2024 Canada Job Market: Most In-demand HR Jobs and Hiring Trends

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Explore our Demand for Skilled Talent report to see what specializations employers need most.

Top trends in the Canadian JR job market
Most in-demand HR jobs
2024 Human resources trends: what HR managers are looking for
HR leaders' strategic priorities for 2024
More contract talent in the HR job market
About the Demand for Skilled Talent report

The demand for skilled talent remains high in 2024 for Canadians. To meet their hiring goals, companies must continue finding innovative ways to attract and retain both long-term and short-term talent. Most in demand HR jobs can be related to the hiring challenges employers are facing in this sector of work. HR hiring managers face hiring challenges and increased competition for positions that call for experience human resources, training and development, operations development, compensation and benefits, and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Approaches such as offering above-average compensation and engaging recruiters to help you tap into the pool of passive job seekers are more important than ever. In addition, attracting skilled talent is increasingly about how well a company can provide a healthy work/life balance.

Companies focused on running leaner HR organizations are hiring strategically and are depending more on the staff they already have to keep up with compliance demands and other duties. What does that mean for HR job seekers? Firms value HR generalists who can handle a wide variety of responsibilities. Hiring managers who want to add staff are still facing a tight hiring environment. According to the latest Robert Half Canada Salary Guide survey, 93% of HR managers say it’s challenging to find skilled professionals today.

Canadian HR leaders are faced with navigating talent shortages and limited headcount due budget constraints but that shouldn’t deter HR specialists from the job market in 2024. We are seeing more blended roles as a solution for some businesses, such as an HR position that handles both payroll and health and safety. Another solution employers are turning to are HR contract professionals that can assist with key areas of the business such as talent recruitment, training and updating internal employee databases.

As more employers implement return-to-office (RTO) policies, companies that can offer adaptable work schedules, including hybrid or fully remote options, are particularly poised to distinguish themselves in the talent market. This flexibility caters to the preferences of Canada’s workforce today and expands the talent pool for employers, allowing them to tap into a broader range of skills and expertise regardless of location.

The following positions are in the top 30 per cent of in-demand HR jobs, according to an analysis of thousands of job postings, and Robert Half placements:

Human Resources Director

Human Resources Generalist

Human Resources Manager

HR Recruiter

Here’s a snapshot of HR managers’ hiring plans and the challenges they face:

52 per cent are focused on hiring new staff for permanent roles.

43 per cent need to backfill permanent roles that have become vacant.

89 per cent are grappling with the challenge of finding skilled talent, underscoring the competitive nature of the HR job market.

Human resources teams across Canada are focused on the following in 2024:

1. Training and development

2. Talent acquisition and recruitment

3. Compensation and benefits

4. Performance management

5. Health and wellness

Over half (56 per cent) of HR managers plan to hire more contract professionals in the second half of 2024. These interim workers are mainly needed for:

Human resources

Training and development

Operations/DEI (tied)

The Demand for Skilled Talent report by Robert Half is an authoritative source providing essential insights into 2024's employment trends. This report has offered a deep dive into Canada’s hiring landscape for over a decade, spotlighting challenges and strategies to attract and retain talent in today’s job market. It explores what employees seek in their careers, identifies common recruitment errors and suggests solutions. The report spans sectors like finance, technology, marketing, legal and human resources, proving crucial for business leaders and managers.

Data methodology

This report's in-demand role data is collated from Robert Half placements, Statistics Canada information, and job postings TalentNeuron. It encompasses over one hundred thousand new positions from hundreds of independent job boards and company websites, including over 8,000 placements from Robert Half Canada. Positions are categorized to over 350 job titles within Robert Half Canada’s 2024 Salary Guide using a proprietary mapping methodology that employs state-of-the-art large language models. This dataset includes roles across the administrative and customer support, finance and accounting, human resources, legal, marketing and creative, and technology professions.

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