LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence Index for Canada – based on a poll of 2,957 members between September 9 and October 19 – found that workforce confidence scores have been trending down among unemployed jobseekers in recent months. And this group has reported concerning assessments of their financial status, with 43% describing their financial status as “only fair” and an additional 24% describing it as “poor.”
So, what lengths would unemployed active jobseekers go to in order to find a new role in this climate?
- Some 81% of Canada’s unemployed job seekers said they are open to considering some form of pivot, whether it’s changing their career to work in a different industry or sector (73%) or working in a different role or job function (62%). Among them, those in a stronger financial position were more likely to say they were willing to work in a different industry (81% of those with “excellent” or “good” financial situations, versus 70% of those who describe their financial condition as “fair” or “poor”), but less likely to be willing to change roles (59% versus 65%).
- Nearly a third of unemployed jobseekers (30%) said they would consider starting their own business or line of work, while 38% were willing to work as freelancers or independent contractors.
- Education was also a popular tactic, with 46% open to returning to school part-time or taking online skills classes, and 14% saying they would even go back to school full-time.
- Almost half (49%) were willing to take a step back of sorts, with 38% willing to accept a sizeable drop in income and 36% willing to take a sizeable reduction in seniority or title. Among those in more precarious financial positions, 41% were willing to accept the title or seniority change, compared with just 28% of those in better self-reported financial health.
- Some 29% were willing to relocate within Canada to where jobs are available, while 13% were willing to relocate outside the country.
For the full results, visit here.
LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index is based on a quantitative online survey that is distributed to members via email every two weeks. Roughly 1,000+ Canada-based members respond each wave. Members are randomly sampled and must be opted into research to participate. Students, stay-at-home partners & retirees are excluded from analysis so we’re able to get an accurate representation of those currently active in the workforce. We analyze data in aggregate and will always respect member privacy.
Data is weighted by engagement level, to ensure fair representation of various activity levels on the platform. The results represent the world as seen through the lens of LinkedIn’s membership; variances between LinkedIn’s membership & overall market population are not accounted for. Confidence index scores are calculated by assigning each respondent a score (-100, -50, 0, 50, 100) based on how much they agree or disagree with each of three statements, and then finding the composite average score across all statements. Scores are averaged across two waves of data collection to ensure an accurate trend reading. The three statements are: [Job Security] I feel confident about my ability to get or hold onto a job right now; [Finances] I feel confident about my ability to improve my financial situation in the next 6 months; [Career] I feel confident about my ability to progress in my career in the next year.
Neil Basu and Alexandra Gunther from LinkedIn Market Research contributed to this article.