Employment Hero launches Canada SMB Insight Engine

Employment Hero has launched a new quarterly research programme in Canada that tracks sentiment and operational pressures among small and mid-sized businesses, as new survey results point to hiring difficulties, administrative workload and burnout concerns alongside steady near-term confidence.

The company said its SMB Insight Engine will run every quarter and report on confidence, challenges and priorities across the Canadian small and mid-sized business sector. The inaugural survey covered more than 500 employers and focused on business planning and workforce pressures.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they felt confident about the next six months. The survey recorded 63% as confident and 15% as not confident. The results also highlighted signs of caution in business planning.

Thirty percent of those surveyed said they prioritised cost-cutting over growth investments. The data also pointed to hiring and cash flow pressures as leading concerns. Twenty-three percent cited hiring as a top concern, and 23% cited cash flow pressure at the same rate.

Hiring pressures

The survey described recruitment conditions as tight for many employers. Forty-one percent said they struggle to find qualified candidates. Wage expectations also emerged as a sticking point for some businesses, with 27% listing them as a key workplace challenge.

Retention also featured among the operational challenges identified by respondents. One in five businesses, or 20%, said employee turnover remains an ongoing issue. The survey framed turnover as a cost that can remain less visible than other line items.

The findings set out a range of pressures that owners and managers face in addition to hiring. The survey results included HR and people-management tasks that can add to workload and consume time during periods of constrained resources.

Silent strain

A quarter of respondents said employee burnout is a growing concern. The survey recorded 25% on that measure. It also identified onboarding and performance reviews as a significant time sink for some employers.

Eighteen percent of respondents said onboarding and performance reviews are their most time-consuming HR tasks. The result suggests that recurring people processes remain a bottleneck in a sizeable group of small and mid-sized businesses.

The survey results also indicated a desire among owners to reduce manual work. More than a third, or 37%, said automation would help cut manual tasks.

Technology investment

The research also pointed to confidence in using new tools. Seventy-four percent of respondents said they feel confident navigating new technology. A separate result indicated investment plans.

Forty-seven percent said they are currently investing in technology to prepare for the future. The survey also recorded 37% as actively seeking ways to streamline manual processes, matching the response on automation as a priority.

Employment Hero sells HR, payroll, and recruitment software. It positions the new research programme as a mechanism for tracking changes in business confidence and operational constraints over time.

Employment Hero said it will use the quarterly insights in policy discussions and in product development. The company did not give further detail in the announcement on the topics planned for future releases of the SMB Insight Engine beyond continued tracking of confidence, challenges and priorities.

Employment Hero Interim CEO KJ Lee linked the findings to business decision-making under uncertainty.

"Canadian SMBs are incredibly resilient," said KJ Lee, Interim CEO, Employment Hero Canada. "What this research shows is that business owners are planning through pressure. They're looking for smarter, more sustainable ways to run their businesses, support their teams and protect their financial future, even when the outlook feels uncertain. The SMB Insight Engine is our commitment to listening closely to these businesses and using those insights to make employment easier, quarter after quarter."

The SMB Insight Engine will continue on a quarterly cadence, with future surveys intended to monitor shifts in confidence and workforce priorities among Canadian small and mid-sized businesses.