Few employers expecting staff cutbacks in 2012: Survey

Many planning on increasing hiring to fill gaps, drive strategic growth

Few Canadian employers predict significant staff cutbacks in the year ahead, according to a survey by Right Management.

Just nine per cent of the 200 senior executives surveyed anticipate significant cutbacks or restructurings, and 86 per cent expect almost none.

“Layoffs had already begun to decline during 2011, a development most employers saw coming a year ago,” said Bram Lowsky, group executive vice-president of Americas at Right Management. “A year ago 52 per cent of employers in North America predicted virtually no restructurings in 2011. Nevertheless, lean staffing is now the norm at most organizations.”

Nineteen per cent of employers are expecting to step up their hiring in 2012 to drive strategic growth and 22 per cent are planning on more hiring to fill existing gaps, found the survey.

More than one-half (59 per cent) predict normal levels of hiring on an as-needed basis.

According to Lowsky, organizational staffing trends will mirror overall Canadian economic trends.

“We’ll see employers push growth, but with fewer resources, trying to make do with what they have. This will continue to be a pressurized workplace, and management has to take into account the stress all this creates,” he said. “Organizations will need to be effective with their talent strategies to nurture employee engagement, productivity and performance with their streamlined workforces.”

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