Canadian Jobs Data August 2012

After a disappointing decline in July of 30,000 jobs, Statistics Canada reports that Canadian employment rose by 34,000 in August.  While most job gains on a year-to-date basis have been full-time, the mild bounce back in August was primarily in part-time work.

The Canadian unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.3% compared to the United States at 8.1% as the gap between Canada and United States narrows.

Furthermore, Statistics Canada is well known for its unreliable and inexplicable anomalies in their employment reports meaning that, by their standards, 30,000 one way or the other is statistically insignificant.  In other words…. “Yawn”.

In a similar report, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that Americans gained 96,000 jobs in August. Given that the US population is 10 times that of Canada, it is safe to classify the American performance as equally blasé.  Admittedly, 100 thousand here and 100 thousand there will eventually accumulate into millions of jobs for needy families. 12.5 million American remain unemployed in the face of a long a slow recovery.  In comparison and for perspective, it is interesting to note that the entire Canadian workforce is only 18.8 million people and 1.37 million remain unemployed.

For the temporary staffing services industry, August is typically the beginning of the busiest season of the year with hours reaching a crescendo somewhere in late November.  The Association of Canadian Search Employment and Staffing Services (ASCESS) produces Canada’s most reliable employment data in their monthly Canadian Staffing Index which collects and reports over 10 million real hours worked in Canadian staffing firms.  ACSESS reports a 29% increase in year over year hours through to the end of July.  It is thought that the Staffing index is a 30 to 90 day leading indicator of other employment and economic measures.  An increase in temporary help hours typically means that assignments are growing in duration and frequency which eventually translates into more regular employment.  Conversely, a decrease in the staffing index (after seasonal and holiday adjustments) is an ominous foreboding of a turn for the worse.  

In StatCan’s typical unreliable form, they report that the construction sector had the largest one month decline in jobs of 44,000 representing a 3.4% crash.  I don’t need to rely upon my economics degree to suspect that real decline was because construction companies were too busy to answer the silly survey questions.   

Transportation and Warehousing posted the largest employment gains per sector and business, building and other support services posted the second largest monthly gains.  Transportation and Logistics expert Scott Cull from FLS Transport says that "business is hopping with the busiest lanes running from US manufacturers into Canadian markets and new markets emerging due to the droughts which are driving significant changes in where produce comes from and goes to".  

Provincial Summary

In light of the insignificant monthly change, the following is a year over year comparison from August 2011 to August 2012.

	- Aug 2011 to Aug 2012 -
	Jobs Created/Lost	% change
Newfoundland and Labrador
Jobs Created	6,900.0	3.1
Full-time	10,000.0	5.4
Part-time	(3,100.0)	-8.4
Prince Edward Island
Jobs Created	0.0	0
Full-time	(200.0)	-0.3
Part-time	300.0	2.5
UnJobs Created	300.0	3.2
Nova Scotia
Jobs Created	1,300.0	0.3
Full-time	(4,500.0)	-1.2
Part-time	5,700.0	6.6
Jobs Created rate		...
New Brunswick
Jobs Created	800.0	0.2
Full-time	1,400.0	0.5
Part-time	(500.0)	-0.9
Quebec
Jobs Created	24,500.0	0.6
Full-time	6,500.0	0.2
Part-time	18,000.0	2.4
Ontario
Jobs Created	24,300.0	0.4
Full-time	11,400.0	0.2
Part-time	12,700.0	1
Manitoba
Jobs Created	5,300.0	0.9
Full-time	8,500.0	1.7
Part-time	(3,200.0)	-2.6
Saskatchewan
Jobs Created	18,600.0	3.6
Full-time	12,200.0	2.8
Part-time	6,400.0	7.4
Alberta
Jobs Created	43,300.0	2.1
Full-time	56,400.0	3.2
Part-time	(13,200.0)	-3.6
British Columbia
Jobs Created	51,700.0	2.3
Full-time	70,300.0	4
Part-time	(18,600.0)	-3.5

Hint:  When they say “Social Media Recruitment gets access to the passive candidate”, it does not mean that a recruiter or candidate can passively wait for something to happen.  Social networking requires active participation, engagement and communication.  The phone still works.  If you want to develop a relationship of trust and confidence with a recruiter or candidate, you might try talking.

