London, ON—Two-thirds of Canadian companies (65%) prefer reskilling existing employees for open positions before bringing on new workers, according to a new survey from The Harris Poll commissioned by Express Employment Professionals. 

 

Companies are facing ongoing difficulties in finding skilled workers, with the top reasons why companies have open positions they can’t fill being lack of hard skills (43%) and lack of relevant experience (42%). At the same time, companies are struggling with high employee turnover, with 29% of companies expecting turnover to increase this year. This has made employers wary of investing in training for new hires and instead preferring to reskill their existing employees. 

 

When it comes to who should be responsible for providing and paying for training, 75% of hiring managers say it should be the employer, and 77% of job seekers agree. Yet just under half (49%) of companies surveyed are currently both providing and paying for employee training.

 

But employers are looking for some strings to be attached to such training to combat employee turnover.  Specifically, over half (58%) say if a company pays for an employee’s training and that employee leaves the job within a year of starting that training, the employee should then be required to reimburse the company for the costs of that training.

 

The critical skills gap has only just begun to severely impact the workforce, and almost every industry will continue to suffer if there isn’t a turning point soon, according to Express Employment International CEO Bill Stoller. 

 

“This isn’t an issue that will be solved overnight or by one person,” he added. “Young people need to be educated on the lucrative careers in skilled trades, and the government should provide incentives for these careers. Whether the onus of training ultimately falls on the worker or employer, action needs to be taken now on both sides to ensure the stable and balanced workforce of the future.”

 

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. 

 

The omnibus survey was conducted online within Canada by The Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals from Dec. 13-15, 2022, among 1,050 adults ages 18 and older. Data are weighted where necessary by age, gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income and propensity to be online, to bring them in 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 + 3.8 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.

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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 Express office is located at 300 Dundas Street, Suite 200, and serves the London, Middlesex, St. Thomas, Strathroy, Stratford, Woodstock, Ingersoll, Tillsonburg, and Southwestern Ontario. Local businesses and applicants are encouraged to visit expresspros.com/london/ or call (519)672-7620.

  

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.