• According to the Q4 2024 Indeed Job Seeker Survey, 44% of Canadian job seekers expressed confidence they could find work quickly in late 2024, down from the roughly 51% share that had prevailed between 2022 and early 2024. 
  • Confidence was especially weak among the unemployed, though employed job seekers looking for a change were also more pessimistic during the second half of 2024 compared to the three years prior. 
  • Minimum acceptable annual starting salaries reported by active job seekers have edged down following a jump in 2022, from an average of $54,500 in early 2023 to $52,000 in late 2024. 

Canadian job seekers have borne the brunt of the weaker labour market. Workers comfortably employed have benefited from solid job security, but those looking to land a first job, find re-employment, or change employers are facing a challenging environment. These challenges are increasingly hurting job seeker sentiment.

Canadian job seekers actively looking for work were less confident they could find a job quickly in the third and fourth quarters of 2024 than at any point over the prior three years, according to the Q4 2024 Indeed Job Seeker Survey. Overall, 44% of active job seekers in Q4 said they were either somewhat or very confident they could find a new job within the next month. The share had been relatively stable at about 51% between 2022 and early 2024, before the recent decline.

Line chart titled “Job seeker confidence has dropped” shows the share of Canadian active job seekers who reported being at least somewhat confident they could find work within the next month between September 2021 and December 2024. Different coloured lines show the share for those working, those not working, and job seekers overall. As of late 2024, confidence among all three groups was down compared to 2022 and 2023.
Line chart titled “Job seeker confidence has dropped” shows the share of Canadian active job seekers who reported being at least somewhat confident they could find work within the next month between September 2021 and December 2024. Different coloured lines show the share for those working, those not working, and job seekers overall. As of late 2024, confidence among all three groups was down compared to 2022 and 2023.

Unemployed Canadians reported an especially sharp drop in confidence. Only about a third (34%) of those out of work and actively searching said they were at least somewhat confident they could find a job quickly in Q4, down from 45% in mid-2023. Meanwhile, the share of employed job seekers who said they were confident slipped somewhat less, from 54% to 48% over the same period. Still, both groups are more pessimistic than in recent years. 

Minimum acceptable salaries have edged down as well

Declining optimism in the ability to quickly land a role is also likely starting to influence the quality of opportunities job seekers are willing to accept. The average lowest annual salary active job seekers reported they would accept jumped amid surging inflation in 2022, from $48,000 at the start of that year to $54,500 in Q1 2023. Minimum starting salaries edged up further afterward but slipped back in 2024, to an average of $52,000 by Q4. 

Line chart titled “Job seeker wage requirements have edged lower recently” shows the average minimum acceptable annual starting salary of active Canadian job seekers between September 2021 and December 2024. Different coloured lines show the share for those working, those not working, and job seekers overall. The overall minimum acceptable salary slipped from $54,500 to $52,000 between early 2023 and late 2024. 
Line chart titled “Job seeker wage requirements have edged lower recently” shows the average minimum acceptable annual starting salary of active Canadian job seekers between September 2021 and December 2024. Different coloured lines show the share for those working, those not working, and job seekers overall. The overall minimum acceptable salary slipped from $54,500 to $52,000 between early 2023 and late 2024. 

This recent decline was milder than the drop in perceptions about finding work but is still consistent with a dim outlook shared among job seekers, especially after factoring in ongoing inflation. The downtick in minimum acceptable salaries also suggests wage growth could cool in 2025, consistent with weaker overall labour market conditions, after surprisingly strong pay growth in 2024. 

Whether the situation can turn around in 2025 will hinge on whether the economy can generate stronger employer demand, as well as the potential impacts of slower population growth. However, with economic uncertainty spiking amid Canada-US trade tensions, it’s tough to expect a bounce-back anytime soon.

Methodology

The Indeed Job Search Survey is a quarterly online survey of 10,000 Canadian adults ages 18-64, most recently conducted in December 2024. Weights were applied to match respondent distributions across age, educational attainment, and time spent in Canada with the Labour Force Survey public-use microfile data from January 2021 through June 2021.

The two questions focused on in this analysis were: 

1) How much do you agree with the following statement about your current job search? 1-5 scale — (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree): I am confident I can find a new job in the next month. 

2) Suppose someone offered you a job today in a line of work that you would consider. What is the lowest yearly salary you would accept (BEFORE taxes and other deductions) for this job?