Steve Jones
Staffing Leadership

Jobs Creation Crash - July 2012

Canadian Jobs Data July 2012

Statistics Canada reports that the Canadian economy lost 30,000 jobs during the month of July 2012. The unemployment rate rose to 7.3% compared to 7.2% in the month of June.

Slightly worse than the typical hiring patterns, there has been a small decrease in jobs during 3 out of 4 July's since 2008. Job seekers and recruiters can look forward to September and October which tend to be peak hiring months.

Significantly influenced by the American economy, the U.S. Bureau of  Labor Statistics reported last week that July’s nonfarm employment rose by 163,000. While the absolute number of new American jobs seems high compared to Canadian job creation, it is really a lack luster economic performance given the US total population is roughly 10 times that of Canada. Much to the chagrin of Democrats and President Obama, the US unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.3 percent and unemployed in United States (12.8 million) has shown little improvement in 2012. Jobs and the economy are the number one election issue for the upcoming mid-term contest.

In the most recent Statistics Canada Employment & Unemployment report, Canadian average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees are $894.61, up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis.

While, average hours worked per week can contribute to increases in earnings. Non-farm payroll employees worked an average of 32.9 hours per week, unchanged from 12 months earlier.

So far this year, construction, education and retail workers have experienced the greatest wage gains while health care and social assistance workers experienced wage declines. This might be explained by hourly wage changes but also by offsetting increases and reductions in hours worked per week in these employment sectors.


Canadian Jobs in Thousands



Provincial Summary

Quebec Employment fell by 29,000 in July, all in part-time work which is not surprising given that every part-time summer worker appeared to be protesting and partying in the streets of Montreal.  Quebec's unemployment rate for the month was 7.6%.


British Columbia jobs fell by 15,000 in July, reflected by an unemployment rate up 0.4 percentage points to 7.0%.

Manitoba employment declined by 3,300 and the unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percentage points to 5.7%, unchanged from a year ago.

Newfoundland and Labrador was down 3,200 in July, with job levels similar to  July 2011.

Ontario unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 7.9%, as more people entered the workforce. Employment gains in Ontario were a meager 47,000 (+0.7%) on a year over year basis.

Alberta has the lowest unemployment rate (4.6%) despite flat employment growth in June and July.  Albert's employment increased by 2.2% since July 2011, the highest growth rate of all provinces.

Hint:  The best agency recruiters will catch the wave of hiring in September and October because they grind out key performance activities during the month of August.  Don't delay your candidate interviews, resume presentations, recruitment calls, sales calls, sendouts and planning  - just because its summer. 

Steve Jones
Staffing Leadership

Get that Job! - 3 Interview Tips (for everyone)

Confidence, preparation and presentation are all keys to winning the big prize. Here are a few insider tips about what employers really want from an interview.

Tip #1 - Context - Be a Story Teller

Most people asking the questions are very knowledgeable of their company and the job but they are not always experienced with conducting professional interviews. You may be asked questions that only prompt a YES or NO response. Be prepared to help the interviewer by telling stories that support your short answers. It's the context of your stories that will stick in the interviewers mind and give you the advantage over other candidates. Every story should have three parts 1) Context – Tell a story that is relevant to the interviewer’s question and the job that you are applying for; 2) Action – Describe what actions you took; 3) Result – Describe the impact or result of your actions.

Tip #2 - Ask the Right Questions
Employers can tell a lot about you from the questions you ask. For example, if you only ask questions about the company benefit plan then the employer may assume that it's the benefits rather than the job that really interests you. Ask questions about what the employer wants to accomplish or improve. Ask about the boss's priorities, goals and objectives. By asking questions about results then the interviewer will assume you are a results oriented person. Results - That's what they really want!

