Conscious of the many challenges in the labour market today, Indeed conducted a global survey to uncover how employers can better align with today’s labour market realities. While the report revealed a variety of critical insights, like the value in leveraging skills-first hiring when evaluating talent. Another key finding is the importance of learning and development — not just for attracting talent but also for evaluating candidates and retaining employees.
Both job seekers and employers agree — hiring is getting harder. Looking at the Canadian data in Indeed's Report, 56% of Canadian job seekers say getting hired is more difficult, while 62% of employers report greater hiring challenges than three years ago. Several factors are reshaping Canada’s labour market, such as rapid population growth and cultural shifts like extended educational pursuits and changing skill demands. These changes are making hiring more complex and cause growing frustration among both employers and job seekers with the quality of hiring itself.
Job seekers want fulfillment and growth – not just a paycheque
Despite economic challenges and rising living costs, more than half (58%) of Canadians agree that they’d prefer a lower-paying job with opportunities to upskill and advance over a higher-paying job without growth potential. Similarly, 78% of Canadian job seekers consider learning and development opportunities an important factor when deciding whether to even apply for a role. This underscores a strong demand for career growth, with job seekers prioritizing fulfillment over income alone.
This disconnect can be traced, in part, to a lack of visibility. While job seekers consider learning and development opportunities important when deciding whether to apply for a role, only 24% typically find this information in job descriptions. This presents a significant opportunity for organizations: by showcasing upskilling programs in job descriptions and platforms like the Indeed Employer Branding Hub, and fostering a culture of continuous learning, companies can attract ambitious, high-quality talent eager to grow with them.
Your job posting may be deterring the perfect candidate
A job description does more than outline a role — it’s a powerful employer branding tool that helps candidates decide whether or not to apply. In fact, 72% of Canadian job seekers say an organization's brand is important when evaluating potential employers, and 36% rely on job descriptions to assess whether a company would be a quality employer. Yet, many employers overlook this opportunity to highlight value-added elements like career advancement and training opportunities.
When crafting a job description, clearly explain how the role contributes to company goals. This helps candidates see the impact they can make from day one, fostering a sense of purpose. Highlighting career advancement opportunities is also a great way to help job seekers envision a future at your company.
If your organization offers training or upskilling programs, include them directly in the job description as well, rather than solely on your website. This ensures that job seekers are aware of growth opportunities early in the hiring process.
Since job seekers prioritize development, showcasing these opportunities from the start can attract ambitious, high-quality candidates — leading to stronger engagement and better retention.
Consider on-the-job training to fill skills gaps
Over one-third (36%) of Canadian employers say finding quality candidates is a significant or critical issue for their organizations. Nearly half (43%) believe one of the biggest challenges is that applicants lack the required skills for the role.
However, this challenge may not stem from a lack of talent but rather a misalignment between how job seekers present their skills and what employers prioritize in hiring. In Canada, 53% of hiring managers and 70% of job seekers identify relevant, on-the-job experience as one of the top three indicators of quality, outweighing factors like educational degrees and total years of experience. Yet, only 11% of Canadian employers have reduced years-of-experience requirements, and just 11% have eliminated degree requirements, despite recognizing that these criteria are not strong indicators of candidate quality.
Adapting to skills-first hiring focuses on sourcing and evaluating candidates based on their skills, regardless of how or where they acquired them. These base-level skills can then be built upon either through reskilling or upskilling. Reskilling trains employees in entirely new skills, often preparing them for different roles. Upskilling enhances existing skills, typically with the goal of career advancement.
Rather than a lack of talented workers, the perceived shortage of quality candidates reflects a breakdown in how hiring processes evaluate and align skilled individuals with the right roles. A shift in mindset — both in how employers assess applications and in their willingness to invest in on-the-job training — can help bridge this gap.
Investing in skill development
In today’s workplace, continuous learning is more important than ever as teams adapt to changing roles and increasing digitalization. For employers, fostering lifelong learning strengthens employees’ professional and personal growth, deepens engagement, and improves retention – all of which improve business outcomes.
While some employers may not see learning and development as their responsibility, embedding learning into company culture can bridge workforce gaps without outsourcing. More importantly, job seekers expect it — 72% believe employers should provide opportunities to develop new skills required for their role.
More than half of employers (51%) see the value in hiring candidates whom their organization can train for growth, yet many are slow to adapt. While 33% have updated their learning and development programs to help their workforce build necessary skills, another 33% have yet to make changes, and 24% don’t plan to at all.
As Canada’s labour market evolves — and technologies like generative AI reshape skill demands — ongoing training and development become essential. Learning and development enable employers to train new hires with foundational skills to fill open roles, bridging gaps between their existing skills and the day-to-day requirements for the job. Strong learning and development opportunities for all employees also help to retain top talent. The resulting snowball effect will enable you to attract a better pool of candidates to fill positions and ensure the growth and sustainability of your organization.
