UPEI SUN Jan. 27, 1983

2

.— JOBS FOR PROFESSIONALS LOWEST EVER 1

Job openings for acc- ountants, executives, eng- ineers, scientists and oth— er professionals plunged to another record low at the end of December, accord— ing to the Technical Ser— vice Council/ Le Conseil de Placement Professionel, a national industry-spon— sored placenent service and personnel consulting firm.

Vacancies decreased 30%

in the last three months, and 81% in the last year, TSC's quarterly survey re- ported. Only 659 vacancies were reported, compared to 3,414 a year ago and 4,328 in June, 1981.

The survey is based on job listings by 1,700 enmr loyers frtnlcoast to coast. It is representative of vac— ‘ancies in manufacturing, rune ing, construction, consult- ing and service organizations bu not institutions and gov— ernments.

Ontario reported the lar— gest number of vacancies, followed, in order, by Al— berta, B.C., Quebec and Man- itoba. For many years, Quebec ranked second in job vacan— cies for professionals, with about two—thirds as many open ings as Ontario. Recently it has ranked third or fourth.

Not one of the 99 spec— ialties surveyed reported more than 65 vacancies. Several dozen occupations, like mineral geologists, reported fewer than 10 open— ings each. In mid—1981, 11 specialties reported 100 to 340 vacancies each.

" The number of job vacancies for professionals is a leading indicator, often giving 6 to 12 months warn- ing of an improvenent in general enployment", says Neil MacDougall, president, Technical Service Council.

" Unfortunately, there are no signs of an upturn".

" Many'enmfloyers are so concerned about survival that their layoffs have included muscle as well as fat. When the upturn does come, vac- ancies for part-time and

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contract enployees will im— prove first."

"Cknmanies are review— ing and upgrading their newemmuent staffs. As'a result, samelnxmrflgyed executives on our r och ation counselling programs have found positions hdthr in one to three months af-

ter lay-off. Often the jobs are not advertized."

layoffs have been part- icularly numerous in suppw ort departnents like public relations, research, corpor— ate planning, aviation, tr- aining, and personel. Open— ings for personal and indus- trial relations nanagers are only a fifth of those list- ed a year ago.

Vacancies have decresed as dramatically for junior chemical engineers, chemical process engineers, purchas- ing agents, structural des— igners, electrical engineer- ing designers, plant elect— rical engineers, sysbens analysts, computer program— mers, plamt engineers, min- ing engineers and accountants

Previous recessions have barely affected accountants. Accounting was one of the two occupations in great— est demand. Recently, how ever, numerous accountants have been layed off by manufacturers and accoun— ting firms.

Demand for experienced computer purxnfimnners and systems analysts is no

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longer strong, but still outranks other occupations. Enpfloyers report reduced turnover and a large selec tion of candidates. Conseqq 1

,uently, recruiters are more

selective, shying away from applicants who have chang— ed jobs often.

Other occupations in relatively strong demand include experienced elec— tronic engineers, electr- onec technologists and petroleun engineers.

Job prospects for the 1983 university and com- munity college graduating classes are depressing. A survey of over 40 large and’ medium sized companies show- ed that they expect to hire only one fifth as many gra— duates as in 1982. One company which hired 55 grade uates last year expects to hire only one this year.

Even, ineerin .CUfifit <=' Eng 9' " ‘ seCured job offers threugh~"

‘the TSC. There is up charge ,

erce and crmunuxar science' graduates are‘experiencing“’“ diffuculty. Mining engin- eering graduates at one university are prepared to consider labouring jobs in the mines. One graduate has offerd to work for not- hing in order to gain ex— perience.

vacancies for executives in the $35,000 to $150,000 per year range decreased 49%

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in the last year, according to a separate survey by Bryce Haultain,& Associates. Alt— hough the number of openings for executives of all kinds decreased, vacancies for , final executives outnudggxil any other kind (33%). The proportion of executive op- enings in engineering, sci~ ence and personnel decreased sharply.

The Technical Service Council/Le Oonseuil de Pla- cement Professionnel is a non—profit phmuaman:service and personnel consulting firm run by the industry. It was set up in 1927, when 20% to 30% of the graduating class- es in engineering and science were enugrating to the United States.

To crntxrt this “brain drain", the TSC operates a coast to coast placenau: service. An estimated V 43. 000 men wanenlbave .

to job hunters- I__ _

‘ TSC has offices in Mon- treal, Teronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and vanr couver. The service is finr anced by over 1,300 canpan— ies.

Bryce, Haultain & Assoc— iates, a TSC affiliate, Sp» ecia;izes in executive sear- ch and relocation counselling

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