Tip #3 - Dress (better than) the Part

You will only have one chance to create a first impression. The first minute will subconsciously influence whether the interviewer will ask questions that funnel you into the job or filter you out. Arrive at your interview dressed to immediately influence the interviewer to believe that you are the one. Whatever the dress code is for the job, go to the interview dressed a little better than that.

The Close - An interview is a sales call where you are selling yourself. All great sales people know that you must ask for the order to close the deal. Don't leave without asking your closing questions. "Will you offer this job to me?"; "Is there a date that you would like me to start?"; "What can I do that will help make this decision easy for you?"; "Can we schedule the appointment for the next stage in the process?" If you don't ask - you don't get.
___________________________________________________________

Steve Jones (CPC) has 29 years of staffing industry experience and delivers CPC courses for the staffing industry Ethics and Business Practices certification module and Staffing Industry Legal Practices certification module.

Connect with Steve Jones on Linkedin: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stevejonesdg
Follow Steve Jones on twitter: https://twitter.com/Jones4staffing 

Will Facebook Jobs Hurt Linkedin?

A recent Forbes article suggests that a new facebook job posting feature is expected in the autumn of 2102 that could "kill Linkedin's momentum.".  The new facebook feature will act as a job snatcher or aggregator which scours the web for job postings and then bundles them all into one searchable and convenient location.    Hundreds (or thousands) of  job posting aggregator websites already exist, but none have the power and ability of facebook to match job specs against 900 million monthly user profiles.

900 Million Monthly Users

In the beginning, job boards such as http://www.monster.ca/ , http://www.workopolis.com/, http://www.working.com/ and http://www.careerbuilder.ca/ will have little to worry about.  Facebook will simply steal their content and re-post jobs within the facebook feature so that the job applicants are redirected back to the respective original "revenue generating" career site. This will increase the original job board's traffic and will help keep them relevant.

Expect the new facebook jobs feature to also snatch postings from facebook company pages within its own platform.   Companies that use custom job posting apps on their facebook pages can expect their traffic to increase as job seekers are directed from a convenient one-stop-job-shop without them having to find and visit each employer's individual company page to do redundant searches. 

App providers such as jobmagic, jobvite, or jobs4labs should also get a little boost in business as more employers turn to facebook to post their job openings. You might have to pay to build your facebook App but  there is currently no limit to the number of postings allowed on a company page and there is no cost on a per posting basis. 

150 Million Users

But will this have any impact on Linkedin?  Doubt it!  Postings jobs in a job board format is the antithesis of Linkedin.   Linkedin users seem bound and determined to network with everyone in the globe.  NOT applying for jobs through job boards is why they are on Linkedin.  The real question is whether the traditional job boards will be hurt in the long run?  The traditional career sites will have a new powerhouse competitor forcing traditional job boards to continue adding features, building social media partnerships, reinventing their service offerings, differentiating themselves and staying relevant.   The big boards are already having a difficult time justifying their cost per posting model.  The new facebook feature is sure to make their sales pitch a little more difficult.

Steve Jones
Been there - Done that ....on job boards and social media space.

Myth Buster: Temps & Contractors are Second Rate

The following story about temps and contractors was posted in the UK. It quotes statistics for the US and is perfectly relevant for Canada.  Posted by "scarter" in Careers, Morgan McKinley,
Financial Recruitment Insight from the Professionals on temps and contractors
_________________________________________________________________________________

There is absolutely no truth to the theory that ‘temps & contractors are people who can’t get permanent jobs’.

Here’s the stats…

US Staffing Association research found that:

• 88% of all candidates felt that contract work made them ‘more employable’

• 23 % of candidates had NO interest in traditional permanent employment

• 65% of contractors said they improved their skills through the variety of assignments

• 40% deliberately chose temp/contract as a way to obtain

In fact the vast majority of temps & contractors do it by choice. In addition to having more flexibility around working patterns and earning more, here are the top ten reasons to opt for temping or contracting:

• To refresh their enthusiasm

• To challenge & stretch themselves

• To work with leading edge technology

• To work with and learn from respected professionals

• To develop new skills and consolidate existing ones

• To utilise specialist knowledge in an environment where it is valued

• To avoid ‘office politics’

• To extend their professional network

• To showcase themselves to potential permanent employers

• To ‘try before they buy’ and so benchmark potential future permanent employers

There are over 1.2 million* contractors and temporary workers on assignment in the UK everyday not by force but by choice!

