Younger Canadians continue to be the most worried about their job security, but there was a significant jump in the number of older people who also fear for their livelihood as weakness
in the employment market grows, according to an ongoing financial outlook survey.
One-third of people aged 18 to 34 fear they will be laid off or lose their job, the June survey of Maru Public Opinion’s Household Outlook Index said. That was a three-percentage-point
drop from the previous month’s survey, but higher than in March, when only one-quarter feared for their job prospects.
Meanwhile, the number of people aged 35 to 54 worried about being laid off rose five percentage points to 15 per cent, the survey said.
Canada’s labour market has radically changed from the days following the pandemic when employers struggled to find workers. Job vacancies, once at record highs, have fallen back to
levels recorded prior to the pandemic, according to Statistics Canada data, while the unemployment rate rose to 6.4 per cent in June. The number of people who have been unemployed for
an extended period of time jumped about four percentage points from a year ago.
The Bank of Canada’s most recent Business Outlook Survey said employers are pulling back on hiring, with 40 per cent not planning to add any workers. And the central bank’s Canadian
Survey of Consumer Expectations showed that 50 per cent of people are finding it harder to land a job in their field, up from 38 per cent in the previous survey.
But that doesn’t mean Canadians can expect widespread layoffs to occur. Economists have attributed the shifting employment market to record immigration levels that have swelled the
workforce by approximately one million people.
