The IT Nerd

Several months into the pandemic, some of the Canadian workforce’s concerns around remote work – as well as being in the physical workplace – appear to be dissipating.

LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence Index report, which is based on a survey of over 900 members from September 7 to 20, reveals how the worries of those who are working remotely or operating in physical workspaces have evolved since the pandemic began – as well as what Canadians expect their work setup to look like once the pandemic is over.

Here are some of the key findings from the September Workforce Confidence Index for Canada:

On remote work…

• Only 19% say they are currently concerned about achieving less at their jobs while remote, with 20% saying that they used to have that concern (but don’t anymore) and 61% say they’ve never had it at all.
• And while a quarter still struggle to focus on work while remote, some 21% of respondents say they have overcome that worry, and it has yet to be an issue for a small majority (56%).
• A majority (61%) also say they have never worried about stalling their career progression while remote, with 12% saying they are no longer worried about it and just over a quarter (27%) saying it’s still a concern.

On working at the office…

• Some 41% of those working onsite continue to cite anxiety around exposure to others who do not take safety guidelines seriously, with 14% saying they have overcome the concern.
• Relatedly, a quarter of respondents cited worries about attending meetings and other public/shared spaces where large groups of people congregate, with 16% saying that concern is in the past.
• Some 21% of workers say they used to but no longer have concerns that their workplace safety guidelines and precautions are unclear or non-existent, while 19% say they no longer worry about working in close proximity with other colleagues or customers.

On expectations after the pandemic is over…

• A majority (55%) of Canadians expect their employers to keep at least some of their workforce remote in a substantial way after the pandemic is over.
• Among them, the biggest group – 43% – are anticipating a hybrid model of fully remote workers and staff who come into a workplace several times a week.

For the full results, they can be found here.

Methodology

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.

Today, LinkedIn launched the LinkedIn Stories feature in Canada, along with a suite of updates to its platform. Stories provides members with a less intimidating way to share everyday professional moments with their LinkedIn communities, such as offering perspectives from their work day or an event, giving insights on timely breaking news, walking through a product demo or teaching others a skill.

With Stories, Canadians can engage with their network using a full-screen ephemeral format (live for 24 hours). And since Stories won’t be permanently attached to profiles, it provides members with the freedom to share their professional side with an extra personal touch, and message their network in more timely and relevant moments.

Other exciting LinkedIn updates include:

• New site design. The heart of LinkedIn is its community. There are incredible examples of this every day on the platform: people and organizations coming together to help, support, and inspire one another. LinkedIn wants its site and member experience to reflect this. The new design is personable, inclusive, approachable, and warm. It’s been simplified while still providing the structure necessary to be easy to navigate and understand.
• Messaging updates. Conversations are the centerpiece for members to stay informed and find opportunities, and LinkedIn has seen an increase in 25% of messages sent since last year. To help professionals continue to find and engage in conversations they care about, LinkedIn is adding to its messaging experience from giving members the ability to edit or delete a message to managing their messages in bulk to initiating a video call right from their messages, LinkedIn wants to make it as easy as possible.
• Search updates. LinkedIn is taking steps to better-organize search results into a more intuitive, streamlined, and relevant experience. For instance, people, jobs, events, courses, posts, groups, and more will now appear together in a clear and more understandable format, making it easier for members to find what they need faster and browse through results. For example, if they search for java, they’ll see people they may know with that skill, jobs requiring that skill, relevant LinkedIn Learning courses and related groups to join.

LinkedIn has released the Canadian edition of the 2020 Top Startups list, featuring the top emerging startups to work for. In the wake of COVID-19, the 2020 list reflects the current state of the economy and the world, showcasing emerging and resilient startups and how they’re navigating the ever-changing world of work

The startups on this list are all experiencing growth, are still in high demand amid the pandemic, and have weathered through an increasingly challenging economic climate this year. These are the key trends we’re seeing among the Top Startups in Canada this year:

• BREAKING BARRIERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION: Education technology companies have pivoted to embrace new virtual and flexible models to help students pursue educational opportunities remotely. This includes application assistance, online study from abroad, increase student diversity on campus, advocacy for greater flexibility in study permit requirements for international students.
• EXPANDING ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE: Digital health startups have gained further prominence in the fight against COVID-19, as they address labour shortages, offering telehealth, pandemic healthcare needs, employee-focused health, de-stigmatization of mental health. 
• EVOLVING FINANCIAL SERVICES: Financial services companies have ramped up innovation to help companies and consumers access the funds they need in new and creative ways, for example online valuation tools and emergency funding for startups, early access to paycheques and government support for consumers.

