In years past, hiring intentions pick-up in March as employers, especially in seasonal sectors, look to fill openings to meet demand in the warmer months.
This year is different. The impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the Canadian job market have begun and Indeed Canada is sharing data that supports that.
For the seven days through March 23rd, Canadian job postings were down 15.3% relative to their 2019 trend.
While the trend in job postings is down across most Canadian sectors, some declines have been particularly sharp. Notably hard-hit sectors include several that would be expected to be most disrupted by Canadians staying home for their health, such as hospitality and tourism, aviation, and food preparation and service.
On the flip-side, job postings have been less impacted in a few other areas of the economy potentially less impacted by social distancing, such as personal care and home health, security and public safety, and software development.
Software development job listings, which includes software engineers and developers, are up 4% from last year’s trend.