50% of entrepreneurs to increase workforces

TORONTO — Canadian entrepreneurs are a leading source of job creation, with 50% of them expecting to increase their global workforce this year, according to the EY global job creation and youth entrepreneurship survey.

This is in contrast to the hiring plans of senior corporate executives. Only 4% are expecting to create jobs in the next year, as reported in EY’s recently released Canadian Capital Confidence Barometer.

The 2015 study surveyed 2,345 entrepreneurs about their hiring plans.

It shows 68% reporting confidence in the economic direction of Canada and 55% reporting confidence in the economic direction of the global economy. EY says these numbers are close to those of the US, where 70% of entrepreneurs are confident about the domestic economy and 58% are confident about the global economy.

There is, however, clear geographical deviation with China (95%), India (90%) and Middle East/North Africa (90%), showing the highest confidence in the global economy, and France (52%), Australia (51%) and Japan (49%) showing the lowest, which is a reflection of overall economic conditions in those geographies.