2 0 1 6 Collecting Hamilton’s real-time local labour market informationLooking for the most up-to-date information on Hamilton’s labour market? The EmployerOne survey provides a snapshot of labour demand in Hamilton. It includes the latest information, based on employer experiences through 2015 on:

RECRUITMENT | SKILLS AND EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK | KEY FINDINGS

We had a DIVERSE REPRESENTATION of EMPLOYERS from virtually all sectors and sizes.

WHO COMPLETED THE SURVEY? A total of 144 employers in the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) region completed the survey. The region includes municipalities from Hamilton, Burlington, and Grimsby. Through a targeted and systematic approach, the responses represent virtually every sector and employer size in the local economy.

www.workforceplanninghamilton.ca

3%Wholesale

Trade

0%Public

Administration

3%Arts, Entertainment

and Recreation

5%Educational

Services

6%Accommodation

and Food Services

9%Health Care

and Social Assistance

4%Real Estate and

Rental and Leasing

1%Finance

and Insurance

1%Transportation

and Warehousing

3%Information and

Cultural Industries

1%Agriculture,

Forestry, Fishing and Hunting

1%Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas

Extraction

0%Management of Companies and

Enterprises

9%Other Services (except Public Administration)

13%Professional, Scientific and

Technical Services

6%Administrative and

Support, Waste Management and

Remediation Services

1%Utilities

10%Construction

15%Manufacturing

8%Retail Trade

INDUSTRY BREAKDOWN (% OF RESPONDENTS)

100%TOTAL

Of the 144 employers who completed the survey, the vast majority indicated that they have mostly full-time staff on board. Most industries have a high share of full-time workers; however these sectors have higher shares of part-time/contract workers: Accommodation and Food Services (79%); Educational Services (54%); Healthcare and Social Assistance (31); Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services (30%)

7%CONTRACT

TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT

15%PART-TIME

77%FULL-TIME

22% 4% 5%9%18% 15% 18% 9%

SHARE OF EMPLOYERS BY WORKFORCE SIZE 1 to 4 5 to 9 10 to 19 20 to 49 50 to 99 100 to 199 200 to 599 500+

Slightly greater than ONE in SIX employers are start-ups among the employers surveyed.

17%YES 83%NO

(started in the last five years)

IS YOUR ORGANIZATION A START-UP?

In 2013, Workforce Planning Hamilton implemented an annual survey to collect information from local employers. It was known as the Hire Learning Survey and in 2015, the survey was renamed the EmployerOne survey to align with the other Workforce Planning Boards across Ontario. Each board asks similar questions which are mostly the same year to year.

This year, the EmployerOne survey was fully completed by 144 employers and their answers help us better understand our local labour market and its specific needs such as current and future hiring needs, skill and educational requirements, recruitment difficulties, and other labour market challenges.

We would like to thank all of the employers who completed the survey as well as our partners: Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, City of Hamilton, employment service providers, and many others. Without all their contributions and support, this report would not be possible.

The survey will be released every January so that we can track emerging trends over time.

RECRUITMENT

8% 12%

33% 42%

38% 30%

21% 16%

54% of employers rate the availability of qualified workers in Hamilton as good

or excellent. Overall, the ratings have improved year over year.

HOW DO YOU RATE THE AVAILABILITY OF QUALIFIED WORKERS

IN HAMILTON?

l 2015 EmployerOnel 2016 EmployerOne

55%

16%

14%

8%7%The 2016 EmployerOne

survey revealed that 69% of employers experienced separations in 2015. ‘Separations’ refers to quits, retirements, layoffs and other forms of termination.55% of all separations were due to people quitting, followed by 16% of separations through retirement. Most separations were seen by production workers (43% of all separations were production workers).

l Otherl Dismissalsl Perm. Layoffs

l Temp. Layoffsl Retirementsl Quits

77%of the quits were by production workers, service workers and professionals.

59%of the retirements were by: trades people, production workers and professionals.

HIRING AND SEPARATIONS

SHARE OF SEPARATIONS

More people were hired in 2015 than those who left their jobs: Separations: 69%Hires: 83%

ALL EMPLOYERS experienced hiring and separations last year.

66% of all hires in 2015 were for full-time positions.

5This is the first year that social media recruitment made it to the top 5 recruitment methods.

82% of employers experienced recruitment challenges in 2015; with close to 1/3rd finding

recruitment very challenging.

Construction, Manufacturing, and Healthcare industries were more likely to say they found recruitment VERY

CHALLENGING. Retail trade, Educational Services, and Accommodation and Food Services were more likely to say

recruitment was NOT AT ALL CHALLENGING.

VERY CHALLENGING

SOMEWHAT CHALLENGING

NOT AT ALL CHALLENGING

2015 2016

31%

51%

18%

32%

58%

19%

Word of mouth/ personal contacts/referrals/informal networks

Online job boards/postings

Company’s own internet site

Social Media

Unsolicited Resumes

73%

61%44%

35%35%

TOP RECRUITMENT METHODS

As with previous years, WORD OF MOUTH continues to be the most popular recruitment

method amongst employers.

POOR

FAIR

GOOD

EXCELLENT

SKILLS AND EDUCATION

University and College students were most likely to receive workplace experiences.

WORKPLACE EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS OR JOBSEEKERS

14% 58% 28%HIGHSCHOOL

37% 40% 23%COLLEGE

38% 32% 30%UNIVERSITY

22% 33% 44%JOB SEEKER

• 78% of employers surveyed said they were able to provide or support professional development or training opportunities for their employees last year.

