Research released today shows that experience and education – once crucial for many positions – are becoming less important amid labor shortages.
The findings are based on an online survey of 1,000 employers across Canada conducted in May by Censuswide on behalf of Indeed, a job posting site for job postings.
The survey found that 77 percent of Canadian employers value hiring a candidate based on their “soft” interpersonal skills and attitudes toward learning rather than work-related knowledge and “hard” skills.
He also found that four out of five employers say their company will consider hiring applicants who do not have a degree or certification related to the job and will instead offer on-the-job training to new employees.
The poll shows that employers are also willing to sacrifice the need for relevant experience in light of the challenges of finding candidates.
“We are honestly facing one of the tightest job markets we have ever had,” said Michelle Slater, CEO of Indeed.  “There is a clear shortage of manpower.”
Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 5.1 percent in May, the Statistics Canada said earlier this month.
It’s the lowest rate since at least 1976, which is as far back as comparable data.
Labor market tightening is driven by a strong pandemic recovery and changing demographic situation.
“The aging population and the rapidly growing economy mean that the number of skilled workers available is quite low,” Slater said.  “Employers need to be much more creative.”
A survey of Canadian employers was conducted to find out what employers do differently to fill some of the job gaps, he said.
The poll showed that employers are increasingly willing to hire based on skills such as communication, adaptability and attention to detail – instead of so-called tough skills such as technical knowledge or training.
“Canadian employers are more interested in what the individual can contribute to the team in terms of their behaviors in relation to the skills they have and bring to their role,” Slater said.
The findings are positive not only for young people who have not finished school or are starting their first job, but also for older workers who are changing careers, he said.
“It means that people who may not have these tough skills on their resume could still have the opportunity to get the job of their dreams.”
While labor shortages affect all industries, the survey found the most difficult jobs to find candidates for the required digital and IT skills, project management, engineering, software development and coding skills.
The Canadian polling industry professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys can not be given a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.