Canadian CEOs more likely to eye older workers as potential recruits
By Contributor
Canadian CEOs differ from their global counterparts on their focus on tapping into the supply of older workers approaching retirement age.
In fact, a new PwC report found 60 per cent of Canadian CEOs plan to increasingly recruit and retain older employees, compared to just 42 per cent globally.
This focus on older workers is in part explained by the challenges with hiring and keeping people under 30. The majority of Canadian CEOs (75 per cent) expect challenges in recruiting and integrating younger workers into their business, compared to just 54 per cent of their global counterparts.
Despite this, less than 40 per cent are planning to change their people strategies to incentivize younger workers differently from others.
“In terms of attracting and holding onto the new generation of workers, companies haven’t quite figured it out yet. As a result, they are focusing on the talent they know best — older workers,” said Ellen Corkery-Dooher, National People and Change Leader, PwC. “At the same time, there is a growing thirst among older workers to either stay on or opt for a career change rather than retiring.”
Overall, more than 60 per cent of Canadian CEOs are expecting to add jobs over the next year, outpacing the global average of 51 per cent.
Moreover, 85 per cent of Canadian respondents said they intend to make some or major changes to their strategies for managing talent.
However, in Canada there also appears to be less emphasis on growing a contingent workforce, including seasonal, casual and project-based workers. Only 20 per cent of Canadian CEOs said they were planning to grow their contingent workforce faster than their full-time workforce, compared to 32 per cent of CEOs globally.
“With confidence in revenue growth starting to return, this could mean more Canadian companies hiring more full-time staff, rather than supplementing their workforce with casual, contingent employees,” said Corkery-Dooher.
The report found Canadian CEOs expect to face a number of talent issues in the near term. Over the next three years, 83 per cent expect the limited supply of skilled candidates to be a key challenge, compared to 66 per cent globally. A majority (65 per cent) of Canadian CEOs are worried that competition will lure away their top talent. Another 58 per cent expect to face challenges with technically-skilled talent who lack flexibility and creativity in the next three years.
“Younger employees play a big part in infusing creativity and ingenuity into an organization,” said Corkery-Dooher. “CEOs will need to tailor recruitment, rewards and performance programs so that they are not only aligned with the business strategy, but also to the differing characteristics of their workforce.”
The survey found Canadian CEOs are more committed than their global counterparts to help develop a skilled talent pool. In fact, 88 per cent of Canadian CEOs plan to increase their commitment to create and foster a skilled workforce over the next three years. This includes working with government and education systems to improve skills in the talent pool.
Interestingly, the report also found Canadian CEOs are placing a high priority on risk management expertise. For example, 87 per cent said they were allocating more senior management attention to risk management, while 61 per cent were formally designating executive responsibility for risk management.
- For more information or to download the full report, visit: www.pwc.com/ca/confidence-rising.
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