A significant share of the workforce will not accept job offers that do not have a remote-working option
Nearly one in four Canadian professionals (24.3%) now permanently work from home, driving seismic shifts into the residential and commercial property segments, according to Statistics Canada.
Pandemic pressures led to a 1% decline in employment last month, representing 200,000 lost jobs. The nation lost 117,000 part-time positions (down 3.3%) and 83,000 full-time jobs (down 0.5%) last month.
Virtually all of the employment decline in January was seen in the private sector, with total hours worked falling by 2.2% after touching pre-pandemic levels in November and December 2021, StatCan said.
“January employment declines were driven by Ontario and Quebec, and accommodation and food services was the hardest-hit industry,” StatCan said. “Youth and core-aged women, who are more likely than other demographic groups to work in industries affected by the public health measures in place in January, saw the largest impacts.”
Read more: Report: Work-from-home set-ups will remain prevalent post-pandemic
A mid-2021 survey by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority found that more than a third (36%) of Canadian workers will not accept job offers from employers who do not permit remote work.
“Having been forced to work from home, many people now say they want to continue doing so,” CIRA said. “While it is no surprise that most people spent more time online in this past year, with massive increases in the use of virtual meetings and online services (half received online medical care for the first time), they don’t seem to be sick of it, as a majority say they don’t plan to unplug more often post-pandemic.”
Approximately 55% of Canadians said that they attended a virtual event for the first time during the pandemic, while at least 60% admitted that their screen time has increased over the past year.
“The pandemic challenged Canadians to adapt, to embrace technology as a way of coping with a once in a lifetime public health emergency,” said Byron Holland, president and CEO of CIRA. “[The survey] shows us that it brought profound changes in attitudes and that there’s no going back.”
