At Baker Tilly, we believe there are people solutions that can help your business thrive. Canadians are facing the daunting realities outlined below, but we know that knowledge is power. By taking proactive measures, we can provide valuable support to our clients in their pursuit of excellence. Here are some of the major issues we are facing, along with recommendations that will assist in your continued success.
Over the next decade, the retirement of baby boomers will emerge as one of the biggest forces impacting Canada’s economy. This problem has been anticipated for over 50 years, and its impact is finally apparent, with 5,000 retirements per week and a total of 250,000 expected in 2019. According to Statistics Canada, this will increase to 285,000 retirements per year over the next seven to eight years. This has been described as a “retirement explosion” by RBC, and the ramifications are already being felt by companies trying to acquire (and keep) talent. This process has been difficult over the past five years, and the talent acquisition time bomb hasn’t even detonated yet.
Consider this: Canada’s immigration policy does not cover the country’s retirement rate. Plus, of the 300,000 immigrants allowed into Canada last year, only 60% are considered to be skilled workers. This is compounded by the fact we are not producing enough children in this country. In fact, we haven’t generated replacement level fertility of 2.1 children per woman since 1971 (we are currently hovering at around 1.6). Most Canadian women have no desire (or ability) to raise three or more children, as the high price of childcare would force them to give up their jobs. Furthermore, after spending many years studying and developing the skills necessary to thrive in the current workforce, they have significantly less time to raise children.
The other major concern is the number of Canadians who leave their jobs. At 16%, Canada’s turnover rate is the fourth highest in the world. Only Australia (17.5%), the U.K. (17.6%) and France (21%) are in a worse position. We are actually worse at employee retention than Brazil (10.9%), India (8.7%), South Africa (7.7%) and the United States (13%). Plus, by 2021, approximately 70% of employees at some Canadian companies will be millennials and members of Generation Z, groups that only stay in a job for an average of approximately two years. In addition, a recent Canadian survey by Nielsen found 73% of employees would leave their job for another opportunity – and 37% are already looking.
This begs an important question: why are people in Canada leaving their jobs more regularly than people in other countries? A majority of these people are dissatisfied with senior management and toxic work environments, where overworking is expected and there is little engagement between leadership and everyone else. Other key factors include not feeling respected, a lack of career development, boring work and the infamously inflexible old-school model of tracking the time people spend in the office. Numerous studies have shown that a majority of employees want flexible work arrangements and would leave their current job for the opportunity to work from home, even if they were forced to take a pay cut. Furthermore, Gallup states that eight out of 10 members of Generation Z want to own their own business and be their own boss.
The outlook for these problems seems bleak and waiting for government policy to catch up could take years. In light of this situation, we need to consider other solutions for the talent acquisition and retention crisis. For starters, we can conduct a cultural assessment at your company and implement solutions. Developing and engaging talent is part of Baker Tilly’s vision for 2020. It’s in our DNA. We can help your leadership get behind this initiative, hiring new leaders and developing them from within.
We are strategically positioned and equipped with all the necessary skills to develop your people solutions. It has been statistically proven that business leaders who thrive are flexible, engaging, inspirational communicators with compassion, empathy, relationship-building skills, feedback acumen and positive motivation. If your leaders fit this description, your retention efforts are likely to pay off, helping you dismantle the talent acquisition time bomb. Discover and implement your people solutions with Baker Tilly. Now, for tomorrow.
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