Canadian HR Reporter

NEWS BRIEFS More than eight out of 10 Canadians worked primarily in a workplace outside of the home before the COVID- 19 pandemic began, but six in 10 now work mostly remotely, a poll has revealed. The majority of workers — 63 per cent — say that their ideal scenario is for their work environment to be remote half of the time or more, found the Angus Reid Group, in partnership with PwC Canada, after surveying 1,528 full- and part-time employed Canadians along with 505 executive or senior decision- makers with Canadian employers. They also found that 12 per cent of workers want to work entirely remotely and 20 per cent want to work entirely at an external workplace. Quebec and Ontario, the two hardest-hit provinces in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases, were the only provinces where the number of workers comfortable returning to work within the next three months was smaller than the number of those who said their ideal work environment is primarily or entirely remote (40 and 36 per cent, respectively, versus 34 per cent nationally). There remains a significant lack of racial diversity in white-collar professions and executive leadership in the U.S., a study has found. Only four of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were Black while 10 were Hispanic/Latino, found the study on systemic racism and disparities in employment by career and job search consulting company LiveCareer, which looked at numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Four hundred and forty-eight, or 89.5 per cent, of the CEOs were white. The numbers also revealed an under-representation of Black and Hispanic people in other higher-paid WHITE-COLLAR JOBS MOSTLY WHITE CANADIANS JUST FINE WITH REMOTE WORK 65% The net employment outlook for Canadian employers improved to plus six per cent in the fourth quarter from minus five per cent in the third quarter of 2020, according to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey of 1,251 employers. Fewer employers (six per cent versus 11 per cent in the third quarter) are uncertain about their staffing outlook. Three-quarters of workers say workplace stress affects their mental health and more than four in 10 say that their stress levels are high during the pandemic — but only half say they have the emotional support they need at work to help manage their stress, according to a survey of 1,500 U.S. workers by FlexJobs. white-collar professions, such as: physicians and surgeons — 8.2 per cent Black, 7.6 per cent Hispanic, 72 per cent white; architecture and engineering — 6.8, 9.2 and 77.5 per cent, respectively; and general and operations managers — 6.6, 3.5 and 86.4 per cent. The study also pointed to significant disparities in the median net worth for families of different races gleaned from the U.S. Tax Policy Center: US$171,000 for white families; US$20,720 for Hispanic/Latino families; and US$17,600 for Black families. The net worth of mixed-race families or those of other races was US$64,620. 56% Provide flexibility in the workday 43% Encourage time off 43% Offer mental health days 28% Increase paid leave Workers need help with stress levels Hiring outlook more upbeat for 4th quarter • 73% no change • 12% increase • 9% decrease • 6% don't know EXPECTED EMPLOYMENT LEVELS FOR Q4 HOW EMPLOYERS CAN SUPPORT EMPLOYEES WHO'S 'COMFORTABLE' GOING BACK IN 3 MONTHS 47% Alberta 45% Atlantic Canada 38% B.C./Manitoba/Saskatchewan 37% Quebec 30% Ontario 30% 47% 38% 37% 45% 14 www.hrreporter.com M A R K E T N E W S

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