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Profiling of a Perfect Sales Professional

A perfect stereotypical profile of a sales professional does not exist.  Hiring by a stereo-type will lead to low productivity and expensive high turn-over. A perfect profile exists only when the predominant or predictable themes in a person's personality match (or fit) the profile of the job, product, clients and culture.

In this Harvard Business Review article, Philip Delves Broughton author of The Art of the Sale, reveals how a variety of different profiles can lead to a successful sales career depending upon the "dynamics between personality, self-perception, and role".  Broughton acknowledges that there are "underlying traits in every good salesperson — notably optimism and tenacity — which lead to resilience in the face of the adversity".  But beyond that, what enables a salesperson to succeed is that they've found a match between who they are and what they are being required to do.  Sales success comes "when sales feels normal and natural."

Philip Delves Broughton also authored the New York Times Best Seller, Ahead of the Curve.  In this June 27th, 2012 HBR article, he describes a variety different personalities and why they can be successful in sales.  He writes;

"Some people are wooers, compelled to win over everyone they meet in an instant. They do well in jobs where they must close a lot of transactions every day and where long-term trust is not important. Others prefer to build networks of deep relationships over time. They might prefer selling products or services with long sales cycles and repeated interactions with the same customer. Some salespeople will be coin-operated, motivated entirely by commission and competition with their peers. Others put a higher value on the friendships they develop in sales and the opportunity to work in a field they enjoy, selling products and services they believe in. Some love selling for the pure thrill of it. Others sell as the means to getting what they really want, whether it is popularity, financial security or creative freedom."

Hiring by intuition or resume history can be a disaster waiting to happen.  Behavioural or personality profiles are valuable tools in the hiring process.   But Broughton (and I) believe that personality profiling is only valuable when there is a job and company profile to match.

There are dozens of popular tools used by Canadian employers.  Some popular personality, behaviour and psychometric instruments include:  DISC, McQuaig Systems, Thomas International, Pro.file Performance Systems, EIQ, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator^® (MBTI^®), Firo B, IPAT (the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing, Inc.) 16PF, Thomas Kilman Conflict Mode, Innovation Potential Indicator, Benchmarks and Skillscope (just to name a few).

Which tools do you use in hiring sales professionals?  Why?  Tells us about your experience?

Steve Jones
Sales, Leadership, Management & Business Consultant
linkedin: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/stevejonesdg  

twitter: https://twitter.com/Jones4staffing  
blog: http://stevejones-staffingleadership.blogspot.ca






 

Overtime - Truths & Myths

April 25th, 2012
Ontario labour lawyer David E. Greenwood of the law firm Blaney McMurtry LLP recently published the following article online on http://www.lexology.com/ . This is a great website to monitor interesting changes in law, including reminders and summaries of law; and recent cases that help form the law.

Our responsibilities and conduct as employers are constantly changing and improving. Our rights as employees are sometimes difficult to understand. Lexology.com is a great source for employers and employees to stay informed. The website allows you to set up an account and create alerts for new articles in your areas of interest. Check it out While on the topic of over-time.

Here is a friendly reminder for the thousands of valued employees on assignments through The People Bank, Aimco Industrial Staffing and Allen Professional Search.

a) Unless expressly requested to do so, always get specific approval from your assignment supervisor before you work in excess of 44 hour in a week.

b) NEVER work more than 60 hours in a week unless you have signed the excess hours agreement with your staffing consultant back at our office and you have been given permission to work excess hours.

c) Employees of The People Bank, Aimco Staffing and Allen Professional search are entitled to a rate of pay equal to time and one half for hours worked in excess of 44 per week.
_______________________
April 16 2012 David E. Greenwood, Blaney McMurtry LLP Dispelling some popular myths about overtime.

