Canada Employed: Survey Shows 39% of Canadians Have “Completely Given Up” Looking for a Job

36% Unemployed Say They Have Not Gone on a Job Interview in the Past Month

Express Employment Professionals, the largest franchised staffing company in North America, with 36 locations in Canada, recently released results of a major, in-depth poll, “The State of the Unemployed in Canada.” The poll reveals that 39% of unemployed Canadians say they have completely given up looking for work. A companion survey in the United States released earlier in the week showed that 47% of Americans have completely given up looking for work.

The comprehensive survey was conducted online by Harris Poll for Express Employment Professionals from April 9 through April 21, 2014, and polled 1,502 unemployed Canadians age 18 and older who are capable of working, whether they receive employment insurance or not.

“The results of this survey should serve as a wakeup call to policymakers that some unemployed Canadians are falling behind,” said Bob Funk, CEO and chairman of the board for Express Employment Professionals and a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “If left unchecked, they could fall into a trap of prolonged unemployment and risk being left out of the workforce entirely.”

The research report presented today at the Economic Club of Canada shows:

Though the economy is giving the unemployed reasons to quit looking for work, they do remain hopeful. 

• 39% of respondents say they agree with the statement, “I’ve completely given up on looking for a job.” (5% said they “agree completely,” 5% “agree a lot,” 11% “agree somewhat,” and 17% “agree a little.”)
• 86% express agreement with the statement, “I’m becoming more discouraged the longer I am unemployed.”
• Nevertheless, 93% agree with the statement, “I’m hopeful that I will find a job I really want in the next six months.” 

People Say There Are No Jobs
People want to find work, but increasingly many people say there is little they can do to find it. When asked what is holding them back from finding a job, 44% say there are no available jobs.

• Two-thirds report two or fewer interviews in the prior month with 36% reporting not having any job interviews in the last month. Among those unemployed for more than two years, 61% report no interviews in the prior month.
• 13% say their last interview was in 2012 or before.
• 94% agree that they are “working hard to find a job.” But 32% say they spent five or fewer hours looking for work in the last week. 8% spent more than 31 hours looking. 

For Many, Moving to Another Province or Getting More Education Are Not The Answers: 

• 37% are “not at all willing” to relocate to a new city or town for a job. 62% are not at all willing to move to another province to find work.
• 51% have no plans to go back to school to make them more marketable. 13% are currently enrolled in classes and 10 per cent have already attended classes or earned a new degree.

Employment Insurance Remains Popular
The survey shows most of the unemployed not receiving employment insurance is due to the individuals not being eligible (34%) or were denied (6%), never applied (35%) or their benefits already ran out (25%). Only 29% of survey respondents say they currently receive unemployment insurance. Among those receiving employment insurance:

• 96% say it helps them to pay at least some of their bills. 86% agree with the statement that employment insurance “is giving me time to find the right position.”
• 87% said if their employment insurance were to run out prior to their finding a job, they would “search harder and wider for a job.” Only 13% say they would “be in such despair that they will give up looking for work altogether.”
• 56% say they “haven’t had to look for work as hard” thanks to unemployment insurance.
• 77% say insurance has been a “cushion,” and 74%t agree with the statement, “It has allowed me to take time for myself.”
• 18% say they receive income from various odd jobs for cash.

Read the full report.

America’s unemployed vs. Canada’s unemployed
The recent companion poll in the United States shows that Americans are more inclined to give up on looking for a job than Canadians and have had fewer interviews. In the U.S., 47% of unemployed have completely given up looking for work versus 39%t in Canada. In the U.S., 46% report not having gone on any job interviews in the previous month versus 36% in Canada.

“This survey should give policymakers and Canadian leaders a greater sense of urgency to focus on the singular goal of creating jobs,” Funk said. “The unemployed remain hopeful, but the longer they stay unemployed the harder it is. I encourage those looking for work to stay committed and to use all available resources available to them.

“There are also valuable lessons from the companion American survey. The U.S. numbers paint a grimmer picture, with greater numbers giving up looking for work, and not having interviewed in the last month.”

The State of the Unemployed in Canada is the first in a series of news releases and research projects by Express called Canada Employed that explore different aspects of who gets hired and why. The series will provide valuable news and information from the ground level about employment and unemployment throughout the country.

Survey Methodology: This study was conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals and included 1,502 Canadian adults aged 18 or older who are unemployed but capable of working (whether or not they receive employment insurance benefits) who participated in an online survey between April 9 and April 21, 2014. Results were weighted as needed for age by gender, education, race/ethnicity, region and household income. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online. Totals may not equal the sum of their individual components due to rounding. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.

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