- Seasonal Hiring Peaks in October, Drops in November
- How Canadian Employers Are Responding to Business, Economic Pressures
- Report: AI Adoption Driving Significant Organizational Change
- California State Workers Strike Over Rewards Elements
- Figures and Facts of the Week
Seasonal Hiring Peaks in October, Drops in November
Seasonal hiring is in full effect, according to a new report by employment website Monster.
In an analysis of seasonal job postings from August through December in 2024 and 2025, the data showed:
- Seasonal posting activity increased 44% from August to September 2025, then continued rising by just 3.6% from September to October.
- Even excluding delivery and driving roles, September activity was 31% higher than August.
- September and October accounted for nearly half of August-through-December activity in both 2024 and 2025.
- Seasonal activity fell approximately 24% from October to November in both years.
Many of the categories associated with the fall seasonal ramp concentrated their activity within the September-October window, including:
- Retail and merchandising
- Warehouse and logistics
- Delivery and driving
- Internships and early career opportunities
- Tax, accounting and finance
Additionally, fewer than 3% of job postings identified as seasonal in any month analyzed in 2025 included terms such as “seasonal,” “holiday,” “temporary,” “summer,” “winter” or “Christmas” in the job title.
How Canadian Employers Are Responding to Business, Economic Pressures
Seventy-seven percent of Canadian employers have taken at least one workforce-related action in response to business or economic pressures over the past year, according to a new survey by employment law firm Littler.
Drawing from a survey of 200 executives at organizations across a range of industries and company sizes, the data showed:
- Paused or reduced hiring was the most common response, cited by 46% of respondents, followed by layoffs or reductions in force (35%), and increased use of automation or artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce labor needs (28%).
- Among employers that took workforce actions, 83% said U.S. tariff-related disruptions contributed to their decisions.
Canadian employers also are facing legal and regulatory pressures as they deal with new and evolving requirements at the federal and provincial levels. The data found:
- 55% have updated job postings to address pay transparency requirements and expectations.
- 37% have conducted pay equity, compensation or pay gap reviews.
- Among those with Québec operations or employees, just 40% have developed or updated prevention programs, policies or action plans to address new psychosocial risk requirements.
Flexible and hybrid work arrangements remain widespread, with half of respondents citing increased required on-site workdays over the past two years.
Among those employers:
- 91% reported more requests based on personal workplace preference.
- 81% reported some increase in remote work requests based on protected grounds.
- 59% of respondents reported increased requests for leaves or accommodations related to employee mental health.
AI is already affecting how Canadian employers approach workflows and hiring:
- 44% of respondents have reassessed or are reassessing job responsibilities as the result of tech implementation.
- 36% have reduced or are reducing hiring.
- 33% have made or are making workforce reductions.
At the same time, fewer than half report having a formal workplace AI policy (49%) or a formal review or approval process for AI tools or use cases (42%).
Report: AI Adoption Driving Significant Organizational Change
AI is rewriting jobs more than it’s cutting them, according to an October 2026 Global Workforce Report by HR software company Workday.
The report found 40% of business leaders expect AI to help them get more out of the employees they already have, while just 28% expect it to reduce headcount. At the same time, moves to new roles inside the same company fell at 57% of employers, promotions stayed flat, and nearly 40% of employees said their company went through a reorganization or restructuring in the past year.
Other key findings included:
- Demand for basic AI skills (e.g., simple prompting) rose through late 2025, peaked in January 2026 and then fell 25% over the following months.
- Demand for hands-on skills like building AI tools, automating workflows and AI engineering rose steadily, climbing 51% between September 2025 and July 2026.
- 79% of workers said they know what skills they need to succeed, but only 66% said their employer actually helps them develop those skills.
- 62% of those who use AI for nearly all their work said they think it will make their current skills less valuable.
- Voluntary turnover sat at roughly 16% a year, and about 70% of employees are still with the same employer two years later, but across every industry analyzed, employees who plan to stay are less likely to recommend their employer to others.
“Employees may not be changing jobs, but their jobs are changing around them,” said Phil Willburn, the vice president of people systems, intelligence and support at Workday. “Leaders need to be honest about what’s different and give people a way to keep up.”
California State Workers Strike Over Rewards Elements
According to news reports, California state workers began a one-day strike Wednesday, Oct. 21, over a return-to-office mandate, pay and healthcare.
Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1000, the largest union for California government workers — representing more than 100,000 employees, including auditors, nurses and counselors — voted to strike earlier this month, accusing the state of failing to bargain in good faith after their contract expired in June.
State workers were protesting an order to return to the office four days a week by July 1, 2026. The union argued that remote work saves the state money it would otherwise spend on office space and improves people’s work-life balance. The union also is pushing the state to raise workers’ salaries by 20% over the next three years and increase the state contribution toward employees’ healthcare costs.
Figures and Facts of the Week
- 83: The percentage of Americans who experienced moderate to higher levels of burnout at work, according to a new report by insurance company Aflac. The highest rate of at least moderate burnout of all generations was Generation X (89%), compared to millennials (84%) and Generation Z (73%).
- 78: The percentage of U.S. men who have concealed stress, burnout or mental health struggles at work to appear strong or professional, according to a survey by career website LiveCareer. Men identified the following workplace changes would most improve their mental health: more flexible work arrangements (33%); more manageable workloads (31%); additional paid time off for mental health (28%); and affordable, confidential mental health services (20%).
- 78: The percentage of global talent leaders who said social signals, such as mutual connections, endorsements and comments, will play a greater role in hiring decisions, according to a Future of Talent Report by employment website LinkedIn .
- 66: The percentage of workers in the U.S. and UK who believe they need to leave their current employer to advance their career, according to a Talent Mobility At Work in 2026 report by human capital management platform SHL.
- 36: The percentage of U.S. employees who said they were financially secure, down from 46% in 2019, according to the 2026 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey by consulting firm WTW.
- 32: The percentage of UK workers who worry that seeking support through their employer could affect their career or job security, according to new research by mental health platform Kara Connect.
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