Happy New Year! We hope the start of 2024 has brought some waves of enthusiasm your way. 😊 Our team is excited to share with you the first issue of our TA Market & Talent Intelligence update for this year. In this issue, we have collected some key updates over the past two months, providing trends and insights into the evolving talent market. Highlights include:
- Key Indicators: Latest data shaping talent landscapes
- Market Trends: Noteworthy developments influencing recruitment strategies
- Featured Article: Gartner's HR leaders monthly update
Happy reading!
🌟 Key Indicators 🌟
Canada Job Market:
- The Employment Rate dropped by 0.2 percent points to 61.60 percent in December, with just 100 jobs added, well below estimates of 15,000.
- The Unemployment Rate in December remained at 5.8 percent. The result extended the momentum of a softening labour market in the Canadian economy, aligned with other gauges of slowing growth that pressure the BoC to expedite its monetary loosening process.
- Wage growth picked up to 5.4 percent in December compared to 4.8 percent in November. (Statistics Canada)
- Interest Rate: The Bank of Canada held its target for the overnight rate at 5 percent for a third consecutive meeting in December 2023. The central bank wants to see further and sustained easing in core inflation, and continues to focus on the balance between demand and supply in the economy, inflation expectations, wage growth, and corporate pricing behavior. (Bank of Canada)
2023 Canada Employment Rate
2023 Canada Unemployment Rate
US Job Market:
- In October, the U.S. added 150,000 nonfarm payroll jobs. Job gains were observed in the health care, government, and social assistance sectors. Manufacturing employment decreased due to strikes by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union.
- The US unemployment rate rose to 3.9 percent in October 2023, reaching its highest point since January 2022, while annual wage growth was the smallest in nearly 2.5 years. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Interest Rate: The Bank of Canada kept its overnight rate steady at 5 percent in October 2023, citing caution over past rate hikes' impact on economic activity and inflation, while closely monitoring economic signals for future decisions. (Bank of Canada)
United States Employment Rate
United States Unemployment Rate
🔥 The Market in Brief 🔥
Industry Update
- Jan 12- Citigroup will cut 20,000 jobs over the next two years, after reporting a $1.8-billion loss for the fourth quarter.
- Jan 12- Discord lays off 17% of its staff, impacting 170 people. According to an internal memo, Discord CEO Jason Citron blamed the cuts on the company growing too quickly.
- Jan 11- Google laid off over 1,000 of employeesacross multiple divisions, including voice-activated Google Assistant as part of the knowledge and information product team restructuring; and the Devices and Services PA (DSPA) team that manages Pixel, Nest, and Fitbit hardware.
- Jan 10- Amazon is eliminating hundreds of jobsacross its film and television studio and Twitch streaming platform in an effort to rein in costs. Audible, an audiobook platform owned by Amazon, is also cutting 5% of its staff.
- Jan 9- Duolingo confirmed it cut 10% of its contractor workforceat the end of 2023 as it turns to AI to streamline content production and translations previously handled by humans.
- Jan 8- Unity is undergoing yet another layoff, and this time it’s going to affect about 25% of its entire workforce, or around 1,800 employees.
- Jan 8- Frontdesk laid off its entire 200-person workforce over a 2-minute Google Meet call, after attempts to raise more capital failed. The mass layoff comes just seven months after the startup acquired rival Zencity.
- Jan 5- InVision is shutting down at the end of 2024 after a 12 year run. The design collaboration startup was once valued at nearly $2B.
- Dec 7- Canada’s financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $1.3-million penalty against CIBC for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures.
- Dec 5 -Canada's financial intelligence agency said it imposed a $7.4-million penalty against the Royal Bank of Canada for non-compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures.
- Nov 30 -Fewer employees and more money set aside for bad loans were two of the dominant themes of Canadian bank earnings this past quarter as they prepared for whatever may come next year. TD Bank announced in the quarter it was cutting about 3 percent of staff, that works out to just around 3,100 people. CIBC reported its headcount went down by 5%, or about 2,400 positions, over the year, BMO pulled back by close to 1,600 positions from the third to fourth quarters, while National Bank reported that it had reduced its numbers by 1.6 percent over the year.
Workforce Trend
- Jan 3 - Job postings on the website Indeed were down 15 percent from the year prior as of Dec. 29, 2023.
- Dec 8 - More than half of Canadian companies plan to increase hiring in the first half of 2024, according to a recent survey from Robert Half. The survey also found that almost 80 percent of firms that put projects on hold in 2023 plan to pick that work up again next year.
- Dec 10 - According to a study conducted by Angus Reid and commissioned by Nestlé Canada, 93 percent of young Canadians between the ages of 20 and 35 want to work for an organization that is agile, meaning it supports quick and flexible decision-making. An even larger number (96 percent) say the best organizations to work for are those that reward courage and allow employees to share new and bold ideas. Gen Z and Millennials are reshaping workplace norms, compelling leaders to adjust to workplace cultural shifts. While agility, courage and trust are trending high on Canadian workers’ wish lists, these expectations might not be fully realized yet, uncovering an opportunity to redefine Canadian workplaces of the future, and an unmet need to build cultures rooted in these factors.
- Dec 19 - Canada's population grew at the fastest pace since 1957, with over 430,000 people added in Q3 of 2023. The growth was driven by international migration, including 313,000 non-permanent residents.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- Dec 16 - The Canadian federal government is planning to add Black and 2SLGBTQI+ people as newly designated protected groups under the Employment Equity Act. Additional updates include replacing the term “Aboriginal Peoples” with “Indigenous Peoples” and changing the definition to include First Nations, Métis and Inuit. It also is replacing the term “members of visible minorities” with “racialized people” and is aligning the definition of “persons with disabilities” with the Accessible Canada Act.
- Dec 19 - TD Bank Group’s first racial equity audit found that the bank has taken significant steps toward promoting diversity and inclusion, but could do more on aspects like consistency and measurement. The report found TD has numerous initiatives and programs in place on diversity and inclusion and “committed leadership” across the bank. However, the bank could improve in areas like more centralized, enterprise-level communications about diversity and inclusion work, improved awareness of development opportunities for employees and more consistency in implementing policies.
- Nov 27 - Provisions of New York City’s Human Rights Law banning discrimination based on height and weight took effect on November 26, 2023.
Global
- Dec 19 - Unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean fell to 6.3 percent in 2023, at its lowest level since 2014, but an expected economic slowdown in 2024 could reverse recent post-pandemic gains.
- Dec 3 - EY cut a further 150 jobs in the UK, widening the scope of its redundancy program me as the Big Four firms grapple with waning demand for some of their services.
📜 Featured Articles & Reports 📜
Gartner - HR Leaders Monthly
In the latest issue of HR Leaders Monthly, Gartner focused on generative AI in the workplace, highlighting what HR leaders need to know about this technology and the critical decisions they must make as their organizations adopt it. It included analysts on:
- What HR leaders need to know about generative AI
- How they will likely apply it within their functions
- What it will mean for the workforce in terms of role design, skill requirements and employee experience
Gartner: AI Use-Case Prism for Human Capital Management
Gartner: Prioritized GenAI HR Use Cases
“It is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.” – Queen Elizabeth II