The year 2021 is coming to an end with the feeling that the exceptional parenthesis linked to Covid-19 is gradually closing. Already, in September, Canada was back to its pre-pandemic employment level, with a few nuances.
This does not mean that everything is back to the way it was before.
In the labour market, the pandemic will have left its mark. It is not only work habits that have changed. It is also the very structure of certain industries. Indeed, some employment areas have reached the top in terms of labour shortages. Staffing agencies specialising in these areas will undoubtedly have their work cut out for them in the coming months. Similarly, recruitment agencies will no doubt be keeping an eye on the forecasts for the coming year.
In the specialised press indeed, the first studies on the trends of 2022 are multiplying. They lie alongside the retrospectives of the past year. With this in mind, we have compiled a list of the most in-demand occupations now. These will undoubtedly define employment trends in the first quarter of the coming year.
Which industries have grown the most in Canada this year?
It goes without saying that the fastest growing industries in Canada are those that have adapted best to the pandemic. This is obviously the case for industries related to the health care system. But it was also the case for businesses related to the delivery of essential supplies. Or those that allowed customers to shop online during the lockdown.
If we were to establish a common thread, we could point to the essential nature of the services provided. It is true that the pandemic measures are increasingly behind us – although the appearance of new variants does not allow for any clear certainty in this respect. But the following sectors are also expected to continue to grow in 2022:
- Health care
- Logistics and supply chains
- E-commerce
- Security and cyber security
- Construction
Do you know the 10 trendiest jobs in 2022*?
1. Customer Service.
The secondary effects of the pandemic on the economy are felt in customer service, which saw a significant increase in demand during the year.
There are currently over 35,000 customer service positions available in Canada, over half of which are in Ontario alone.
2. Cleaners and Maintenance Workers.
Sustainable sanitation measures have obviously had a strong impact on the number of employees needed to maintain, clean, and sanitize premises and tools. Whether in retail stores, warehouses, factories or hospitals, cleaning crews are essential to the safety of customers and workers alike.
There are currently over 10,000 job openings in this industry, making it the 2nd most sought after job in Canada in 2021.
3. Warehouse Workers.
As we know, the exponential growth of online trade is a side effect of the pandemic’s health measures. This has a direct impact on employment in the supply chain: order pickers, forklift operators and drivers are all in demand.
A total of 10,000 vacancies are currently open for warehouse work.
4. Registered Nurses.
The need for health care workers is great in all provinces and the recent crisis has been a particular indicator of this. Registered nurses are among the top three most sought-after jobs in every province in the country.
There are currently almost 9,000 nursing positions open across Canada
5. IT Support and Help Desk.
The gradual return of workers to the office will probably not change much: widespread remote work during the pandemic caused an earthquake in IT support and help desk positions. Whether it’s a job in IT support, or in developing applications that support teleworking, these jobs will still be in demand at the start of the year.
There are nearly 7,000 positions available in Canada for IT support-related jobs.
6. Administrative assistants.
Health, safety, customer service, human resources, or accounting: the restructuring due to the pandemic has created a call for administrative assistant positions in many branches. Indeed, the demands and needs of these departments were sometimes doubly affected. This was firstly the case with the stoppage and then the recovery of the economy, and secondly with the shift to teleworking.
There are more than 5,000 administrative assistant positions open in the country. A significant proportion of these are listed as ‘remote’.
7. Delivery drivers.
Whether it is for a parcel from overseas, a meal from the restaurant or a bag of groceries, confinement has accelerated the emergence of a trend that was until now sometimes marginal: the use of door-to-door delivery services. Social distancing in restaurants, the risks of frequenting busy spaces: delivery drivers are one of the best illustrations of the year we have just spent locked up in our homes.
Almost 5,000 delivery driver jobs are still open at the end of the year, despite the reinforcement of Santa Claus.
8. Cybersecurity-related occupations.
Just because we were locked in our homes does not mean we were cut off from the world. Shopping, communications, work, entertainment: the use of online services grew unprecedentedly during the pandemic. In its wake, it has led companies to recruit security analysts and database architects. Jobs in cybersecurity, a field that is likely to remain at the centre of trends for the next decade. Already today, the growth in job creation in this field is 7% per year. And when these statistics were published, the pandemic was still in its infancy.
There are currently over 3,000 vacancies in security analysis.
9. Retail clerks.
Anyone who frequently visits a grocery shop will have noticed that the number of vacancies in retail outlets – especially the so-called “essential” ones – is not decreasing. Pharmacies are also affected.
There are currently almost 2,000 vacancies. But this figure is rising by 3,000 to 5,000 every quarter.
10. Purchasing and Supply Chain Specialists.
There are currently fewer than 2,000 open positions in Canada for this field. But fears of multiple shortages on grocery shop shelves give this number a special resonance. As current events demonstrate, professionals with experience in supply chain management will continue to be in demand in the coming months.
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