It’s been a dynamic year for Canada’s job market. There have been gigantic fluctuations in job growth. Transformative companies have opened and closed their doors. Political and corporate leaders have undertaken efforts to change the way young people approach their careers. Through it all, Workopolis has tracked the continuous shift in how Canadians are searching for work. Canada’s leading career site has the latest information on the tumults of 2013, and some interesting trends that may give Canadians a preview of what’s coming next.
Increase in mobile traffic / job searches on Workopolis over the year
Smartphones and tablets are changing the way Canadians search for work. Over the course of 2013 Workopolis has seen a 26% increase in mobile visitors. Smartphones have made it possible for people to scan online job boards and receive email alerts wherever you are. More and more Canadians are taking advantage of the ability to look for jobs and find out about the latest opportunities in real time, even when they’re on the move.
The biggest increase in mobile job search traffic is coming from Canada’s largest cities. Not surprisingly mobile traffic from Canada’s smartphone capital, Waterloo Ontario, increased by a whopping 260%.
The fastest growing and declining job titles on Workopolis
By tracking online job posting titles Workopolis has compiled a list of the top 10 job titles that appeared more frequently in 2013, and 10 that appeared less frequently. Examining what job openings are advertised the most gives us a sense of where employment may be heading in the year ahead.
Businesses are trying to expand, and to expand you need customers. While Canada’s economy is on the upswing, consumer confidence continues to wilt. In a time when most Canadians are watching their wallets, employers are looking for skilled sales people. Frequent postings for sales representatives could be a sign that employers are getting more optimistic about the future, and are willing to invest in a solid sales force.
The need for financial representatives may also stem from an uncertain economic future. Canadians unsure of their pensions may seek professional advice as they plan for retirement. This has created opportunities for financial advisors, debt managers, and other fiscal planners.
5 fast growing job titles on Workopolis
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Financial Advisor
Representative Financial Service
Field Sales Representative
Sales Associate
Social Worker
5 fast declining job titles on Workopolis
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People Greeter
Photo Laboratory Associate
Head Cashier
Data Entry Clerk
Courier
Vanishing vocations: top five jobs that won’t exist in 10 years
If you’ve been in a taxi lately you’ll notice many drivers are accepting calls over a smartphone app instead of a dispatcher through a CB radio. In 10 years taxi dispatchers, much like travel agents, may find themselves in an obsolete profession. Based on trending technology and consumer preferences, Workopolis has developed a list of jobs that may go the way of lamplighters and elevator operators.
With the growing popularity of self-checkout services, retail cashiers may find themselves stocking shelves sometime in the near future. Other customer service positions such as video store clerks and tollbooth collectors may also evaporate.
Soon a generation of young professionals who’ve grown up with Twitter and Facebook as part of their daily lives will be entering the job market. With this glut of savvy young online communicators looking for work, social media skills will just become expected communication competencies, like reading and writing, rather than unique areas of expertise. This will end the need for social media experts.
Five jobs that won’t exist in 10 years
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Social Media Expert
Taxi Dispatcher
Toll Booth Operator
Retail Cashier
Word Processor / Typist
Top 10 cities with increased job postings
While the big story about job growth is mostly in the west, southern Ontario made a comeback with a rise in job postings in 2013. Workopolis has compiled this ranking of Canadian cities based on the year-over-year change in the number of job opportunities posted in that region.
With a 42% growth in job postings over last year, Windsor, Ontario saw the greatest increase in opportunities on Workopolis. This marks a positive sign for an economy that has struggled in recent years.
Other strong performers include the twin prairie towns of Saskatoon and Regina. Saskatchewan has routinely outperformed other regions of the country in terms of employment statistics, and is likely to continue bucking the trend. Sectors enjoying big employment gains include everything from agriculture, construction, and even scientific and technical areas.
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Windsor-ON
Saskatoon-SK
Regina-SK
Ottawa – Hull- ON
Hamilton -ON
St. Catharines – Niagara-ON
Victoria-BC
Sarnia-ON
Oshawa-ON
Edmonton – AB
New keywords appearing in resume skills sections
Job seekers are changing with the times. As the market demands new proficiencies, obsolete skills are dropping off resumes. While Microsoft Office is still used in most workplaces, employers have come to expect that incoming candidates have the same mastery of Word and Excel as they do a knife and fork.
Candidates are dropping baseline skills from their resumes, choosing instead to highlight their proficiency in areas such as mobile apps, Sharepoint, content management, and social media platforms.
The decline in candidates advertising themselves as word processors and typists correlates with the disappearance of skills related to faxes and switchboards. Open office software and online workspaces are changing the way coworkers communicate. For many young professionals typing is more of a reflex than a skill.
- File management
Applications
Anti-Virus
Artificial intelligence
Business intelligence
Content management
Social media
SharePoint
Chinese, Cantonese, Arabic
Carpentry, electrician, drivers
Keywords disappearing from the skills sections of resumes
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Switchboard
Fax machine
QuarkXPress
Lotus
Windows
Microsoft Office
Bank deposits
Word processing
Telephone
Visual Basic
Are Canadians Feeling Hopeful About Their Careers Heading into 2014?
Compared to last year, Canadians are feeling better about the job market going into 2014. This doesn’t mean they are feeling great. Of those surveyed, 50% of Canadians feel they will have a harder time finding employment in 2014, and that the job market is getting worse. When asked the same question in 2012, almost 10% more Canadians believed that the job market wouldn’t improve.
While Canadians are not ecstatic about the prospect of finding work in the new year, they are getting more optimistic. Compared to 2012 almost twice as many Canadians believe the job market will improve going into 2014.
