TORONTO, Jan. 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- For those currently unemployed or just looking to change jobs in the New Year ... there is good news. New CareerBuilder data highlights seven trends that every job seeker should watch in 2014 including the hottest business occupations that employers plan to recruit for, companies offering training and educational opportunities to help fill open positions, increases in starting and existing compensation, etc.

"Over the last twelve months, companies added jobs in almost every industry, and the trend is expected to continue at a steady pace throughout the New Year – pointing to the resilience of the Canadian labour market," said Brent Rasmussen, president of CareerBuilder North America. "As we begin 2014, 62 per cent of Canadian companies tell us that they are in a better financial position now than a year ago and 61 per cent of them expect sales to increase in the first half of the year. As a result, we expect hiring to increase in areas that support sales such as customer service, information technology and research/development."

Seven Trends to Watch in the New Year

1.      STEM occupations continue to grow -- The technological innovations, new products and discoveries that come from STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) occupations help fuel economic growth. As a result, these types of occupations are expected to increase with nearly two in five (38 per cent) companies planning to create jobs in these areas over the next 12 months.

2.      Full-time Hiring in 2014 -- Employers plan to recruit full-time permanent employees across a variety of business functions and levels, including: 

• Customer Service – 38 per cent
• Information Technology – 37 per cent
• Research/Development – 31 per cent
• Sales – 30 per cent
• Production – 29 per cent
• Engineering – 26 per cent
• Accounting/Finance – 26 per cent
• Business Development – 24 per cent
• Administrative – 23 per cent
• Marketing – 19 per cent
• Creative/Design – 17 per cent

3.      Companies relying on temporary and contract hiring -- Three in five (61 per cent) companies plan to hire contract or temporary workers over the next 12 months.  Of these employers, 45 per cent plan to transition some temporary employees into full-time, permanent members of their staff. 

4.      Skills gap – While the growth of high-skill, specialized occupations is a positive sign for the economy, companies are struggling to keep up with the demand to fill these jobs. Nearly two in five employers said they currently have positions for which they can't find qualified candidates.  Thirty-eight per cent said these positions go unfilled for three months or longer.

5.      Companies building the perfect employee instead of waiting for one – In light of the skills gap, more than half (55 per cent) of employers plan to train people who don't have experience in their industry or field and hire them in 2014. Thirty-six per cent of employers are sending current employees back to school to get an advanced degree – and picking up all or part of the cost. 

6.      Companies looking for recruits in high schools – More companies are connecting with future generations of workers to establish a constant pipeline of job candidates. Thirty-six per cent of hiring managers have promoted careers at their firms to high school students or, in some cases, even younger; 31 per cent plan to do so in 2014. 

7.      Compensation increases in the New Year -- In order to recruit and retain the best talent, companies have to offer competitive salaries, especially for hard-to-fill positions. Compensation is becoming more competitive for specialized labor, with 33 per cent of employers planning to raise starting salaries for high-skill roles in 2014.

Looking across positions within an organisation, 83 per cent of employers plan to increase compensation for existing employees, while 62 per cent will offer higher starting salaries for new employees.  Most increases will be 3 percent or less. 

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within Canada by Harris Interactive^© on behalf of CareerBuilder.ca among 406 Canadian hiring managers (employed full-time; not self-employed; non-government) ages 18 and over between November 9 and December 5, 2011 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 292 one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 5.74 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

About CareerBuilder.ca
CareerBuilder.ca is a leading job site in Canada.  Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), the Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI), CareerBuilder.ca powers the career centers for more than 250 Canadian partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. Job seekers visit CareerBuilder.ca every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic e-mail job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management.  For more information visit CareerBuilder.ca

Media Contact
Michael Erwin
CareerBuilder
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michael.erwin@careerbuilder.com
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SOURCE CareerBuilder.ca