TORONTO, Ont. — Twenty-six per cent of Canadian employers are having difficulty filling permanent professional positions due to a lack of available talent, which is threatening growth plans, according to a Manpower Professional Survey released this week.

Twenty-four per cent of employers are paying higher wages for the same positions compared to the previous year due to professional talent shortages.

Manpower, through its Manpower Professional division, surveyed nearly 32,000 employers across 26 countries and territories in July and August, including 960 in Canada. The survey was conducted to determine the availability of suitable permanent professional candidates in the marketplace and the impact of available talent on wage inflation. (The survey uses the word professional for positions typically require a university degree.)

Employers are telling us that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find qualified professional talent, said Lori Rogers, Vice President of Operations for Manpower Canada. With competition for talent ever more fierce, in many cases, employers are forced to offer higher compensation to attract and retain staff.

The survey shows that employers are most struggling to find qualified professional staff in the Atlantic region where 38 per cent indicated that they would have hired more permanent professional staff. In Quebec 51 per cent of employers reported that they are paying more for the same job compared to one year ago. Ontario employers reported the least difficulty finding professional staff, with only 23 per cent reporting they would have made additional hires if suitable talent were available.

Talent shortages for professional level positions are growing and this trend is beginning to impact the bottom line, said Rogers. As these trends grow stronger in the coming years, the companies with the strongest employer brands will be the big winners because they will be able to attract and retain top talent more easily than those who have been slower to adapt.

The Canadian results compare favourably to the worldwide average, as globally, 29 per cent of employers would have hired more permanent professional staff in the last six months if they could have found qualified professional talent, and 25 per cent indicated that talent shortages are causing them to pay higher wages.

These results build on the findings of Manpowers Talent Shortage Survey undertaken earlier this year, which revealed that many of the hardest to fill positions globally were professional roles, such as accountants, IT programmers and developers, management and executives, and experienced sales representatives, said Jeffrey A. Joerres, Chairman & CEO of Manpower Inc.

The 26 countries and territories that participated in the survey include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the UK, and the U.S.