With news coming almost daily of companies making layoffs, Canadian tech can currently feel very doom and gloom.
However, many Canadian and international companies are still hiring despite the macroeconomic environment.
“There still are a lot of companies that are hiring and are growing.”
Nora Jenkins Townson, founder of human resources consultancy Bright + Early, acknowledged that there are more companies making layoffs than usual but indicated she is still seeing plenty of companies that are not.
“There still are a lot of companies that are hiring and are growing,” she told BetaKit, adding that the influx of layoffs has actually made it easier for those companies to find talent.
The latter part is notable as the market for startups to find and retain talent has become more difficult in recent years. The advent of remote work and an increase in international companies taking advantage of Canada’s talent pool had left many smaller companies in the lurch.
But with companies like Shopify laying off 1,000 employees and Meta, which had planned to hire as many as 2,500 over the next five years, slowing its hiring, the pressure has eased up a bit, according to Jenkins Townson.
“It kind of depends on the role; when the market was really hot last year, you couldn’t find a recruiter to save your life and now it’s like everybody has laid off recruiters,” said Jenkins Townson.
Related: Amid recent Canadian tech layoff wave, Communitech brings The Help List back
Job types that Jenkins Townson has seen most affected by the layoffs are marketing, design, recruiting, and customer service, while engineering remains in high demand.
Other trends that Jenkins Townson has seen include companies making layoffs more thoughtfully, and increased focus on creating positive work environments to retain “key top talents.”
Many companies still have to tighten their belts, however, even if they aren’t making layoffs. Jenkins Townson noted that the current funding environment is playing a big part in that.
Jenkins Townson says the companies currently hiring are the ones that were able to secure capital ahead of, or despite, the current funding environment – ones that didn’t lose out on what she called the “funding musical chairs” game played over the past couple of years.
And while the list of companies making staff reductions continues to grow, there seem to be even more companies that are still hiring in Canada. A recent Tweet by BetaKit asking what companies are hiring garnered responses from more than 100 companies – showing there is still growth in Canadian tech and a desire for Canadian talent.
Below is an incomplete list that BetaKit has compiled to show that many Canadian tech companies are still hiring amid the wave of layoffs.
If you want to add your company you can fill out this form here.
Feature image source Burst.