Opportunities for Canadian employers in 2024

Workplaces are currently undergoing significant changes due to complex global megatrends, such as technological disruption, demographic shifts and climate change. In our 2024 Hopes and Fears Survey, we tracked the sentiments of employees in Canada and globally to learn more about how they’re adapting.

What they told us showed us that more than ever, employers have a critical role to play. They need to learn and adapt just as quickly as—or perhaps even faster than—their people, and they need to take responsibility for creating conditions that will support their people as they learn what they’ll need to succeed in the future world of work.

We’ve identified three key actions for employers to take based on our Canadian Hopes and Fears Survey findings.

Our first chart compares the responses of Canadian employees and CEOs in two separate surveys (Hopes and Fears and our latest CEO Survey). The surveys show a significant gap between workers’ and top executives’ thoughts about the extent to which generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) will increase bias in their organization. We know employees may have concerns around bias in tools that ingest personal information, such as GenAI. For example, we’ve observed employee reservations about the potential for discrimination against certain groups of people and misinformation.

While it’s unclear whether this difference is due to a lack of clear communication about actions employers are taking to mitigate bias in GenAI tools or a real blind spot for employers, it’s nonetheless an important concern for employers to address.

Questions:

Thinking about the potential impact of GenAI tools on your career, to what extent do you agree or disagree GenAI will increase bias in your organization that impacts employees like you? (Showing net Canadian employees who agreed)

To what extent do you agree or disagree GenAI is likely to increase bias towards specific groups of customers/employees? (Showing net Canadian CEO Survey respondents who agreed)

Employers shouldn’t underestimate the sensitivity and social astuteness of their people. This is an opportunity to assess how transparent you’ve been about ethical and responsible use of data and communicate this to your employees. The good news is employers don’t need to have all the answers if they’re willing to involve their people and leverage the wisdom in the system. Ask your employees: What would make the use of GenAI tools more fair? What would help you trust the technology?

The roots of good customer experience start at home. Use employee sentiment around these issues to make sure you get your approach right before going externally to consumers, many of whom will share the same concerns.

Our second chart compares the extent to which Canadian and global employees are motivated by opportunities to learn new skills, asked in the context of whether to stay with their current employer or switch to a new one. Here we see a notable difference between Canadian and global employees, with Canadian employees lagging in terms of appetite for and likelihood to value opportunities to learn new skills.

Question:

Thinking about your decision to stay with your current employer or switch to a new one, to what extent would opportunities to learn new skills influence that decision?

When we pair this with our survey finding that more than one-third (38%) of Canadian employees believe their profession will be fundamentally changed by GenAI in less than five years, a clear picture of an employee group needing support emerges.

Employers need to invest in upskilling their people, as well as empower their leaders and people to build a stronger growth mindset. For leaders, the first step is to nurture your own growth mindset. Be willing to upskill, let go of legacy tech and learn something you openly declare is difficult. The goal is to create psychological safety for everybody so people invest in themselves, take advantage of upskilling opportunities, experiment and learn the skills they’ll need to thrive in a changing world of work.

Productivity is becoming an important business issue, and employers who can help their people reframe changes into opportunities will be an integral part of the solution.

Our third chart highlights Canadian employees’ biggest concerns about climate change. When asked about the ways they expect climate change will impact their job, the response selected by the highest number of respondents (41%) is that climate change will introduce health and safety risks in their workplace.

Question:

In what ways do you think climate change will impact your job?

As employers move beyond risk assessment to build a sustainable workforce strategy that’s integrated into their business strategy, they’ll need to consider both the direct and indirect impacts of climate change. This includes some of the more dramatic physical effects of climate change, such as wildfires, flooding and hurricanes.

Employers must communicate not only what the organization is doing about climate change, but also how they’re considering the implications for employee health and well-being. As anxiety around environmental issues increases, mental health will need to be a meaningful part of the conversation.