There is a popular belief that salaried employees are not entitled to overtime. This mistaken belief can prove costly for employers. Pursuant to the Employment Standards Act, 2000, all employees, except those that fall within specified exemptions, are entitled to overtime. The Act makes no distinction between salaried employees or hourly employees.

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of claims made against employers for unpaid overtime. The most notable examples are the class action lawsuits that have been commenced against large employers, including the banks. But this is not an issue facing only large employers. Many small companies rely upon employees who work more than the applicable threshold for overtime.

The failure to pay these employees at the overtime rate, or to allow them to bank their overtime at the overtime rate, may cause an unexpected liability. If the employer has a number of employees who work overtime, overtime liabilities can significantly affect profit and expense projections if not in the employer’s budget. Moreover, it does not matter that the employer has not approved the overtime worked. The focus is whether or not the overtime was actually worked. A properly drafted overtime policy can assist an employer in dealing with managing overtime, but it will not provide perfect protection from liability for overtime if worked.

Rather, employers must be diligent in ensuring that employees do not exceed the overtime thresholds. If employees do work overtime, the employer must be sure to maintain accurate records of the overtime worked and make provisions for it to be paid to the employee or credited to the employee’s overtime “bank”. This will help employers avoid unexpected overtime claims and liabilities in the future.

Here are some other popular overtime myths:

Myth: If employees do not use banked overtime hours those hours will be lost. Truth: An employer cannot cause an employee to forfeit banked overtime.

Myth: Supervisory or management level employees are not entitled to overtime. Truth: Supervisory or management level employees may be entitled to overtime for work that is not directly related to supervisory or managerial duties and if that work is not performed on an irregular or exceptional basis.

Myth: Overtime is paid after 44 hours of work.
Truth: there are different overtime thresholds for different industries or job categories. Most of the exceptions and thresholds are set out in O Reg 285/01 Exemptions, Special Rules and Establishment of Minimum Wage.

Our clients will be pleased to note that there are no limits on the overtime that can be worked by lawyers!
____________

You can connect with Steve Jones, President The People Bank on Linkedin at http://www.linkedin.com/in/stevejonesdg or follow Steve on Twitter http://twitter.com/stevepeoplebank

Tags: employment standards, ESA, excess hours, Hours of work, Ministry of Labour, MOL, Ontario, overtime, staffing, HR; management tips

Job Search using LinkedIn

Is your LinkedIn profile resume ready?
Social media sites like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter have become main stream for job seekers and recruiters. So much so, it raises the question of “what might happen to traditional job boards?”. We’ll address that controversial topic in a future discussion but for the time being, just accept the fact that you are at a serious disadvantage if your job search (active or passive) does not include a social media strategy. This blog post focuses specifically on LinkedIn for job seekers and how to build a profile that works better than a resume.

LinkedIn offers a simple standard that bypasses the complicated Microsoft resume templates with restrictive frames and hidden formatting. LinkedIn Resume Builder offers a quick and easy tool that helps you build a resume in less than 5 minutes in a format that is likely compatible with most corporations’ applicant tracking systems.

If the content on your LinkedIn profile is good enough for public viewing then it should be good enough for a resume. What is good enough?

•Complete every section of your LinkedIn profile.

•Ensure your contact information is thorough and accurate.

•Write your complete employment history as if it were a resume boasting your accomplishments, responsibilities, skills and talents.

•Don’t be shy! Fill in the sections that describe your previous awards, education, publications, interests and skills.

•Include a photo. A head-shot photo with professional attire works. Stay away from avatars, cartoons, group photos or personal family photos. A photo will drive up your connections, interactions and responses.

•Ask colleagues for recommendations and then reciprocate by posting a recommendation on their profile too.

•Join groups. The groups you join portray your interests, skills and demonstrate a commitment to your professional and personal development.

•Insert site addresses of your blogs, twitter account or website. LinkedIn profiles are indexed and searched by Google and other search engines. Think SEO and use key words that are unique to your skills, expertise, employment, education and interests.

Most employers use the free version of LinkedIn.com as a bare minimum and many use the Corporate Recruiter version that permits direct importing of profiles into their tracking systems and allows them to categorize, sort, list and save your profile for current or future jobs or networking.