These are the top emerging startups on LinkedIn right now:

1. Clearbanc – As e-commerce booms in Canada over the pandemic, it’s no wonder this fintech startup – which specializes in funding online brands – has found its way to the top of the list. Clearbanc has also recently launched a tool to help startups assess their own worth.
2. Drop – Drop is a personalized platform that matches consumers with brands through a mobile app, allowing customers to earn points for purchases that can be redeemed for rewards. The company has raised over $71M from global investors, and offers employees unlimited time off.
3. ApplyBoard – The online education platform connects students with academic institutions and recruitment partners around the world. Even as the pandemic disrupts education, the edtech startup closed another round of funding that brought its valuation to USD $1.5 billionand has continued to hire rapidly, adding nearly 250 new employees since March.
4. BookJane – BookJane’s online platform creates a sort of gig economy for workers across health care facilities. As demand for doctors climbed through the pandemic, the company has been helping the Ontario Medical Association manage a shortage of physicians.
5. Symend – Symend uses analytics and behavioural science to create individualized debt recovery programs. The startup, which has offices in Calgary, Toronto and Denver, Colorado,received USD $52 million in funding earlier this year and plans to hire up to 300 more roles in 2021.

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Methodology:

LinkedIn measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. Employment growth is measured as percentage headcount increase over one year, which must be a minimum of 15%. Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup. Job interest counts rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings. Attraction of top talent measures how many employees the startup has recruited away from LinkedIn Top Companies, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce. Data is normalized across all eligible startups. The methodology time frame is January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020. To be eligible, companies must be independent and privately held, have 50 or more employees, be 7 years old or younger and be headquartered in the country on whose list they appear. We exclude all staffing firms, think tanks, venture capital firms, management and IT consulting firms, nonprofits and philanthropy, accelerators, and government-owned entities. Startups who have laid off 20% or more of their workforce within the methodology time frame are also ineligible.

*For fairness, we have removed LinkedIn and Microsoft from consideration for the LinkedIn Top Startups list as we do with all other lists in the editorial franchise.

LinkedIn Top Startups – Canada 2020

1. Clearbanc
2. Drop
3. ApplyBoard
4. BookJane
5. Symend
6. Dialogue
7. BlueDot
8. League
9. KOHO
10. Maple

As Canada’s students return to school, how have working parents handled juggling childcare and work responsibilities during the pandemic?

LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence research sheds light on the challenges faced by working parents and how professionals across different functions and generations are feeling about the outlook and the stresses of the pandemic.

Here are some of the key findings from this edition of Canada’s Workforce Confidence Index:

• Women and men were relatively equally likely to say they were currently providing childcare full-time (18% and 16%, respectively)
• Men were slightly more likely to say they were working outside of normal business hours to make up hours (42%) or that they were working fewer hours overall in order to provide childcare (26%)
• Nearly half of men and women surveyed reported being unable to focus on work while their kids are home, and a majority struggled with providing education for their children.
• Those who worked in engineering roles were the most confident of all (+43 overall). Those in business development roles also reported high scores (+40 overall).
• At the other end of the spectrum, those working in administrative, support and community and social services saw the lowest scores, at +14 and +29 (tied) respectively. Those in administrative positions had an outright negative career outlook at -1, but felt slightly better about their finances (+6) and much better about job security (+36).

For the full results, visit here.

As wide-spread closures and social distancing continue to affect business in Canada, confidence among Canadian workers remains low. But sentiment is not outright negative according to LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence Index, a biweekly snapshot of how workers are feeling about their job security, financial situation and their career in both the short and long-term.

So far, the index has polled 2,000+ LinkedIn members covering the weeks of April 1 – 7 and April 13 – 19, and uses a scale from -100 to +100 to reflect the sentiment of respondents and their expectations about the labour market.

Here are some of the major findings from the second edition of Canada’s Workforce Confidence Index:

• Those working in the energy and mining industry were the least confident, driven largely by concerns over their personal finances and broader career outlook. The sector has recently faced mass layoffs as the industry grapples with a fresh plunge in oil prices. 

