Holiday hiring is set to get tighter as small firms say no to staffing up

Three in four Canadian small businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors said they’re not planning to hire seasonal staff for the holidays, according to a new poll.

Most small business owners, particularly in the retail and hospitality sectors, are feeling the pinch from the economic uncertainty in Canada and say they will not be hiring additional staff this holiday season, a new survey suggests.

Three in four (76 per cent) of Canadian small businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors said they’re not planning to hire seasonal staff for the holidays, according to a poll by Canadian fintech firm Merchant Growth.

Merchant Growth’s poll, which surveyed 60 retail and hospitality businesses, found that of the businesses that do plan to hire extra staff, 21 per cent said they will hire fewer people this year than in previous years.

Small businesses are entering this year’s holiday season “with their guard up,” Joe Cote, chief growth officer at Merchant Growth, said.

“For many, it’s not that customers have disappeared; it’s that the cost of meeting demand has climbed faster than sales. Wages, rent and supplies are all up, and business owners are still waiting for signs of a rebound in consumer confidence,” Cote said.

The biggest reason businesses cited was not being able to afford to pay extra wages this year, the survey found, with 28 per cent citing that as their number one challenge.

Another 21 per cent said they were unable to find qualified workers to fill their labour gaps.

Businesses are expecting Canadians to shop less this holiday season, the survey found, with 15 per cent saying their sales outlook was “uncertain.”