Moncton job outlook strong

03/14/2013

Moncton job seekers may be in luck.

The city is ranked in the top five of a new nationwide survey of employers in terms of whether they plan to hire in the next three months.

The quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook Survey was released Tuesday, indicating that 25 per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter — April to June — while three per cent anticipate cutbacks. Another 72 per cent of employers plan to maintain their current staffing levels.

“It’s a good, strong forecast,” said Karen Myers, regional director for Manpower’s Atlantic region.

“With seasonal variations removed from the data, Moncton’s second quarter net employment outlook of 20 per cent is a slight increase of two percentage points when compared to the previous quarterly outlook,” she said. “It is also a two percentage point decrease from the outlook reported during the same time last year, indicating an active hiring pace for the upcoming months.”

The consulting firm polls more than 1,900 businesses in 46 areas across the country. The number indicates the percentage of employers who plan to increase their workforce in the coming quarter minus those who plan to decrease their workforce, then adjusted for seasonal variations.

Moncton tied with Thunder Bay, Ont., and those two cities are behind only Edmonton, Alta., which topped the list at 35 per cent; St. John’s, N.L.; Saskatoon, Sask. and Red Deer, Alta.

“You’ve got a good, strong forecast for the upcoming quarter and usually the third quarter is stronger than the second, so there’s going to be lots of work and job opportunities for the people that are looking,” she said.

In New Brunswick, while Moncton has a net employment outlook of 20 per cent, Fredericton’s is 10 per cent and Saint John’s is a dismal -7 per cent.

Myers said in the Atlantic region, finance, insurance and real estate companies are strong, while manufacturing and retail and service jobs also hold steady.

The worst projection comes from the construction industry.

“Historically, (construction) goes from very poor second-quarter forecast to a huge, strong third-quarter forecast (in the summer months),” she said.

Moncton’s workforce numbers typically remain strong thanks to the transportation and call centre industries, she said.

Nationally, employers expect the hiring climate to remain steady for the second quarter of 2013, with employers in the transportation and public utilities sector reporting the strongest second-quarter job prospects. With seasonal variations removed from the data, the net employment outlook for the country is 12 per cent, a slight decrease when compared to the previous quarter.

It is also one per cent drop from the report at the same time last year.

The poll indicates that, overall, 20 per cent plan to hire workers in the three-month period from April to June. Five per cent said they anticipate cutbacks to hiring, while 75 per cent said they will keep existing staffing levels.

By Eric Lewis

Times & Transcript Staff