Desperate employers dangle signing bonuses to lure in workers
August 3, 2021
Security systems firm Fitch Security Integration had to lay off employees at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Now the company is facing the opposite problem: it is in desperate need of technicians to install and service security systems and willing to pay a $7,000 bonus to anyone who makes the cut.
“The signing bonus numbers just came up in desperation,” said Edward Fitchett, president of the Toronto company, which typically fills jobs through networking and rarely needs ads.
His small business is not alone. CBC News reviewed dozens of popular job listings sites in Canada such as Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, SimplyHired, and Workopolis — all of which are owned by the same corporate parent — along with WowJobs, ZipRecruiter, and individual company hiring pages.
CBC News found signing bonuses listed for jobs at big businesses like Amazon, Aspire Bakeries and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.
The use of signing bonuses for common jobs signals that “these are desperate times” for some companies, says Marie-Hélène Budworth, an associate professor with the School of Human Resource Management at York University.
Canada’s jobless rate stood at 7.8 per cent in June, and there are about 830,000 workers aged 25-54 without full-time work. Yet as pandemic restrictions ease, some sectors are finding it hard to get the workers they need.
The Bank Of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey notes some companies are struggling to find specialised labour while the Royal Bank of Canada cites retirements and a slow return to immigration as among problems in the labour market.
Limited data is available on the popularity of signing bonuses in Canada.
Source: CBC News
