Talent Trends
The Conference Board of Canada has been paying attention to changes in the Canadian workforce, including the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic. We recently asked organizations across the country about changes they are seeing—specifically around absences, turnover, attraction, and retention.
October 8, 2020
(days per employee)
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
Employee absences
Financial health influences overall health. Respondents who had secure employment and higher income reported lower levels of mental health concerns than their unemployed and lower-income counterparts.
Connecting with family and friends through technology, walking/jogging, and exercise were the top pro-social coping strategies used.
Time with a pet was the strategy that produced the greatest perceived benefit.
Unfortunately, those with the highest levels of mental health concerns reported using coping strategies that they perceived to be the least effective—such as alcohol, food, and drugs.
When respondents sought help, the top three strategies were:
1. talking to a therapist/counsellor/psychologist,
2. telemedicine, and
3. online physical health trainers.
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Here’s what we found.
Q: What was the overall absence rate in your organization in the most recent 12 months?
Absence, turnover, attraction, and retention rates
Absence rates are at record lows
The overall absence rate for the most recent 12 months is the lowest we have seen in the 21st century.
Organizations reported an average of 5.1 days per employee.
Rates over the past 12 months are higher in the public sector
(7.3 days) than in the private sector (4.6 days).
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(days per employee)
Q: What was the overall absence rate in your organization in the most recent 6 months?
Most recent six months have been good for attendance
This is not surprising. Many organizations switched to a remote-work arrangement at the onset of the pandemic and there have been extra health and safety measures in place for workplaces that remained open.
As low as the absence rate has been over the past year, it has been even lower over the most recent six months.
Top in-demand specializations
IT/technology
Management
Engineering
In this study, we define voluntary turnover as a departure initiated by an employee. We define involuntary turnover as a departure initiated by an employer (e.g., severances, dismissals, redundancies). Involuntary turnover does not include temporary layoffs.
Voluntary turnover rates have decreased.
Voluntary turnover
Involuntary turnover
They are among the lowest we have seen in recent years. The private sector continues to see higher voluntary turnover rates (7.5 per cent) than the public sector (5.0 per cent).
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(per cent)
Q: Please provide the voluntary turnover rate for the most recent 12 months in your organization.
Voluntary turnover rates are down
Attraction and retention
Employers are having fewer challenges recruiting and retaining employees with particular skills now than they have in many years. With the economy on uncertain footing and hiring freezes in place across the country, less than half of responding organizations are having difficulty attracting, recruiting, or retaining talent.
Note: Total may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(n = 135; percentage of organizations)
Q: Is your organization having difficulty attracting/recruiting or retaining talent with particular skills?
Recruitment and retention challenges remain
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(percentage of organizations)
Market for skills easing
Involuntary turnover rates over the past 12 months have increased to the highest level reported in the past four years.
The private sector reported an increase from 5.0 per cent in 2019 to
5.6 per cent this year. The public sector (1.5 per cent) saw little change in involuntary turnover compared with the previous year.
Note: Totals may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(n = 124; percentage of organizations)
Q: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has the voluntary turnover rate increased, decreased, or stayed the same?
Employees are choosing to stay put
Turnover
Voluntary turnover
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(per cent)
Q: Please provide the involuntary turnover rate for the most recent 12 months in your organization.
Involuntary turnover rates are up …
Note: Totals may not add to 100 due to rounding.
Source: The Conference Board of Canada.
(n = 124; percentage of organizations)
Q: Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, has the involuntary turnover rate increased, decreased, or stayed the same?
… although COVID-19 may be changing this trend
Top in-demand specializations
The COVID-19 pandemic has played a role in employees staying with their organizations—44 per cent of organizations have reported a decrease in voluntary turnover rates since the onset of the pandemic.
Nearly one in five organizations has seen an increase
in involuntary turnover rates since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both voluntary and involuntary turnover rates are highest for employees in trades, services, and production.
Turnover rates vary by employee group
(per cent)
Sources: The Conference Board of Canada.
n
66
Voluntary
turnover rates
Executives
%
Involuntary
turnover rates
n
%
1.8
62
1.5
Management
69
2.5
64
2.5
Professional
71
4.4
69
2.6
Administrative and support
71
3.6
70
2.0
Trades, service, and production
39
5.2
36
3.1
Q: Please provide the voluntary and involuntary turnover rates for the most
recent 12 months for the following employee groups.
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Research Associate
Jonathan Francis
Amanda Holmes
Senior Research Associate
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Voluntary turnover
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