Historic Inflation and Persistent Labour Shortages Forcing Businesses to Raise Prices

London, Ontario—Record low unemployment may be good news for Canadian job seekers, but labour shortages coupled with high inflation means companies are being forced to make difficult choices to stay afloat—such as passing on increased costs to consumers, according to a survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Express Employment Professionals.

Over the past few years, companies have had to adapt to a variety of obstacles—a global pandemic, inflation, labour shortages and even the fear of a recession. Unfortunately, many of these challenges will persist in the years to come, with labour shortages among the most stubborn.  

Apart from having an impact on hiring, companies say that if labour shortages continue, the most likely responses will be raising prices (28%), being forced to absorb additional costs (24%) and turning down work (22%). Additionally, some companies report they will also have to resort to automating more tasks/processes (22%) and outsourcing some work (22%).

Inflation remains a key challenge impacting companies. In the first half of 2022, nearly all hiring managers (91%) said their company had been impacted by the rise in inflation, with more than half (56%) reporting it had a major/moderate impact on their company.

If high inflation persists, companies say they will have to raise prices (45%), absorb additional costs (30%), adopt new technology to automate more tasks/processes (22%), reduce staff (17%) and turn down work (14%).   

The latest jobs report shows openings are numerous, which means despite layoffs in certain sectors, many companies are still desperate for workers, according to Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller.

“The employment landscape right now is an anomaly as employers struggle to find workers but also face exorbitant costs for talent,” he said. “Let’s hope as the year goes on, more candidates continue to come off the sidelines, ultimately tampering down inflation and market uncertainty.”

Survey Methodology

The Job Insights survey was conducted online within Canada by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals between Dec. 1 and Dec. 15, 2022, among 506 Canadian hiring decision-makers (defined as adults ages 18+ in Canada who are employed full-time or self-employed, work at companies with more than one employee, and have full/significant involvement in hiring decisions at their company). Data were weighted where necessary by company size to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within + 4.6 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. 

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About Express Employment Professionals
At Express Employment Professionals, we’re in the business of people. From job seekers to client companies, Express helps people thrive and businesses grow. Our international network of franchises offers localized staffing solutions to the communities they serve across the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, employing 579,000 people globally in 2022 and more than 10 million since its inception. For more information, visit ExpressPros.com/CA.

The London, ON Express office is located at 300 Dundas St and serves the greater London region. Local businesses and applicants are encouraged to visit www.expresspros.com/london or call (519) 672-7620.

About Bill Stoller 

William H. "Bill" Stoller is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment International. Founded in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the international staffing franchisor supports the Express Employment Professionals franchise and related brands. The Express franchise brand is an industry-leading, international staffing company with franchise locations in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.