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The media is selling the narrative that a “Great Resignation” is taking place. However, many job seekers are having difficulty getting hired.
Here are a few reasons why
COVID caused significant economic damage.
Yes, pandemic restrictions are being lifted, and, for better or worse, we’re moving back to our 1st world lifestyle. However, the pandemic isn’t officially over, and nobody knows when it will be. Small businesses, those that survived, have been severely damaged by COVID, leaving many in a precarious position. According to the latest Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) Small Business Recovery Dashboard, only 40% of businesses have returned to normal sales.
Many employers are struggling and therefore can’t afford to backfill vacancies. Instead, they’re increasing the workload of their existing employees and/or cutting back business hours.
Layoffs are happening.
The number of layoffs since the start of the year has been alarming. Some of the layoffs that made headlines:
The hot job market is cooling down. This post-pandemic reset, caused by employers having overhired, a bear market, business growth slowing (With inflation hovering around 8%, consumers are spending less.), and higher labour costs, feels like a reckoning.
The “Great Resignation” is morphing into the “Great Termination.”
There’s talk of a looming recession.
“We will get a major recession.” – Deutsche Bank Economists, in a report to clients on April 26.
Employers, who, for the most part, are risk-averse, become nervous just hearing of a possible recession. Fear causes employers to slow, if not freeze, their hiring.
There is intense competition for desirable jobs.
It’s raining resumes, especially for desirable jobs at desirable employers.
The jobs people quit, they quit for a reason—poor working conditions, low pay, and bad management. These are the jobs that are going unfilled. My neighbourhood bar & grill has yet to open despite the lifting of pandemic restrictions months ago because they can’t find staff.
Finding a job isn’t difficult if you view work as a means to an end—you’re just looking for a paycheque. However, most job seekers are searching for jobs that offer fair compensation (extremely subjective), comprehensive benefits, the flexibility to work where and when they want to, and a manager who’ll take an interest in cultivating, developing, and growing their skillset. Finding a job that ticks off all your “wants” and “nice to haves” is difficult even in the best of times.
If you’re having trouble finding a job, re-evaluate which of your criteria are non-negotiable and which you can be flexible on. You may have to admit that you lack the required skills, experience, or connections (Knowing the right people opens doors.) to land your dream job at your employer of choice and need to work on acquiring them.
Employers aren’t in a rush to fill vacancies.
Despite media reports of a labour shortage, employers are being selective when hiring, perhaps even more so in the current uncertain economic climate. As I’ve mentioned in previous columns: Employers own their hiring processes. (and the results of) Just because how an employer hires doesn’t serve the job seeker’s self-interest doesn’t mean it doesn’t serve the employer’s.
Onboarding a new employee is a lengthy, costly process, fraught with risks, especially with the current unstable economy. A bad hire can quickly become a liability.
Businesses are operating with fewer employees.
You’ve seen this: A colleague leaves and the work continues to get done!
Want to gauge your value to your employer? Ask yourself this uncomfortable question: What would happen to my employer if I left tomorrow? I’ve yet to meet an employee who can answer: My employer will go out of business.
Employers have many options for running their business with fewer employees: AI, robotics, self-checkout, automation, using contractors/freelancers, and outsourcing, to name a few. Furthermore, companies are restructuring responsibilities and redistributing work instead of backfilling.
Bottom line:
There aren’t many “great jobs” out there, and the number is declining; therefore, it’s a tough job market for “great jobs.” Don’t let all the Great Resignation talk lull you into believing employers, especially those everyone wants to work for, are begging for employees. Your job search still requires your A-game, which means:
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Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers advice on searching for a job. You can send Nick your questions at artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
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Rania Llewellyn is out after nearly three years as chief executive of Laurentian Bank of Canada, her sudden departure coming less than a month after a strategic review failed to find a buyer for the chronically underperforming Montreal-based bank.
Shortly after the strategic review ended, the bank’s operations were shaken by a major IT outage that has not been fully resolved.
Llewellyn, who was recruited to Laurentian from Bank of Nova Scotia in 2020 with much fanfare, becoming the first woman to lead a major Canadian bank, has been succeeded as CEO by Éric Provost, an 11-year veteran of Laurentian who was most recently group head of personal and commercial banking. He has also joined the board of directors.
