Labour Market Insights

COVID-19 and Life in Stage 2: Top In-Demand and Most Searched Occupations in Windsor-Essex for July 2020

The Windsor-Essex region has been in Stage 2 for over a month now—since June 25. Currently, Windsor-Essex is the only region in Ontario still in Stage 2, as Toronto and Peel Region moved ahead to Stage 3 on July 31. The province began its move into Stage 3 on July 17.

Although Windsor-Essex has not moved ahead to Stage 3, citing COVID-19 outbreaks in the greenhouse, manufacturing, and construction sector as well as community spread, employers and jobseekers are eager to get back to business.

This month also saw the Windsor CMA’s unemployment rate decrease to 12.5% from 15.2% in June.

In July 2020, we saw 6,103 users on the Job Board, a decrease of 9.2% from June. However, interactions on the Job Board were up 32.6% from 9,743 interactions in June to 12,917 interactions in July.

Job Postings in the region were up 11.4% from 5,509 job postings in June to 6,219 postings in July. This is still below pre-COVID levels, as February 2020 saw 7,166 job postings in the region, but the increase is encouraging.

Top five occupations that people in Windsor-Essex are searching for in July 2020

The top five occupations receiving the most interactions for July 2020 were largely the same over the previous month, however the job postings themselves received more interactions from users. This could be due to people looking for more opportunities as the Community Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) is coming to an end in late September as well as an increase of employer need as the region continues life in Stage 2.

The top five occupations receiving the most interactions for July 2020 were Retail Salespersons, Administrative Assistants, Other Customer and Information Service Representatives, Delivery and Courier Drivers, and Material Handlers.

Interactions with Home Support Workers, Housekeepers and Related Occupations was down 11%, but still relatively high on the list at number nine.

Top ten in-demand occupations in Windsor-Essex for July 2020

The top ten in-demand occupations by local employers for July 2020 were Retail Salespersons; Transport Truck Drivers; Home Support Workers, Housekeepers and Related Occupations; Other Customer and Information Service Representatives; Nursery and Greenhouse Workers; Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers; Delivery and Courier Service Drivers; Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Support Occupations; Cooks; Construction Trades Helpers and Labourers.

This list is mostly consistent both with the previous month and with “the new normal” that COVID-19 has brought to the lives of Canadians.

Looking at the top hiring sectors also shines the light on how those in the region are living their lives.

Top ten sectors hiring in Windsor-Essex for July 2020

Fruit and Vegetable Combination Farming is the second highest sector hiring in the region with 150 job postings, up 4.7% from the previous month. This could be due both to the time of the year and to the COVID-19 outbreaks in greenhouses throughout the county.

Also of note, the Full-Service Restaurants and Limited-Service Eating Places sectors are the fifth and sixth highest sectors hiring, each up 14.5% over the previous month, as more and more restaurants are opening back up and taking advantage of the city’s patio culture as allowed in Stage 2.

While it is still unknown when the region will move to Stage 3, many businesses are surely preparing for it.

According to the Government of Ontario, “Nearly all businesses and public spaces can gradually reopen as regions enter Stage 3, with public health and workplace safety restrictions in place, while some high-risk venues and activities will remain closed until they can safely resume operations.” For further information on Stage 3, please click here.

 


THE FINDINGS OF THIS REPORT WERE SOURCED FROM:

MONTHLY JOB DEMAND REPORT

ABOUT THIS REPORT:

As of April 2019, the monthly Job Demand Report for Windsor-Essex is created by Workforce WindsorEssex using data collected from 14 unique national, provincial and locally-significant job boards. Between May 2017 and March 2019, job posting data was purchased from CEB Talent Neuron.

MONTHLY JOB SEARCH REPORT

The monthly Job Search Report for Windsor-Essex is created by Workforce WindsorEssex using data collected from four job finding tools, including WEexplore, WEmap jobs, WEjobs board, and the Bridge Timeline Tool. Gender and age information of users is voluntarily shared with the organization.

Questions? Please contact: info@workforcewindsoressex.com.