economic uncertainty across the globe, Canadian employers expect to add more jobs in the second half of 2012, but at a slightly lower rate than anticipated in last year's study. Forty per cent of hiring managers said they are planning on hiring new permanent, full-time employees between now and the end of the year compared to 43 per cent in 2011. The countrywide survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive© from May 14, 2012 to June 4, 2012, included 292 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.

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"Canada's job market continues to grow with jobs opening up in a wide variety of functions and industries," said Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North America. "While employers are more confident about their revenue prospects and expansion opportunities in the back half of 2012, they remain watchful of the global economic recovery and market dynamics in their own backyard."

Employers plan to add a variety of new employees over the next six months.

• Hiring full-time, permanent employees – 40 per cent
• Part-time employees – 22 per cent
• Contract/Temporary employees – 26 per cent
• Interns – 17 per cent

Hiring in Metropolitan and Rural Areas

Job creation continues in big cities, though opportunities in outlying towns are becoming available as well.  Of employers who are hiring, 84 per cent said they will be recruiting for positions in large metropolitan areas while 36 per cent will be hiring in non-metropolitan, rural areas. 

Where Employers Are Hiring First

The top functional areas for which businesses plan to hire first are those directly impacting and supporting revenue and innovation. IT, Customer Service, and Administrative positions are the top three areas that employers plan to recruit for in the second half of 2012.

• Information Technology – 21 per cent
• Customer Service – 21 per cent
• Administrative – 21 per cent
• Sales – 15 per cent
• Accounting/Finance – 12 per cent
• Business Development – 8 per cent
• Marketing – 8 per cent. 

Emerging Occupations

More employers are also reporting that their organizations have created entirely new job functions within their organizations to respond to evolving business demands.  When asked if their organizations currently have positions that didn't exist in their firms five years ago, employers pointed to the following:

• Positions tied to storing and managing data – 25 per cent
• Positions tied to social media – 20 per cent
• Positions tied to financial regulation – 18 per cent
• Positions tied to cyber security – 12 per cent
• Positions tied to green energy and the environment – 10 per cent
• Positions tied to global relations – 9 per cent

Changing Jobs

Workers are feeling better about their job prospects with three in ten (30 per cent) stating they are likely to leave their current jobs in the next 12 months.

As the job market improves and employee turnover rates increase, the competition for in-demand talent is getting more intense.  Forty-four per cent of employers are concerned that top talent will leave their organizations. More than a quarter (27 per cent) of employers said they lost some of their top talent in the second quarter of 2012.

*Totals may not equal 100 per cent due to rounding.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within Canada by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder Canada among 292 Canadian hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time; not self-employed; with at least significant involvement in hiring decisions; non-government) and 552 Canadian workers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government) ages 18 and over between May 14, 2012 and June 4, 2012 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset of Canadian employers and/or employees, based on their responses to certain questions). With pure probability samples of 292 and 552 one could say with a 95 per cent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 5.74 and +/- 4.17 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), 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.

Media Contact
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CareerBuilder
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michael.erwin@careerbuilder.com 
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SOURCE CareerBuilder.ca