In a further shakeup, Michael Boychuk, former audit committee chair and reportedly a key player in the strategic review, has been appointed chair of the board following the resignation of director and chair Michael Mueller, who had been on the board since 2013.
“Éric is the right executive to lead the bank at this critical point in its evolution,” Boychuk said in an Oct. 2 statement, adding that Provost’s ascension was part of the bank’s formal succession planning process.
“We have experienced challenges recently and the board is confident that Éric will successfully focus the organization on our customer experience and operational effectiveness.”
Meny Grauman, a bank analyst at Scotia Capital Inc., said Llewellyn’s sudden departure Oct. 2 was a negative development for the bank.
Sources said Llewellyn was not pleased with the timing of the strategic review, which was acknowledged by the bank in July, just 18 months into her plan to transform the underperforming lender with a promise of “accelerated” growth by 2024.
One industry source familiar with the review said Llewellyn felt the initial rollout of her vision had been successful and she had not had sufficient time to make necessary changes to the bank’s culture and operations.
Llewellyn could not immediately be reached for comment.
Shares in Laurentian, which had already settled back down to around $30, where they traded before the strategic process was announced, fell further following the tech problems and word of Llewellyn’s departure. The stock was trading at $28.81 at midday on Oct. 2.
Laurentian has underperformed other Canadian banks, including those in Quebec, for years. Even before the shares tumbled in September when it was revealed that the strategic review had ended without a buyer, Laurentian’s stock had risen around 165 per cent since January of 1995 compared to an 1,800 per cent rise for shares of Royal Bank of Canada shares and a more than 2,000 per cent rise for National Bank of Canada stock. National Bank’s market capitalization of $34.4 billion in July dwarfed Laurentian’s of just $1.72 billion, which had sunk further to $1.25 billion by Oct. 2.
While there is much to do, Grauman said the immediate priority for Laurentian’s new CEO will be to address the impacts of a mainframe outage that occurred last week during regular maintenance.
A three-part action plan announced by the bank will include resolving any outstanding issues from the outage, better communicating progress with the bank’s clients, and launching a comprehensive review of the factors that led to the outage.
Laurentian has already announced that all service fees charged to clients for the month of September will be reversed, and that normal hours will be extended this week.
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TTC riders in Toronto’s downtown core now have access to 5G service.
In a Monday media release, representatives for Rogers said customers of all major Canadian wireless companies can connect to 5G to talk, text, and stream on Toronto’s subway system.
Service extends to all stations and tunnels in the downtown U (between Bloor-Yonge and Spadina, as well as Dupont Station), as well as in 13 stations between Keele and Castle Frank, plus the tunnels between St. George and Yonge stations.
The announcement comes a day earlier than anticipated, as the federal deadline given to Rogers to implement the extended service for all mobile customers was originally slated for Tuesday.
Rogers customers have had 5G connection in the aforementioned stations and tunnels since August, a decision that sparked ire in the telecommunications space, particularly from rivals Telus and Bell.
“Our dedicated team of technologists designed and introduced an immediate solution that added capacity, so Bell and Telus could join the network,” Ron McKenzie, chief technology and information officer for Rogers, said.
“For over 10 years, subway riders have been without mobile phone services and the Rogers team is pleased to step up and make 5G a reality for all riders today.”
In a statement shared with CP24, representatives for Telus said, “we are pleased to launch service for all our customers in connected TTC subway tunnels and stations. Now, TELUS customers can browse the Internet, talk and text, staying connected and safe on Toronto transit. We’ll be working hard to expand the number of stations and tunnels covered in the coming months.”
“We would like to thank Minister Champagne for his leadership in ensuring that all wireless carriers have the ability to serve their customers in Toronto’s subway system, and that Rogers can no longer delay the deployment of wireless service for all TTC riders regardless of their choice of carrier,” representatives for Bell shared in an afternoon statement.
“Bell looks forward to working collaboratively with our partners to build out the remainder of the TTC’s wireless network.”
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow responded to today’s news in a tweet.
“Happy to hear that all 3 major telecoms have unrolled service to downtown stations,” she wrote.
“The work continues to expand service to the rest of the TTC subway system. François-Philippe Champagne and I will work to make sure it happens quickly.”
CP24 and CTV News Toronto are owned by Bell Media.
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