Those looking for jobs in welding, nursing or electrical engineering are in luck this year.
They are among Canadaâs top 15 in-demand jobs for 2019, according to a report released this week from Randstad Canada, a staffing and human resources firm.
The report is based on data collected from Randstadâs own internal systems that track job openings, as well as data gathered from Gartner Talent Neuron, a market intelligence firm that amasses job-and-supply data from more than 65,000 sources around the world.
The jobs in Randstadâs report span a variety of sectors, from tech-related roles such as developer to jobs in the retail industry such as merchandiser. And they include blue-collar jobs such as driver, as well as white-collar positions in project management.
âThe great thing about the list this year is the amount of diversity weâre seeing,â Carolyn Levy, the president of Randstadâs technologies division, told CTVNews.ca. âThat reflects really well on the economy.â
Canadaâs unemployment rate hit a 43-year low of 5.6 per cent in December 2018, according to the most recently released data from Statistics Canada. Despite net growth in new jobs, wage growth slowed down during the latter half of 2018.
Six of this yearâs top 15 jobs are unchanged from those on a list that Randstad released in 2018. They include sales associate, administrative assistant, receptionist, general labourer, account manager and accountant.
Despite pervasive gloom for the bricks-and-mortar retail industry, three jobs in the sector made Randstadâs list. Cashiers, for instance, remain in demand despite fears that those jobs will be lost to automation. And merchandisers, who are primarily responsible for selecting and displaying inventory, are still needed to lure customers from their couches to physical stores.
Levy said that the âreemergenceâ of retail positions on the list was âsurprising,â but is evidence that human connection still has primacy.
âWith the growth of online shopping, retailers are counting on merchandisers to build positive retail experiences that keep customers coming to brick-and-mortar stores,â the report notes.
Demographic trends are also having an impact on which jobs are most in demand.
The âdesperate needâ for registered nurses, for example, is driven in large part by the aging of Canadaâs population and the resulting strain on the countryâs understaffed health-care system.
According to data released last week by Statistics Canada, the rapid aging of Canadaâs population shows no signs of abating, thanks to fertility rates that are so low that the population does not replace itself in the absence of migration and an increase in life expectancy. The agency predicts that one in five Canadians will be aged 65 and older in 2024 as the baby boomers, who account for one-quarter of the countryâs population, age.
Here are Canadaâs top 15 most in demand jobs in 2019, according to the report, which did not rank them:
1. Sales associate
2. Administrative assistant
3. Driver
4. Developer
5. Receptionist
6. Cashier
7. General labourer
8. Project manager
9. Account manager
10. Welder
11. Accountant
12. Registered nurse
13. Electrical engineer
14. Human resources manager
15. Merchandiser
Randstad also released a list of the top 10 emerging jobs in Canada, which signal where the job market is headed and include a number of positions that did not exist until very recently.
The vast majority of the emerging jobs are in the technology sector.
âWhen we look at the top 10 emerging jobs, the online experience is really important,â Levy said.
Competitive applicants for these jobs, which are primarily in the tech industry, must be as comfortable working with machines as they are with people.
âIf youâre looking for a new job, the importance of soft skills is really important,â Levy said.
Here are Randstadâs top 10 emerging jobs, which are also not ranked:
1. Blockchain developer
2. Automation engineer
3. Artificial intelligence researcher
4. Chief experience officer
5. Live chat agent
6. DevOps engineer
7. Environmental engineer
8. Cyber security specialist
9. Data scientist
10. 3D architect