• By contrast, members working in the software & IT services, public administration, and health care industries reported the highest confidence (+30), lifted by high scores in their current job security. 
• Workers in construction were among the most likely to expect their companies to be worse off in six months. 
• By contrast, members of the media and communications industry had very low confidence in the present, but were more optimistic about their companies’ short and long-term futures.
• Active job seekers continue to feel less confident (+5) than the broader workforce, but there are signs their pessimism about recruiter response and job availability is bottoming out.
• More Canadian companies are offering support for their employees’ emotional wellbeing (44%) than in the last poll (39%), and 31% are offering online learning resources, up from 27% previously.

Workforce Confidence Index Methodology

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.

LinkedIn recently launched LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2020, a composite measure that seeks to understand how people around the world perceive opportunity and more importantly, the gaps in getting to those opportunities.

According to the research, which surveyed over 30,000 respondents in 22 markets globally, people want to find opportunities that allow them to pursue their passion, have work-life balance, and job security. Canada is ranked as number 10 of the 22 markets with an overall Opportunity Index score of 98. While Canada is generally more confident about gaining access to and pursuing opportunities, Canadians feels cautiously optimistic in their search for opportunities.

Key findings include:

• Confidence is highest in developing economies and among younger generations.
  • The United States and Canada appear to display cautious optimism. For both North American countries, the measure of opportunity that they are most and least confident about are the same: both believe that in-market opportunities are available but feel that their quality of life has dropped in comparison to their parents’.
• Age is a multi-faceted challenge for different generations, but contrary to popular belief, people are united in embracing change, regardless of age.
  • While working hard (81%) tops the list of what people perceive it takes to get ahead in life, a willingness to embrace change (80%) comes in a close second.
  • For 43% of Boomers, age is their biggest opportunity gap while 25% of Gen Z struggle with a lack of work experience, which is age-related as well.
• Stronger, more diverse professional networks boost overall confidence, but few are actively networking.
  • Globally, 76% respondents believe that knowing the right people and having the right connections is key to getting ahead in life, yet only 22% are actively looking for networking and mentorship opportunities — likely because a majority of respondents (51%) believe that the lack of a network is a difficult challenge to overcome.

If you’re interested in reading the report in full, you can access it with the following link.

The 2020s will be defined by a human centric approach to business. Empathy is reshaping the way talent is hired and retained, as companies work to understand their people more deeply than ever before in order to better serve them. As the corporate purpose evolves to consider more than just shareholder returns, companies are investing in their employees — not only to attract in-demand candidates, but to retain their workforce amid changing expectations.

This overarching theme can be seen in each of the four trends in LinkedIn’s latest Global Talent Trends report:

• Employee experience – The emergence of employee experience offers new ways to cater to employees and is being used as a measure to increase retention which is why 84 per cent of companies focus on EX.
• People analytics – Analytics are factoring into hiring practices, 70% of talent professionals predict people analytics to be a major priority for HR/TA over the next 5 years. Yet, more than half (52%) say they need help putting basic people analytics into practice.
• Internal recruiting – Internal recruiting is undergoing a revival with a focus on advancing people’s careers from within. HR professionals identified improved retention (84%), productivity (69%), and maintaining institutional knowledge (70%) as key drivers of this increasing importance.
• The multigenerational workforce – Harnessing the power of age diversity and celebrating everyone’s strengths means companies are seeing more age diversity than ever. Nearly 90% of HR professionals agree that a multigenerational workforce makes for a more successful company.

You can have a look at the report here.

LinkedIn has launched its inaugural Emerging Jobs Report, revealing that if you’re an engineer, your job prospects are pretty desirable in Canada. Findings show that more than 50 per cent of this year’s emerging jobs consist of roles related to engineering or development. Moreover, these roles are appearing in abundance across Canada’s growing tech hubs including Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary and Kitchener.

LinkedIn’s Emerging Jobs Report identifies the jobs experiencing tremendous growth over the last 5 years, as well as the skills uniquely associated with them, and how these trends will continue to transform the Canadian job landscape through 2020. Here are the top 3 engineering and development jobs to look out for:

1. Site Reliability Engineer: Responsible for ensuring that development and operational processes are running smoothly, the demand for this job will likely continue to rise as long as we continue to adopt technology. As a bonus, the skills required are transferable to many different engineering roles. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Kitchener are where this job is in highest demand.
2. Data Engineer: This role has seen more than 50% growth in hiring annually since 2015 and with the deluge of data showing no signs of stopping, this role is here to stay. Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary are the hubs driving demand for data engineers.

DevOps Engineer: While the job definition of a DevOps Engineer varies per role, they hold the expertise and knowledge in developing and operating software applications to implement next-generation infrastructure. Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, Kitchener and Calgary are driving demand for this occupation in Canada.

