BROCKVILLE – Brockville businesses are going to be stable yet “reserved” about their staffing to start 2021, according to the latest hiring survey.
Manpower’s Employment Outlook Survey for the first three months of 2021 shows a net outlook of +5 per cent – a 4 per cent drop from the previous three months (Oct-Dec 2020) and a 6 per cent drop from the same period this year (Jan-March 2020).
In an interview with Brockville Newswatch, Brockville office spokesman Anne-Marie Lanthier says the city has weathered the pandemic well.
“Brockville’s stable because, during the pandemic, there was not a big flux in lost jobs. Employment was steady because of the nature of the companies which are (producing) necessities…pharmaceuticals, production of PPE, so we saw a big increase (in hiring). And now that they pulled up their employees, they’re stable right now,” Lanthier told Brockville Newswatch.
Of the Brockville employers asked, 8 per cent plan to hire, 8 per cent are planning to cut back, 79 per cent are keeping things the same and 5 per cent are unsure.
The results are slightly more “reserved” than the national average, where 12 per cent plan to hire, 9 per cent plan cutbacks, 74 are going with the status quo and 5 per cent are unsure, based on a Canada-wide survey of 1,200 employers.
As for other strong growth areas in Eastern Ontario, Lanthier says “Kingston will be booming a bit” after “getting hit pretty hard” during the pandemic due to lost government and automotive sector jobs.
The biggest job growth across Canada will be in the Toronto area and Quebec City.