Labour Market Insights
Headed Back into Lockdown: Top Occupations and In Demand Jobs for Windsor-Essex for March 2021 and How They Compare to 2020.
On April 1, 2021, the Ontario government announced a province-wide emergency brake, putting the province in the new Shutdown tier, effective April 3. On April 7, the Ontario government enacted a provincial emergency and Stay at Home order, which further restricted retail, to last four weeks.
This Shutdown, Lockdown, and Stay at Home order restricts in-person shopping at all retail locations and prohibits all personal care services, indoor and outdoor dining, and the use of facilities for indoor and outdoor recreational fitness. Further restrictions were imposed on retail locations, where retailers are not permitted to sell non-essential items to customers in store.
March 2021 saw 4,637 active job postings from 1,634 companies, for an increase of 35.41% over the previous month. The Job Board received 21,203 interactions (an increase of 16% from 18,270 interactions in February) from 9,180 users (an increase of 28.3% from the previous month).
The top searched-for occupations overall in Windsor-Essex for March 2021 were:
Administrative Assistants; Retail Salespersons; Other Customer and Information Services Representatives; Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Support Occupations; and Store Shelf Stockers, Clerks and Order Fillers.
The top searched-for occupations by men in Windsor-Essex for March 2021 were:
Retail Salespersons; Material Handlers; Construction Trades Helpers and Labourers; Delivery and Courier Service Drivers; and Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Support Occupations.
The increase in searches for Construction Trades Helpers and Labourers aligns with the demand for home renovation projects, as the pandemic continues and more people are engaging in home improvement projects.
The top searched-for occupations by women in Windsor-Essex for March 2021 were:
Administrative Assistants; Retail Salespersons; Other Customer and Information Services Representatives; Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Support Occupations; and Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers.
In comparison, March 2020 saw some similarities to the list of overall searched-for occupations in the region, with Retail Salespersons and Administrative Assistants high on the list.
Before COVID-19-related restrictions were implemented, the top overall searched-for occupations for the region differed a bit more, with Cooks ranking quite high on the list in February 2020.
Compared to March 2020, Job Board users increased 43.4% (from 6,401 users in March 2020 to 9,180 in March 2021). The Job Board had 1,740 new active job postings in March 2020, versus 3,112 new active job postings in March 2021 (an increase of 78.85%).
The top ten in-demand occupations by local employers for March 2021 were:
Retail Salespersons; Transport Truck Drivers; Other Customer and Information Services Representatives; Material Handlers; Home Support Workers, Housekeepers and Related Occupations; Cooks; Retail and Wholesale Trade Managers; Delivery and Courier Service Drivers; Food Counter Attendants, Kitchen Helpers and Related Support Occupations; and Nursery and Greenhouse Workers.
The majority of these in-demand occupations align with what the employment landscape looked like in early March—restrictions on indoor dining and retail were lifted, so the demand to fill these occupations were much higher.
Limited-Service and Full-Service Restaurants saw a boost in hiring, again aligning with the province having eased restrictions for the sector. April’s numbers will paint a different picture, as these sectors are some of the most impacted by Lockdowns and Stay at Home orders. Limited-Service Restaurants increased 70.69% from 58 job postings in February 2021 to 99 in March 2021 and Full-Service Restaurants increased 87.76% from 49 job postings in February 2021 to 92 in March 2021.
The top hiring sectors by two-digit NAICS shows Retail Trade as the top hiring sector with 640 job postings, up 72.04% from the previous month. Retail Trade was listed as the third hiring sector in February 2021 with 372 job postings. Accommodation and Food Services was up 82.58%, from 132 job postings in February 2021 to 241 job postings. Manufacturing was up 40.1% from the previous month, with 552 job postings from 394 job postings in February 2021.
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.
