Optimism rebounds among Canadian, U.S. companies

85 per cent of employers planning to give raises in 2013: Survey

Optimism has rebounded among companies in Canada and the United States as many employers grew more than predicted in 2012 and expect increased growth in 2013, according to a survey by cloud compensation company PayScale.

Seventy per cent of executives and 65 per cent of non-executives expect their company’s financial performance to improve in 2013, found the survey of 4,429 respondents.

Organization sizes increased more than expected in 2012, said the Compensation Best Practices report. In 2012, 38 per cent of companies expected their workforce to grow and 50 per cent actually experienced such growth. Going into 2013, 53 per cent of companies expect their workforce to increase, with 15 per cent more businesses planning to hire than in 2012.

While 2012 saw a return to raises, said PayScale, 2013 will be even more solid as 85 per cent of companies plan to give raises and 57 per cent said they will give raises to at least one-half of their workforce. More than one-half (56 per cent) of employers said performance-based pay increases are the main reasons for raises — an increase from 48 per cent in 2012.

But it’s getting harder to retain talent, found the survey. In 2009, only 28 per cent of companies listed retention as their top concern but by 2012, that number increased to 49 per cent and for 2013, it’s jumped to 59 per cent.

Finding skilled labour is also a top concern, as 67 per cent of companies are having a hard time filling skilled job positions, with 61 per cent of those saying it’s because of a lack of qualified job applicants. IT and technical jobs are the most difficult to fill, while the mining, oil and gas, exploration and construction categories are also reporting hard-to-fill positions.

Latest stories