Workforce Insights from the 2024 DWA Workforce Survey & Jobs First Durham

The final stop on the 2025 Durham Workforce Authority (DWA) Data Walk brought together two powerful tools for understanding Durham’s labour market: the 2024 DWA Workforce Survey and the Jobs First Durham online platform.

Together, they provide a comprehensive picture of how people in Durham Region live, work, and plan for the future, and how real-time data can help job seekers, employers, and community partners make better decisions.

The 2024 Workforce Survey: A Local Snapshot

Every year, the DWA alternates between its Employer Survey and Workforce Survey, capturing both sides of the labour market, supply and demand. The 2024 Workforce Survey focused on the supply side, gathering data from residents across Durham to better understand who makes up the local workforce, their education and employment experiences, and what supports they need to succeed.

The survey received 795 responses, exceeding the sample size required for statistical confidence. DWA staff and partners collected data through extensive outreach, visiting food banks, hosting workshops, and attending community events, to ensure broad participation and representation.

Who Makes Up Durham’s Workforce?

The 2024 survey findings show a highly educated and diverse community:

  • 69.6% of respondents had completed post-secondary education.

  • Durham exceeded provincial and national averages for college and university credential holders — 28.5% higher than Ontario’s average and 67% higher than Canada’s average.

  • The top five fields of study were Business, Education, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Health, and Mathematics/Computer Science.

Age representation was strong across all working-age groups, with the most significant number of respondents aged 30–34. The gender distribution mirrored that of the 2021 Census, with 57% identifying as female and 41% as male.

Employment Patterns and Priorities

Of all respondents, 60% were employed, either full-time, part-time, self-employed, or seasonally, while 22% were unemployed and 11% were students.

Key findings include:

  • A clear connection between education and employment, those with university credentials were most likely to be employed.

  • Work–life balance ranked as the top priority across all employment categories.

  • Among unemployed respondents, 80% wanted to return to work, but 76% felt they needed more hands-on experience to do so.

  • Job fairs and online job boards were the most commonly used job search resources across all groups.

The results highlight a motivated, qualified workforce that is often seeking better opportunities for experience, advancement, and stability.

Community Connection and Retention

Durham residents show strong ties to their community; 79% planned to stay in the region for at least the next five years. Those considering a move cited housing, work opportunities, and family as their top reasons.

Respondents called for improvements in affordable housing, public transportation, healthcare access, and local job opportunities, underscoring the close link between economic development and community well-being.

Jobs First Durham: Turning Data into Action

The Jobs First Durham (JFD) platform transforms workforce data into an accessible, real-time tool for the public. It combines job postings from over 50 online sources, refreshed hourly, to provide the most accurate picture of local labour market activity.

The platform’s 16 interconnected tools fall into four categories:

  1. Career Development Tools – Help individuals explore future careers, learn about required skills, and plan career paths.

  2. Job Search Tools – Pull all local postings into one place, saving job seekers time and helping them compare wages and qualifications.

  3. Community Data Tools – Provide demographic, wage, and occupation data for employers and policymakers.

  4. Reports and Analytics – Give organizations deeper insight into trends, such as top occupations, skills demand, and industry shifts.

What makes JFD unique is its local focus. The data reflects only Durham Region, not provincial or national averages, giving users an authentic view of their local job market.

Employers can use JFD to understand wage trends and competition for talent, while job seekers can use it to find meaningful, well-matched opportunities close to home.

Connecting Research and Reality

The combination of the Workforce Survey and Jobs First Durham tools demonstrates DWA’s commitment to evidence-based decision-making. The survey provides a human perspective on who Durham’s workers are, while JFD provides the data infrastructure to see how the labour market behaves in real time.

Together, they empower educators, service providers, and policymakers to create programs that align with community needs, supporting both immediate employment outcomes and long-term economic growth.

Learn More

Explore the full 2024 Workforce Survey Report and the Jobs First Durham tools at durhamworkforceauthority.ca.

For organizations interested in learning more, the DWA offers no-cost sessions on using JFD tools to support job seekers and workforce planning.