(Montreal) Employees, as well as company management, will have to work longer hours in the next three months, more than half of Quebec companies are expected.
Updated yesterday at 12:32 PM.
This was revealed by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec, which analyzed Quebec data from the Canadian Business Situation Survey for the second quarter of 2022.
The message is clear: “An increase in the number of hours worked by management or existing staff will be inevitable for more than half of companies”.
Difficulties in recruiting or retaining existing employees are a big part of this.
“Over the next three months, more than half of companies facing labor constraints expect management (58%) or current staff (51.3%) to increase their working hours,” warned ISQ.
An increase in the number of current staff working hours is expected for 64.9% of companies in the arts, entertainment and leisure sector, 63.5% of companies in real estate services and rental, 62, 9% of businesses in accommodation and catering. And 60.6% of businesses are under construction.
An increase in the number of working hours is expected by management in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, professional, scientific and technical services, as well as in construction.
Salary will increase
Similarly, more than half of companies (55.8%) expect inflation to become a more important issue in salary increase negotiations with their employees over the next year.
This is particularly the case in the food and accommodation (77.8%), retail (70.3%) and manufacturing (63.7%) sectors.
Many union representatives have already reported that their members are pushing for wage increases that take more into account inflation to avoid losing purchasing power.
More optimistic
However, overall, Quebec businesses are more optimistic in the second quarter of 2022 than in the previous quarter.
But for the next three months, several hurdles still stand in their way, including: labor shortages, rising costs of inputs, hiring qualified employees, costs associated with transportation, and retaining qualified employees. .
As for labor force constraints, in the next three months, in addition to an increase in the number of working hours, Quebec companies also expect a slowdown in business growth, hiring less qualified candidates and delays in fulfilling customer orders.
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