Canadian businesses looking to hire new grads
Now that school is out for college and university students, the race is on to find a job.
Even though employment fell by 55,000 full-time jobs in March, it is up by 203,000 over last year.
But even better news is that almost half of Canadian businesses plan on hiring students or recent graduates this year, according to a new report by BMO Bank of Montreal.
And that's great news. Especially if you're like me and have a child graduating from high school this spring and seeking summer employment.
The outlook ranges from coast to coast, with brighter prospects for permanent employment in Ontario (26 per cent); followed by Alberta (23 per cent); Quebec (21 per cent); British Columbia (16 per cent); the Prairies (13 per cent); and the Atlantic provinces (11 per cent).
The sectors looking to hire students or grads as paid interns include business/financial (37 per cent); retail (25 per cent); and the construction industry (22 per cent).
Those looking to hire summer students are the service and manufacturing sectors (35 per cent) and the agricultural sector (34 per cent).
And the sector most interested in hiring a recent graduate as a permanent employee is the manufacturing industry (25 per cent); service industry (24 per cent); and business/financial sector (23 per cent).
Steve Murphy, senior vice-president, Commercial Banking, BMO Bank of Montreal, says, "We've seen more companies investing in employee training and development - in conjunction with creating long-term plans - which will help business owners ensure they have a supply of talented employees who are prepared to drive performance."
He says it's encouraging to see so many companies looking to hire students or recent graduates and adds, "These organizations recognize that this group of Canadians bring a wealth of talent and passion into the workforce."
I think these Canadian companies are definitely on the right track -- by investing in our young people today, they will help a nation prosper in the future.
By Donna Donaldson, MSN Money
Do you think Canadian companies are doing enough to hire recent graduates?
Posted by: Denise | May 4, 2021 1:06:48 AM
No. Most recent grads get told "we're looking for experience". Tell me how the new grads will get experience if they are not given a chance? We all recognize the magnitude of the problem our companies will be facing in the next 10 to 15 years regarding a trained workforce, so why not be proactive in training out young people now, especially if they took the time to better themselves, education wise VERSUS bringing in (outsiders)?
Posted by: Chris | May 4, 2021 12:24:38 PM
I do agree with the article, but the entire story is not told here. The jobs that companies are hiring recent grads/young people for are the $ 12.00 an hour jobs. Corporations and companies will continue hiring at these wages and continue to horde cash and liquid assets until our useless government figures out that all they have done with the corporate tax cuts in the past 5 years was create hordes of cash for corporations and huge insane bonuses for its directors and shareholders.
We honestly have a government in power right now that has absolutely no clue about how to run a country fiscally and economically.
Posted by: Dee Dadina | May 6, 2021 4:46:42 AM
I fully agree with the above comment. My son has graduated from Sir Fleming College 3 years ago and has applied to every employer in Ontario but the same answer he repeatedly gets is " lack of experience. After investing 4 precious years of his life graduating, resources and time spent in achieving his goal, he has settled down to work at Swiss Chalet. My question is what will motivate a kid from educating him/herself if there are no paybacks? What will be the future of our country if literacy levels keep falling?
Has our government realized this yet?
Posted by: John | May 6, 2021 11:11:36 PM
Could you please let me know how you delete your comment from your blog in the comments section? Thank you