Hired launches in Canada as talent crunch grows

Hired Toronto

As fast-growing firms from tech hubs in Vancouver to Waterloo and beyond scramble for talent, Hired is launching across Canada to help them meet that need.

Mickiewicz suggested that job boards and recruiting agencies aren’t able to cope with the “incredibly competitive hiring environment.”

The company’s online talent marketplace is trying to change up the job-search game by matching candidates and companies in a faster, more transparent way. Hired wants to put in-demand candidates in more control of the process, make companies be up-front about salary and benefits and ultimately making fielding offers seamless. As of today, Hired is live in Toronto, Ottawa and the Waterloo Region, with Vancouver and Montreal to follow.

“The incredible traction that we’ve seen during our beta period is evidence that there is plenty of pent-up demand for Hired’s offering,” said Hired co-founder and Chief Product Officer Matt Mickiewicz, pointing to a successful four-month beta period that garnered 12,000 applicants and more than 250 companies prior to the official launch. Mickiewicz suggested that job boards and recruiting agencies aren’t able to cope with the “incredibly competitive hiring environment” the country is seeing, particularly for tech-oriented positions, leaving an opportunity for Hired to take on that job in a big way.

While the company is betting on the reputation it has gained in the U.S. over the last three years, Mickiewicz acknowledged that taking on the Canadian market required some tweaks in focus.

“The challenge is that companies are more regionally dispersed here,” he said. “Another difference is the lower salary numbers we see in Canada compared with the USA. But ultimately, the solution we offer is the same, to create a process that focuses on the candidate, not the company. We filter thoroughly to get those candidates who are interested in new jobs and we’re able to get companies putting out signing offers in just 14 days, which is way under industry averages.”

For tech sector employees, this is all good news. According to Hired, some of Canada’s fastest growing companies have already used Hired to make more than $60 million in job offers, with an average salary of $92,000, with programming skillsets in HTML/CSS, Python, JS Node, Android and C/C++ in heavy demand.

The launch is a positive sign for growth generally for Hired, but to keep it going, execution is critical, Mickiewicz said. “Keeping the wheels on the bus when you’re in hyper-growth mode is a challenge. It’s essential to maintain standards and processes, so we train every person in the company thoroughly, for instance in doing interviews and record checks. We’ve got a double-performance review management system that helps hold people accountable.”

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Jonathon Narvey

Jonathon Narvey is a content marketing strategist and BetaKit Senior Editor. Living and working in the heart of downtown Vancouver, he's watched this city's tech hub grow and start to compete on a world-class level. He has learned most of what he knows about tech startups and entrepreneurial spirit by interviewing some of the most innovative thought leaders here and abroad. He's always up for learning something new about the startups, leaders and technologies that are changing our world.

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