This is my third post regarding job vacancies in the arts. My previous ones were published in June and October, showing that there were historically high job vacancy rates in the broader arts, heritage, and entertainment sector. New data were published on December 19, 2022, relating to the third quarter of 2022 (i.e., July to September). For today’s post, I’ve added a brief analysis of labour force challenges reported by organizations and businesses in the arts, heritage, and entertainment.

Many organizations report challenges in recruiting and retaining staff, but there has been a significant shift in the job vacancy rate in the most recent data.

Note: Arts, heritage, and entertainment (which Statistics Canada refers to as “arts, entertainment, and recreation”) include performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries, heritage institutions, as well as amusement, gambling, and recreation industries.

Statistics Canada publishes job vacancy data for payroll employees only.

Many organizations are facing labour force challenges

In the third quarter of 2022, 35% of organizations in the arts, heritage, and entertainment expected labour force shortages to be an obstacle for them over the following three months. About one-quarter (23%) expected retaining skilled employees to be a challenge. (Source: Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0534-01  Business or organization obstacles over the next three months, third quarter of 2022)

The following graph shows that the staffing challenges have likely worsened. Among those arts, heritage, and entertainment organizations with labour force challenges, a majority (54%) indicate that it has become more challenging to recruit and retain staff over the past year. Only 8% believe that recruitment and retention challenges have lessened, while 38% believe that the level of challenge has remained about the same.

The remainder of today’s analysis examines the shift in the national job vacancy rate, similarities and differences across the country, comparisons with other sectors of the economy, and the average wage offered for open positions.

The job vacancy rate decreased in the summer of 2022

In the third quarter of 2022, there were 17,400 job vacancies and 326,300 payroll employees in the broader arts, heritage, and entertainment sector.

The job vacancy rate decreased significantly in the third quarter of 2022, with important decreases across the country. While the rate is relatively high by pre-pandemic standards, it is the lowest rate since early 2021. However, the sector’s job vacancy rate is typically lowest in the summer months, and we will have to await fourth quarter data to examine the staying power of this lower level.

Note about seasonal fluctuations: Statistics Canada also publishes seasonally adjusted data for Canada (but not for the provinces). I have chosen to focus on the unadjusted data, which reflect “real” conditions in the sector at a given point in time. The unadjusted counts of job vacancies and positions (and therefore the job vacancy rate) are the actual numbers during the period. Whether changes are typical for a certain time of year is of secondary interest, in my view. That being said, it is noteworthy that the seasonally adjusted job vacancy rate rose slightly in the third quarter, which may indicate that the unadjusted decrease mostly reflected a typical summertime decrease.

After a full year at very high rates, the job vacancy rate decreased to 5.1% in the summer of 2022

This is equal to the highest pre-pandemic rate but well below the spikes in the second quarters of 2021 (8.4%) and 2022 (7.8%).

The following graph shows the changes over time, not seasonally adjusted. (Note that there is a gap in the graph for the second and third quarters of 2020, when data on job vacancies were not collected.)

The job vacancy rate decreased across the country

In all provinces with reliable data, the job vacancy rate in the arts, heritage, and entertainment decreased substantially between the second and third quarters of 2022, as depicted in the following graph.

Historically, the sector’s job vacancy rate has been lowest in the summer, but this may have changed post-pandemic. When available, fourth quarter data will allow us to better understand the staying power of the lower rate.

The job vacancy rate is now similar to many other sectors

In the second quarter of 2022, the job vacancy rate in the sector (7.8%) was among the highest rates across the Canadian economy. That has changed:

In the third quarter of 2022, the job vacancy rate in the arts, heritage, and entertainment was in line with the national average and many other sectors of the economy, as shown in the following graph.

However, the seasonally adjusted rate in the arts, heritage, and entertainment remains above the seasonally adjusted national average (as has been the case since the second quarter of 2021).

Wages remain low

The average hourly wage offered by employers for vacant positions in the arts, heritage, and entertainment ($18.85) was 22% below the economy-wide average ($24.20) in the third quarter of 2022. The following graph illustrates that the wage offering of $18.85 is the third lowest among the 20 broad industry sectors tracked by Statistics Canada.

Link to the data source on job vacancies

Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0326-01. Job vacancies, payroll employees, job vacancy rate, and average offered hourly wage by industry sector, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410032601.