In the 2024 BC Check-Up: Work survey, 76% of respondents said attracting and retaining skilled labour was a major challenge to business success, and 76% ranked “competitive salary” as the most important consideration when deciding whether to stay at their current organization or seek employment elsewhere. To see if these perspectives align with broader trends across the country, we looked at other recent surveys of Canadian employers and employees. Here’s what we found.
Turnover
According to a 2024 survey1 conducted by the human resources consulting firm Mercer, the average turnover rate in Canada is: 11.9%.
Other highlights from Mercer’s Canadian survey:
- 42.4% of respondents reported difficulty hiring or retaining employees for certain roles.
- At 25.9%, retail and wholesale was the industry with the highest turnover rate.
- Turnover rates by department:
- Blue collar professionals: 11.5%
- White collar professionals: 10.5%
- Non-sales professionals: 8.3%
- Management: 6.6%
- Sales professionals: 6.4%
- Head of organizations and executives: 3.8%
Photo credit: Afry Harvy/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Thoughts of leaving
57% of respondents to a 2024 survey2 by Robertson College, a private post-secondary institution in Canada, said they’d thought about leaving their current role within the last year. Here’s how frequently:
- Once or twice: 31.8%
- A couple of times a month: 15.4%
- Weekly: 4.2%
- Daily/almost constantly: 5.6%
Contributing factors included: poor salaries, lack of job security, lack of growth opportunities, and lack of flexible or remote work options.
This echoes the findings of PwC’s 2024 Hopes and Fears Survey,3 as 25% of its Canadian respondents said they were very/extremely likely to change jobs if there was the potential to increase their pay - up from 23% in 2023. Perhaps correlatively, 41% of PwC’s survey respondents said they had little to nothing left over each month after paying their bills.
What workers are prioritizing
Respondents to Robertson’s survey ranked their job search priorities as follows:
- Salary: 37.6%
- Job security: 16.2%
- Growth opportunities: 15.4%
- Remote/flexible work options: 13.2%
- Company culture: 8.0%
- Benefits: 5.8%
- Company’s commitment to DEI: 3.8%
Notably, pay also ranked #1 for Canadian respondents to PwC's survey, when asked which job characteristics were very/extremely important:
- Fair paying: 87%
- Fulfilling: 71%
- Flexible: 66%
- Collaborative: 58%
- Challenging: 51%
What does AI have to do with it?
One of the key findings from PwC’s survey is a disconnect between workers’ desire for higher-paying jobs and their skills training - particularly where AI is involved.
Pointing to its most recent AI Jobs Barometer,4 PwC notes:
- The share of ads demanding AI-related skills almost doubled between 2012 and 2023; and
- Canadian companies are paying, on average, an 11% premium for job postings that require AI skills.
However, the Hopes and Fears Survey found that Canadian workers lag behind their global peers in adopting generative AI:
- 50% said they’ve never used generative AI, versus 37% globally; and
- Only 25% of Canadian respondents said they’ve used it at least monthly in the past year, versus 36% globally.
Photo credit: Afry Harvy/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Three strategies to reduce employee turnover
Noting that there’s often a direct link between turnover and burnout (including burnout due to too little pay and too much work), Mercer recommends implementing these strategies:
- Offer competitive pay and benefits
Understand what your competition is offering so you can ensure that you're staying competitive. And be transparent about pay to manage expectations.
- Be an active listener
If turnover is high (or increasing), ask employees why they’re leaving and actively listen to what they have to say. In addition, track your turnover rate and compare it to industry benchmarks.
- Promote internally
Upskill/reskill, mentor, and promote talent from within. In addition to giving employees a clear opportunity for advancement, this will help ensure continuity of harder-to-find skills and knowledge within your organization.
+ Prioritize the employee experience
Similarly, PwC urges employers to invest in their people by providing fair pay, meaningful growth opportunities, and the tools and support needed to navigate change in the world of AI.
Michelle McRae is the managing editor of CPABC in Focus magazine.
This article was originally published in the November/December 2024 issue of CPABC in Focus.
Footnotes
1 Mercer, “How Much Turnover Is Too Much?,” imercer.com, September 5, 2024. The Canadian Mercer Turnover Survey features data from 1,146 Canadian organizations and feedback from 907 Canadian respondents.
2 Matthew Lau, “10 Top Employment Trends in Canada for 2024 + Success Tips,” robertsoncollege.com, September 5, 2024. The 2024 Employment Trends Survey was conducted in August 2024 and features responses from 500 Canadians over the age of 18.
3 PwC, “Hopes and Fears Survey: Canadian Worker Sentiment in 2024,” pwc.com. PwC surveyed 2,000 Canadian workers for the Canadian segment of its 2024 Hopes and Fears Survey.
4 PwC, AI Jobs Barometer: Canada Findings, pwc.com, 2024. PwC analyzed more than 500 million job postings in Canada and around the world for its 2024 AI Jobs Barometer.
