39% of unemployed Canadians have given up looking for a job: survey
A recent survey conducted by Harris Poll, commissioned by Express Employment Professionals, has found that 39 per cent of Canadians who do not have a job have completely given up looking for work.
It sought unemployed Canadians age 18 and older who are capable of working, whether they receive employment insurance or not.
“The results of this survey should serve as a wakeup call to policymakers that some unemployed Canadians are falling behind,” said Bob Funk, CEO and chairman of the board for Express Employment Professionals. “If left unchecked, they could fall into a trap of prolonged unemployment and risk being left out of the workforce entirely.”
Of the 39 per cent of respondents who agree with the statement “I’ve completely given up on looking for a job,” 5 per cent said they “agree completely,” 5 per cent “agree a lot,” 11 per cent “agree somewhat” and 17 per cent “agree a little.”
While 94 per cent agree that they are “working hard to find a job,” 32 per cent say they spent just five or fewer hours looking for work in the last week. Only 8 per cent spent persisted, reporting that they spent more than 31 hours per week looking for employment.
56 per cent say they “haven’t had to look for work as hard” thanks to unemployment insurance.
Approximately two-thirds report two or fewer interviews in the month prior to completing the survey, while 36 per cent reported not having any job interviews over the last month. The margin widens significantly to 61 per cent for those unemployed for more than two years.
37 per cent are “not at all willing” to relocate to a new city or town for a job and 62 per cent are not at all willing to move to another province to find work.
51 per cent have no plans to go back to school to make them more marketable. 13 per cent are currently enrolled in classes and 10 per cent have already attended classes or earned a new degree.
A companion survey in the United States released earlier in the week showed that 47 per cent of Americans have completely given up looking for work.
Featured Image: Couch potato via Shutterstock
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