Financial Hiring Heats Up In Line With Overall Economy
Financial employment in Canada is gaining steam alongside a rapid pickup in economy-wide job growth.
Canada's finance sector added a net 10,500 jobs during April. During the past 12 months, payroll jobs in finance, insurance, real estate and leasing sector swelled by 34,300 or 3.2 percent.
Demand for financial services professionals has been "crazy" hot and recruiters face pressure to complete assignments more quickly, remarks Nathalie Francisci, executive vice president at Mandrake Groupe Conseil in Montréal. "I'm leading the financial services practice and I am the busiest one here," Francisci says. She notes hefty demand for insurance professionals and pension fund managers, as well as strong interest in asset management talent for those specializing in sales, client services and product management.
The pickup in finance sector employment is part of a broad-based surge last month in most service industry classifications, as well as construction. Overall, April's seasonally adjusted gain of 108,700 jobs accounted for more than half the cumulative growth in payrolls in Canada over the past 12 months.
