The Survey
Overview
Questions probed current staffing needs, skills required, difficulties hiring these skills, incentives offered to induce hiring, barriers to hiring, issues related to hiring incentives, extent of hiring or considering hiring outside of Alberta, willingness to consider hiring the long-term unemployed, youth, and the disabled, the range of skills used in the workplace, and the extent of change in skills needs in the next five years.
In addition, Insight Community members who were anticipating a need to hire in the next six to twelve months were asked questions about their concerns regarding a possible recession and the impact of inflation on their business as well as follow up questions related to hiring outside of Alberta.
Methodology
Between December 3rd and 20th, 2022, an online survey was completed by businesses within Alberta. In all, 535 businesses completed the survey which was administered on the Alida platform by the Alberta Chambers of Commerce to members and other affiliated businesses. In addition, 330 members of ACC’s Insight Community answered a number of follow up questions appended to the end of the survey. These are found at the end of the report.
How we’ll use our findings
- Broaden and deepen the evidence the ACC and local chambers can bring forward to articulate the perspectives of the province’s business community
- Understand the reality faced by our business community
- Make the research available to individual chambers
Key Findings
- While the Alberta labour market at all levels continues to be very tight, it is relatively unchanged over the last six months.
- A majority (61%) –in line with July 2022 (62%) -of Alberta businesses continue to experience staffing shortages of a significant (31%) or moderate (30%) nature.
- Two-thirds (67% compared with 71% in July 2022) report this is having a significant (33%) or moderate (34%) impact on production and/or sales opportunities.
- Businesses, though, do see a slight decline in the size of their workforce needs in the next six months and one year out.
- Employers continue to report that hiring at all positions requiring a post secondary level education or any job above the entry level is at least somewhat difficult.
- Three broad factors continue to represent the major barriers to recruitment: a lack of applicants (39%), the lack of candidates with the right qualifications, such as technical (37%) and interpersonal skills (33%), and a combination of wage related issues, including not being able to afford the going wage rate (28%), budget constraints (18%) and competition from other employers (29%).
- A majority (84%) of employers continue to believe a recession in the next twelve months is at least somewhat likely and four-in-ten believe the impact would be major.
- While anticipating a recession, employers are currently dealing with the consequences of inflation and report that this is having a significant impact on their cost structure, including wage pressure. Related to this, half of employers report that this is highly problematic since they can’t pass costs on the customers/clients or that they can’t afford to pay higher wages to retain and attract staff.
- Interest rate increases are also a concern for many businesses, but this issue is dwarfed by the twin concerns of inflation and a recession.