Canadians optimistic on job front for 2014

You can count Antonio Cabeda among the growing number of Canadians who feel a sense of optimism – albeit a cautious one -- about the economy and job market as we head into 2014.

Cabeda, a 29-year-old financial analyst from Montreal, is actively looking for work after losing his job with a hedge fund last year following a merger with a larger U.S. firm.

The search hasn’t been easy. He’s come close, but hasn’t yet managed to land a position despite an impressive resume that includes a master’s degree in finance engineering and fluency in French, English and his native Portuguese.

The job market is highly competitive and it takes effort to remain confident it will all work out.

But Cabeda believes.

“It’s a numbers game,” he told Yahoo Canada Finance. “If I was getting a first call and nothing after that, that would be a problem. But, most of the time, I move forward though the process. I know I am going in the right direction.”

He’s not alone. A new study conducted by Ipsos-Reid on behalf of Randstad Canada shows that Canadian workers and employers are entering this year with a positive outlook compared to how we felt in 2013.

After a discouraging end to a year that saw the loss of 46,000 jobs across the country in December, nearly 30 per cent of employees and managers surveyed said they feel more confident in the strength of the Canadian economy and in the job market heading into 2014.

Respondents in Alberta and British Columbia are, again, the most confident on both fronts, while those in Quebec and Eastern Canada are the least.

In another encouraging sign, nearly a third of Canadians who are currently employed say this is the year they will look for a new job in search of more money, more challenges or both.

The greatest enthusiasm for the job search comes from younger workers, under the age of 35 years. Nearly half of respondents in this demographic intend to look for work this year, compared to 31 per cent of Canadians overall.

Regionally, Albertans are the most confident when it comes to finding new work. Ontarians are the most pessimistic.

Of those who remain in the job, most expect their companies to perform better this year and anticipate a bigger paycheque because of it. More than half (51 per cent) of those polled said they expect to receive a raise in 2014, with those in Quebec (58 per cent) and Alberta (57 per cent) feeling much more confident in receiving a salary increase than those in Ontario (46 per cent) or British Columbia (48 per cent).

A separate survey conducted by Accountemps found one in five employees polled plan to look for a new job in the next 12 months. Most, 72 per cent, expect the effort to be challenging, with more than half of respondents acknowledging it’s been more than five years since they dusted off their resume and hit the pavement.

David Gadd, director and owner of Calgary-based Proxime Recruitment Solutions, a company that specializes in SAP recruitment, said he’s noticed a definite surge of confidence among both employers and job-seekers.

January, normally a quiet month for recruiters, has been uncharacteristically busy, with several companies pushing forward with projects that had been put on the backburner in 2013.

At the same time, Gadd said, people who’ve been reluctant to leave their jobs because of the economic downturn are now actively seeking new opportunities -- “Right from help-desk people to top executives who are looking for a change.”

Calgary isn’t the only city experiencing a jobs boom. Gadd said he’s hearing similar stories from colleagues across Canada, particularly Toronto and Vancouver.

Just how long all this optimism is expected to continue is anyone’s guess.

But, said Gadd, “If I was a betting man, I would say it is going to be a better year than 2013.”