Employment levels are not expected to be any better in Red Deer in the upcoming quarter.
Hiring will be flat for the region in the third quarter of 2020, according to survey results from ManpowerGroup.
According to its findings, 13 per cent of employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter (July to September), while 17 per cent anticipate cutbacks.
Randy Upright, CEO of Manpower’s Alberta region, said another 54 per cent of employers plan to maintain their current staffing levels in the upcoming quarter, while the remaining 16 per cent are unsure of their hiring intentions.
“With seasonal variations removed from the data, Red Deer’s third quarter net employment outlook of zero per cent is a four percentage point increase when compared to the previous quarterly outlook,” said Upright.
“It is same percentage as the outlook reported during the same time last year, indicating a slow hiring pace for the upcoming months.”
Reg Warkentin, policy and advocacy manager at the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce, said the results don’t come as a surprise.
Most employers in central Alberta are expecting a slow economic recovery from the ongoing pandemic crisis, he said.
Warkentin said the fourth quarter may provide a better outlook for central Alberta.
“We don’t have a crystal ball, so we will never know for sure, but given the numbers and the way things are right now, we feel that things are looking better than they are right now (for the later part of the year).”
The ManpowerGroup survey was conducted by interviewing a representative same of 1,053 employers in Canada.
In Western Canada, employers anticipate a gloomy hiring pace from July to September. Hiring intentions are the weakest reported since the regional analysis began in 2004.