• Technical skills training were the most common types of training.• Employers said they supported most training by offering it

in-house.

Occupational Group High school diploma or equivalent

College Diploma or Trades Certificate

University Degree or Higher

Managers and Executives 4% 17% 79%

Professionals 2% 24% 75%

Technical 8% 73% 18%

Trades (Journeypersons) 20% 80% 0%

Apprentices 50% 46% 4%

Sales and Marketing 18% 41% 41%

Administrative and Clerical 27% 61% 12%

Production Workers 77% 17% 7%

Service Workers 52% 33% 15%Note: University Degree or Higher includes people with a University degree and/or other advanced qualifications.

l Paid Co-op or Internship l Unpaid Co-op or Internship l Mentoring

21%

55%

4%

20%

The trend to higher skills requirements continues with 76% of employers anticipating increasing skill requirements by a significant or moderate extent. In fact, about one in five expect skills to increase by a significant extent.

OVERALL, TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU EXPECT SKILLS REQUIREMENTS TO INCREASE OVER THE NEXT 5 YEARS?

l Significant Extent l Moderate Extent l No Extent l Small Extent

What is the preferred level of education required for new hires in the following occupation categories?

Work Ethic, Dedication, Dependability

42%

Communication

33%Customer Service

36%

The top one, WORK ETHIC, DEDICATION, AND

DEPENDABILITY was selected among the top three by 42%

of employers.

THE TOP THREE COMPETENCIES EMPLOYERS SEEK

ALL employers were seeking candidates with strong soft skills.

The TOP THREE competencies that were selected by employers were in the soft skills

category.

TOP 3 Reasons Employers identified for hard-to-fill positions • Not enough applicants• Lack of qualifications (education level/credentials) • Candidates lacked work experience

The top three competencies for hard-to-fill positions showed a slightly different picture. Soft skills are still two out of the top three such as work

ethic, but technical skills has become the top competency needed. This means for hard-to-fill positions candidates need good technical and soft skills.

TOP THREE COMPETENCIES EMPLOYERS SEEK IN HARD-TO-FILL POSITIONS

33%44% 49%

TechnicalWork ethic, dedication, dependability Teamwork/interpersonal

The manufacturing and construction sectors were more likely to report they had hard-to-fill positions.

HARD TO FILL POSITIONS51% of employers indicated that they had one or more hard-to-fill

positions. This is lower than last year when 63% said they had a position that was hard-to-fill.

Were any positions hard to fill?

37% 63%2015 EmployerOne

51% 49%2016 EmployerOne

l No l Yes

EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK

50%

SLOWER GROWTH IN THE UPCOMING YEAR

The majority of employers stated that their organization size is staying about the same. This is slightly higher than last year, and we are not

seeing an increase in the number of employers stating they are growing.

45%

5%

Staying about the same

Growing

Declining

Overall, thinking about just your organization, are the number of employees currently growing, declining or staying about the same?

In the 2015 survey 87% of employers indicated that they planned to hire one or more people in 2016. Survey responses in 2016 showed that 83% of employers had

hired in the past year.

OCCUPATIONS CITED AS MOST IN DEMAND

BY THE 144 EMPLOYERS

INTERPRETING THE RESULTS OF THE EMPLOYERONE SURVEY The results of the 2016 EmployerOne survey can be used to enrich our knowledge of Hamilton’s current labour market conditions. As with any

information, one should always interpret results with caution and use a variety of sources to add validity to the information. For more information about Hamilton’s labour market and to obtain this report in a larger print format, please visit www.workforceplanninghamilton.ca

5THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE LABOUR MARKET IN 2015

College Diplomas or Trades Certificates are

the most desirable educational background for the majority of jobs with the exception of

Managerial, Executive, and Professional positions.

5Year after year, employers place a strong emphasis for candidates to have

strong soft skills (ie: communications skills, work ethic,

professionalism) and the need for increased skills.

4Social Media is

gaining popularity as a recruitment method with 35% of employers

using it.

3Small businesses are more likely to recruit through unsolicited

resumes and word of mouth as opposed to online

mediums.

2Fewer employers

stated that they are hiring this year. This

can be an indication of an economy that is

slowing down.

1

Industrial, Electrical and Construction Trades

SUCCESSION PLANNING35% of employers have a succession plan in place to deal with

projected growth and/or retirements over the next 3-5 years. The larger the employer the more likely they are to have a succession plan.

PLANNED HIRES

74% 26%less than 20 employees

55% 45%20 to 99 employees

52% 48%100 and over employees

l Nol Yes

All employers with a succession plan in place plan to hire 1-5 employees in the next 3-5 years.

DO YOU PLAN ON HIRING ANYONE OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS?

13% 87%2015 EmployerOne

31% 69%2016 EmployerOne

l No l Yes

• In 2016, 69% of employers plan on hiring in the upcoming year

• The industries most likely to hire were Manufacturing; Construction; Accommodation and Food Services; Administration and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services; and Professional, Scientific and Technical Services

• Hires were mostly because of expansions within the company.

53%of projected hires are for full-time positions

42%are for part-time positions

Planned hires are down from last year

87% (2015) 69% (2016)

Labourers in Processing, Manufacturing and

Utilities

Professional Occupations in

Education Services

Service Support and Other Service

Occupations

Service Representatives and Other Customer and Personal Service

Occupations