Net 9 per cent of execs planning staff additions in second quarter: Survey

Least active hiring expected in HR

Seventeen per cent of Canada executives plan to add full-time, professional-level staff in the second quarter of 2012, while eight per cent foresee declines. The resulting net nine per cent planning staff additions is down five points from the previous quarter but indicates continued hiring, found a survey by Robert Half.

Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) of hiring executives anticipate no changes to their staffing levels and 82 per cent are somewhat or very confident in their companies' growth prospects in the second quarter.

But 36 per cent indicated they are having difficulty finding skilled employees, found the survey of more than 270 CFOs, 270 CIOs, 150 senior HR managers, 75 lawyers at law firms and 75 corporate lawyers, and 50 advertising executives and 200 marketing executives, all of whom have hiring authority.

Hiring expectations by profession

Increase

Decrease

Net increase

Total

17%

8%

9%

Accounting, finance

20%

11%

9%

Advertising, marketing

26%

4%

22%

Human resources

7%

7%

0%

Information technology

18%

3%

15%

Legal

38%

1%

37%

Sales, business development

22%

6%

16%

"Companies continue to seek experienced professionals to support their ongoing business needs and guide growth," said Lara Dodo, Canadian regional vice-president of Robert Half. "Some firms are making strategic hires to fill personnel gaps — particularly in the legal and marketing fields — while others are taking a variable approach to staffing by supplementing full-time teams with temporary or project professionals."

Second-quarter professional-level hiring is anticipated to be strongest in the transportation sector, where a net 21 per cent of respondents said they expect to make staff additions. This was followed by a net 17 per cent of executives in the wholesale industry who indicated they will hire during the upcoming quarter.

Latest stories