Recession Has Changed the Rules of the Hiring Game

By Sarah Diebel

One effect of the recession that officially took hold about a year ago this month has been an overstocked pond full of unemployed talent just waiting to be fished out. As a result, employers have a luxury rare to hard times - they can now get more for less.

The unemployed, who are already willing to accept jobs for less compensation than they previously earned, can also expect contracts to include probationary periods, termination clauses and other unfavorable fine print. Furthermore, employers are increasingly eliminating the permanent full-time position altogether and replacing it with temporary fixed-term contracts without benefits, pensions and other incentives.

For more information on how the recent increase in hiring has been tempered by a decrease in employee entitlements, read the Globe & Mail Business Report here.

For more information on contractual hiring practices, see Daniel Lublin's advice to both employers and employees and employers.

Sarah Diebel is a lawyer with Whitten & Lublin LLP, an employment law firm providing counsel to both employers and employees on workplace matters. Sarah can be reached at sarah@whittenlublin.com.