Future of work
A curated resource of recent research on trends shaping Canada's labour market.
This report analyses data from 1,295 surveys of workers and 504 surveys of employers to assess the current and projected state of the Canadian workforce. It finds that approximately 85% of employers expect the workforce to become more agile by 2025.6 30% of the current workforce is comprised on non-traditional workers,7 and that figure is expected to grow in the coming years. It is estimated that the IT sector currently employs the largest number of nontraditional workers at 19.3%, followed by engineering at 11.1%, administrative support services at 10.5%, sales and business development at 9.6%, finance and accounting at 9.2%, and human resources at 8.1%. Employers estimate that by 2025, 35% of workers will be “contingent, contract, or consultant”, 32% will be virtual or remote workers, and 25% will be part time consultants. Having a flexible staffing model will lead to reductions in cost for and improved performance by the corporation.
6 Workforce agility is defined as the ability of employees and organizations to remain steadfast and maintain productivity in the face of change.
7 Non-traditional worker refers to contingent, consultant, contractual, part-time, freelance and/or virtual workers.