The LinkedIn Resume Builder feature is free to all LinkedIn users. It helps you create a professional CV directly from your LinkedIn profile. There are eleven great formats to choose from. Resumes can be exported and printed in PDF format. Also, each resume gets a custom link so you can share your resume directly from Linkedin with others via email, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

You can test drive this free Linkedin feature at http://resume.linkedinlabs.com

Whether you are using Linkedin to network, develop business, learn or as a job search tool, rest assured more opportunities will come your way if you present yourself in a thorough, positive and professional manner on LinkedIn There are well over 100 million Linkedin users and over 54,000 have already tried Linkedin Resume Builder.

Also, LinkedIn becomes a far ,more effective tool as you develop a larger network of connections. Stay tuned to The People Bank Blog for a future post on the benefits of and how to develop your LinkedIn professional network.

Steve Jones is President of The People Bank, Allen Professional Search, Aimco Staffing Solutions, GoTemp, Medical Recruitment Network and La Banque de Personnel which are all registered brands and divisions of Design Group Staffing Inc.

Wiki - “Curriculum vitae is a Latin expression which can be loosely translated as [the] course of [my] life.”

Interview To Win The Job

Confidence, Preparation and Presentation are all key to winning the big prize. Here are a few insider tips about what employers really want from an interview.

Tip #1 – Context – Be a Story Teller Most people asking the questions are very knowledgeable of their company and the job but they are not always as experienced with conducting interviews. You may be asked questions that only prompt a YES or NO response but be prepared to help the interviewer and tell stories that support your short answers. It’s the context of your stories that will stick in the interviewers mind and give you the advantage over other candidates.

Tip #2 – Ask the Right Questions Employers can tell a lot about you from the questions you ask. For example, if you only ask questions about the company benefit plan then the employer may assume that it’s the benefits rather than the job that really interests you. Ask questions about what the the employer wants to accomplish or improve. Ask about the boss’s priorities, goals and objectives. By asking questions about results then the interviewer will assume you are a results oriented person. Results – That’s what they really want!

Tip #3 – Dress (better than) the Part You only have one chance to create a first impression. The first minute will subconsciously influence whether the interviewer will ask questions that funnel you into the job or filter you out. Arrive at your interview dressed in a way that makes the interviewer immediately assume that you are the one. Whatever the dress code is for the job, go to the interview dressed better than that.

The Close – An interview is a sales call where you are selling yourself. All good sales people know that you must ask for the order to close the deal. Don’t leave without asking your closing questions. “Will you offer this job to me?”; “Is there a date that you would like me to start?”; “What can I do that help make this decision easy for you?”; “Can we schedule the appointment for the next stage in the process?” If you don’t ask – you don’t get.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
The People Bank, is a division of Design Group Staffing Inc., employs more recruiters with the Certified Personnel Consultant, CPC professional designation than any other firm in Canada. Steve Jones, President of The People Bank is a CPC course conductor for the staffing industry Ethics and Business Practices certification module and Staffing Industry Legal Practices certification module.

Canadian Jobs Down - US Unemployment Rate Lowest in 3 Years

The November jobs reports from Canada and United States offer conflicting information. Statistics Canada reported today that Canadian total jobs declined by 19,000 on a month to month basis with significant declines in part-time work and retail work while full-time and services sector employment improved. On a year over year basis, the Canadian government agency also reported that in spite of the monthly decline, 274,000 more Canadians are working in full-time jobs than the same time last year.


While Canada is reporting a slight job loss, the US Department of Labor reported this morning that 120,000 new American jobs were created in the month of November and the US unemployment rate dropped slightly. Its hard to imagine that Canadian retail jobs actually decreased in this busy Christmas shopping season. US reported a more realistic increase in retail and leisure.

In a interesting twist, US Labor Department also adjusted (up) it’s numbers previously reported for September and October to reflect more accurate job creation numbers in the range of 100,000 per month.

Stay tuned for my New Years eve prediction for the upcoming year.

Steve Jones

The People Bank