2025 Canada Hiring Plans and Challenges

Despite economic uncertainty, many businesses are planning to expand hiring and maintain headcounts in the second half of 2025. Across professions, employers report challenges in finding candidates with the specialized skills their teams need to succeed. 

Our research shows short-term project demands are a top driver for adding staff. Meanwhile, the risks of delayed hiring are growing. In many organizations, employee burnout is rising and team engagement is declining.

Nearly 7 in 10 employers are increasing their use of skilled contract talent to keep critical work moving forward. Engaging flexible staffing resources provides organizations with fast access to in-demand expertise and the ability to quickly adjust team size and capabilities as workloads fluctuate and business needs change. 

A Robert Half survey of more than 1,500 business leaders shows that 58% are planning to hire for new permanent roles in the second half of 2025, 5% to implement a hiring freeze, and only 1% intend to reduce headcount.

The data suggests that the demand for skilled talent—including professionals with emerging capabilities—remains steady, even as businesses navigate rapid change and uncertain economic conditions.

of employers are hiring for new permanent positions. of employers are hiring for new permanent positions.

are hiring only for vacated permanent positions. are hiring only for vacated permanent positions.

Businesses of all sizes plan to expand their teams in the months ahead, according to our data on job market trends. In response, companies may need to adjust their hiring strategies.

Expanding
teams Maintaining
teams Freezing hiring/
eliminating
roles Expanding
teams Maintaining
teams Freezing hiring/
eliminating
roles

Make sense of shifting job market dynamics

Our Labour Market Overview puts the latest reports from Statistics Canada in context. Get data on employment trends and unemployment numbers, as well as our exclusive analyses of job posting data.

Get the latest info

Not considering
soft skills or
work culture fit Improper
assessment of
tech skills Didn’t properly
communicate
job description Skipped thorough
reference
checks Reliance on
local candidate
pool Not considering
soft skills or
work culture fit Improper
assessment of
tech skills Didn’t properly
communicate
job description Skipped thorough
reference
checks Reliance on
local candidate
pool

Decreased
productivity Employee
burnout Delayed
project
timelines Inability to
support key
initiatives Lower team
morale Higher
turnover Lost revenue Decreased
productivity Employee
burnout Delayed
project
timelines Inability to
support key
initiatives Lower team
morale Higher
turnover Lost revenue

In a Robert Half survey, business leaders shared the top benefits of partnering with a staffing firm. Beyond accelerated hiring timelines, these include:

of business leaders said working with a staffing firm helped them hire faster without skipping essential hiring steps. of business leaders said working with a staffing firm helped them hire faster without skipping essential hiring steps.

At Robert Half, we know talent

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*Statistics Canada, seasonally adjusted, August 2025.

The surveys cited were developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Results may not total 100% due to rounding or allowing for multiple responses. Respondents included executives and hiring managers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000-plus employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across Canada.

Over 420,000 new positions from more than 5,400 unique independent job boards and company websites provided by TextKernel are represented in our analysis of in-demand roles, including 6,300-plus placements from Robert Half. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources professions.