To view the full list of emerging jobs in the Canadian market and read more on the trends, visit here.

Today LinkedIn released the Canadian edition of the 2019 Top Startups list, featuring the most sought-after startups where professionals want to work and stay. The top five startups in Canada are Element AI, Wealthsimple, Clearbanc, Cannabis Compliance Inc. and League.

This year’s list is comprised of companies operating in a diverse range of industries such as financial services, healthcare and cannabis, to name a few. In the race for talent, an ever-evolving fundraising landscape and industry rife with unprecedented innovation, these startups are cutting through the noise.

The three trends for this year’s list are democratizing access to health practitioners for patients, honing-in on niche audiences to cater to their financial needs and servicing cannabis users in Canada.

These are the top five most sought-after startups on LinkedIn right now by professionals:

1. Element AI builds artificial intelligence-powered software for enterprises, including its first publicly available product that helps automate document reading and processing for businesses.
2. Wealthsimple aims to make investing simple and accessible to everyone by combining human financial advisors along with a low-fee, diverse portfolio that minimizes risks.
3. Clearbanc, which aims to invest $1 billion across 2,000 companies this year, provides anywhere from $10,000 to $10 million to help young companies expand their marketing efforts and, ultimately, revenue.
4. Cannabis Compliance Inc. is one of Canada’s first consulting firms to advise on regulatory issues around cannabis. The startup not only helps companies gain government approvals and stay compliant, they also offer training for professionals who want to break into the industry.
5. League has built a one-stop app for employees to access their lifestyle and health care benefits, streamlining everything from insurance details to unique company perks in an easy-to-use hub.

The complete Canadian Top Startups list can be found in the following blog post.

Methodology:

LinkedIn measures startups based on four pillars: employment growth, engagement, job interest and attraction of top talent. Employment growth is measured as percentage headcount increase over one year, which must be a minimum of 15%. Engagement looks at non-employee views and follows of the company’s LinkedIn page, as well as how many non-employees are viewing employees at that startup. Job interest counts rate at which people are viewing and applying to jobs at the company, including both paid and unpaid postings. Attraction of top talent measures how many employees the startup has recruited away from LinkedIn Top Companies, as a percentage of the startup’s total workforce. Data is normalized across all eligible startups. The methodology time frame is July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019.

*For fairness, we have removed LinkedIn and Microsoft from consideration for the LinkedIn Top Startups list as we do with all other lists in the editorial franchise.

Today, LinkedIn released its new Global Language Matters Gender Diversity report, highlighting how men and women react differently to language used both in the workplace and during the hiring process, and what this means for recruiters, hiring managers and business leaders, alike.

LinkedIn took an in-depth look at the words men and women use in the world of work: from their LinkedIn profiles, to interactions on LinkedIn, to the language used throughout the recruitment process and in the workplace itself.

Although we may not think about it often, we know that language can have a huge impact on how we act, influence and are perceived by others. We also know that men and women tend to be more inclined to use and react to language differently.

Findings revealed a stark contrast between Millennials and Gen X when comparing how gender diversity is perceived in an organization. Nearly three quarters of respondents aged 25-34 (72%) say gender diversity is important to their organization, compared to just under 3 in 5 respondents aged 45-54 (58%). This trend will only continue to grow in importance as younger generations bring these convictions with them into increasingly senior roles.

Other key findings include:

• Language is a consideration when reviewing job postings: Nearly half of respondents (47%) who were involved in the hiring and recruitment process say their job postings always have to go through a review to ensure they aren’t using biased language, whilst just under a quarter of respondents never have to (24%).
• When drafting copy for job advertisements: A quarter (25%) of respondents who were involved in the hiring and recruitment process say they always consider gender when drafting copy for job advertisements, compared to half who never do (50%).
• Consider tracking which gender your job posting appeals to, to ensure a gender diverse set: Three quarters of respondents who track which gender their job posting is appealing to (75%) say they in some capacity amend the language if there is a gender skew

You can access the global report with the following link.

Methodology: Online surveys were conducted to a panel of potential respondents – comprising of those who were not involved in the hiring and recruitment processes in Canada and those who were. A total of 1,003 full time employees in Canada who were not involved in hiring and recruitment processes completed the survey between May 10, 2019 to May 31, 2019. A total of 253 respondents who were involved in the hiring and recruitment process in Canada, completed the survey between May 16, 2019 to May 21, 2019. The research was conducted by Censuswide. Censuswide abides by and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles.