This year, in the face of soaring living costs and a recession that must not be named, Canadian workers and employers showed remarkable grit, adaptability and patience. Everyone waited with bated breath for interest rates to come down, and when they finally did, along came the U.S. election, which threw more uncertainty into the mix.
Still, looking back at some of our top Financial Post work stories of the past year, one word comes to mind: resilience. There were layoffs at BCE, CoruS, Enbridge, and Lion Electric, to name a few. There were tighter budgets, higher levels of burnout, and labour unrest across land, sea and sky (CP and CN Rail; ports in Montreal, Vancouver and Prince Rupert; Westjet and Air Canada) — not to mention the pre-holiday shutdown at Canada Post.
We’ve had ballooning bureaucracies, a productivity emergency, mental health crises, and an ongoing tug of war between remote and in-office work. (The winner? Hybrid!)
What better way to summarize the “Working-Year That Was” than to list FP’s 10 most popular work-related stories of 2024. So, without further ado:
Young Canadians think retiring at 65 is an outdated concept: Views on retirement are shifting dramatically as the cost of living rises and longer life expectancies become the norm
Anti-woke sentiment creeps into workplaces as views on DEI start to sour, research shows. Workers’ opinions on such measures have become more negative over the past year
1 in 3 Canadians are moonlighting on company time: survey. Main reasons for working two gigs at the same time are to increase savings and cover expenses
Working from home doesn’t always mean working from ‘home,’ survey finds: 43 per cent have worked from either a cottage or a different city
More Canadian businesses implementing 4-day workweeks, study says. Number of workplaces implementing four-day schedules rose 34 per cent in the past year alone
Employers report hiring ‘underqualified’ staff due to cuts in recruitment budgets. 71 per cent of employers have hired ‘underqualified’ talent due to cost-cutting measures, survey says
Young nurses are leaving over working conditions, study says. Number of nurses leaving the profession before they turn 35 up sharply in recent years
‘The Big Stay’: Canadians are switching jobs less often as economic concerns deepen. 77 per cent of Canadian professionals say fears around job security are preventing them from moving jobs
Ghost jobs and being ‘ghosted’ rank as major complaints among people looking for work. Beat finding a position with a salary ‘that meets their needs’ as top concern
Almost half of white-collar workers would quit if asked to work in the office more, poll says. 46 per cent of Canada’s workers would threaten to switch jobs if asked to increase their in-office workdays
