London businesses anticipate hiring with pandemic's end in sight: survey

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London businesses believe the end of the COVID-19 pandemic is in sight, and are looking to hire.

Two recent employment surveys forecast a spring of robust job gains across many sectors, and that includes hope for the troubled hospitality sector, said Deb Mountenay, director of the Elgin-Middlesex-Oxford Workplace Training Board.

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“It indicates employers are seeing an end to the pandemic. They are planning on getting past this,” she said.

“Businesses are looking to pick up, like pre-COVID.”

The development board, in a survey of 328 London-area businesses, reported 76 per cent expected to add jobs during the next 12 months, across all sectors.

In addition, Manpower, the employment agency, said one-third of businesses in the London region will add staff in the next three months.

The workforce development board survey shows continued growth in manufacturing, a sector that has shown strength throughout the pandemic during the past year and that will continue.

The survey also found child-care workers will be in demand as people look to return to an office environment.

“A lot of individuals may feel they can’t go back to work until they secure a place for their kids,” Mountenay said.

Perhaps most surprising is an expected rebound of restaurant and service sector jobs that were hit hard when the COVID-19 lockdown kept people home and out of restaurants.

“We expect to see a resurgence of the hospitality sector. They want to recover as much as they can from this year that they missed last year,” Mountenay said.

“They want to see if they can recoup some business.”

Massey’s Fine Indian Cuisine is one of those hiring, looking to add kitchen and restaurant staff as more patrons are returning, said part owner Anisha Massey.

“We feel it coming back. A number of people are slowly returning as restrictions were eased,” she said.

Last weekend, the restaurant had more than 30 patrons over the two days, and coupled with a steady take-out business, things are looking up, Massey said.

“We expect slowly it will get back to normal. It feels good. We had a lot of calls. People were asking us when we will open.”

GoodLife Fitness is another business hit hard by the pandemic that is seeing a comeback. It has posted about 15 jobs locally across all sectors, from sales to software, said Carlton Braithwaite, national operations manager.

“There’s a lot of excitement and optimism among GoodLife staff and members. We have had the most challenging year in our history and we want people to come back. We’re hiring for a variety of positions,” he said.

He believes customers will return as its online booking system, which clients use to schedule workout times, has been busy. Also, 13,000 people participated in online fitness classes last week.

“I’m not surprised we saw an immediate uptake in members wanting to come back.”

The workforce development board has 3,766 job postings and a virtual job fair is planned for April 20.

As for the Manpower report, its employment outlook survey for the second quarter of 2021 determined 33 per cent of London-area employers plan to hire for the upcoming quarter, while five per cent anticipate cuts.

Many businesses have adapted and adjusted to a new way of doing business in the pandemic and anticipate needing to add workers to meet demand, said Charity Magowan, a placement recruiter with Manpower.

“They have a plan in place, they understand what the climate is. They have adjusted,” she said.

In its survey manufacturing and industrial growth topped the Manpower list of businesses who plan to hire.

Manpower surveyed 1,344 businesses in 47 markets nationwide, a much smaller sample size for London and area than the workforce development board study.

Manpower said London was the third-strongest market nationally for hiring, behind Ottawa and Surrey, B.C.

The workforce surveys found office staff, sales people, child-care workers, general labourers and restaurant staff, especially cooks, top the list of those in demand. That is followed closely by skilled tradespeople and warehouse staff.

Most businesses will hire one to four staff, and expansion and growth are cited as the main reason for the hires.

Though travel still will be restricted, Mountenay expects people will vacation locally and that will boost the sector.

“We are hopeful more people will travel locally. People have been housebound. How much of a resurgence there will be depends on how much people want to explore their own communities,” she said.

“It is still unknown whether people will come back. They will move at their own pace, but this shows some confidence.”