Some 85% of SME managers in Quebec say that the lack of labor is a major obstacle to their future. There Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) conducted a recent survey that allows it to quantify the impact of staff recruitment and retention issues.
The survey was conducted online from April 20 to May 31, 2023. Some 903 CFIB members, from all sectors and all regions of Quebec, participated in the survey. A sample of this size has a margin of error of 3.3%, 19 times out of 20.
A similar survey was conducted in September 2022, where 87% of SME managers expressed serious concern about the workforce. The Federation asks them to choose the situation that best describes their situation regarding the workforce.
Some 43% of respondents say they don’t have all the employees they need for their current operations due to staffing shortages. This number is fairly stable compared to the 44% of respondents who said the same last September.
A quarter of respondents (25%) say they have all the employees they need, but they observe a significant increase in costs in terms of wages, flexible working hours and hiring bonuses. This option was chosen by 21% of SME managers in the previous survey.
In addition, 17% of respondents indicate that they have all the employees required to maintain their current level of activity, but they highlight their inability to find the personnel necessary to expand or meet increased or new demand. They were 22% to deplore this situation last September.
Some 9% of respondents choose the option: “No shortage, we have all the employees we need.” This is a slight improvement compared to the 7% of leaders who chose this answer in September 2022.
The survey also includes data by sector of activity, the types of jobs most sought after, the main obstacles encountered by SMEs in their recruitment and the solutions envisaged to support entrepreneurs in the context of the scarcity of personnel.
Medium term risk
The CFIB survey also aims to assess the perception of entrepreneurs on the survival time of their SME if the labor shortage persists or worsens. Some 40% of respondents say they will not be able to survive in the medium term, ie between one and four years, without the necessary personnel. This proportion reached 45% in 2021, during the first survey conducted by the CFIB on the subject.
Add to this 6% of SME managers who believe that their survival is threatened in the short term, ie less than a year. This proportion was 12% in 2021.
Finally, 33% of respondents believe that they will be able to survive in the long term, more than five years, without the necessary personnel. They were 23% to choose this option in 2021.
According Francois Vincentvice-president for Quebec at the CFIB, this proportion of 46% of respondents believing their survival to be threatened in the short or medium term confirms that this labor issue puts enormous pressure on the backs of entrepreneurs.
“The good news is that the pressure is decreasing in the short and medium term. We can see here the positive effects of the work of SMEs to deal with this issue as well as the spinoffs of government programs. The stakes remain high and urgent for our economy. We must continue and step up our efforts,” says Mr. Vincent.
Full-time
Vacancies are full-time positions, survey respondents confirm. Some 80% of SME managers say they are looking for production or skilled trades employees, 50% want to recruit technical or administrative staff, 46% are looking for sales staff and 34% want to fill management positions.
“There are still many constraints for SME managers, such as the difficulty of finding candidates with the skills that meet their needs, the difficulty of small businesses to meet the expectations of candidates or the competition between them, large companies and the government. for the same candidates. Two-thirds of private sector jobs are in small businesses. Economically, we have everything to gain by better equipping them to meet the challenge of the lack of employees,” adds François Vincent.
Help needed
Even if the survey data show a slight improvement in the situation compared to previous results, the labor issue remains important. The CFIB also asked respondents to identify priorities for action that the Quebec government should take.
According to Vincent, by the time of the fall economic update, CFIB believes that the government “should create a government action group to address labor shortages, co-chaired by ministers of Employment and the Economy”.
2023-07-17 14:55:21
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