2024 Workforce Survey: Key Insights and What They Mean for Durham Region
Understanding Durham’s Labour Landscape
With 795 respondents across all municipalities, the 2024 Durham Workforce Survey provides one of the most comprehensive looks at the region’s workforce in recent years. This rich data set—collected with a 5% margin of error at a 95% confidence level—provides community leaders, educators, employers, and service providers with actionable insights.
The Big Three Themes
The survey focused on:
- Employment Status
- Support Systems
- Skills and Education
Who Makes Up Durham’s Workforce?
- The most represented age group was 30–34, followed by 18–24 and 25–29.
- 57% of respondents identified as female, 41% as male, with others identifying as non-binary, trans, or two-spirited.
- Education levels were high: 70% of adults aged 25–64 had completed post-secondary education, far surpassing provincial and national averages.
These stats suggest a young, educated, and gender-diverse workforce—critical assets for a growing region.
Employment Trends
- 60% were employed, but a large proportion were looking for better jobs—especially those in part-time or seasonal roles.
- Top job priorities across all categories:
- Work-life balance
- Competitive pay
- Benefits
- Career development
- 21% of respondents were unemployed, most often due to layoffs, end of contract, or skills mismatches.
The implication is clear: while job quantity may be recovering post-pandemic, job quality and fit remain challenges.
Who’s Struggling?
Several groups face ongoing challenges in connecting to the labour market:
- Unemployed workers cited the need for more work experience (76%) and hands-on training (57%) as top barriers.
- Retirees and homemakers were mostly out of the labour force long-term, though some expressed interest in part-time roles.
- Students are highly motivated but underemployed in entry-level jobs unrelated to their field of study.
This reinforces the need for targeted interventions, such as:
- Paid internships
- Bridging programs for mature workers
- Soft skills and digital literacy training
Services and Supports: Underused But Essential
Only 48% of respondents used any services in the region. Of those who did, the most commonly accessed were:
- Employment services
- Job readiness and credentialing (e.g., SmartServe, WHMIS)
- Food security and mental health supports
More awareness and coordination between employment, housing, and mental health services could help address the root causes of joblessness and instability.
Staying or Leaving?
Encouragingly, 79% of respondents plan to stay in Durham Region over the next five years. But the top reasons for potentially moving were:
- Lack of affordable housing (9%)
- Need for work outside the region (8%)
- Family considerations (7%)
This highlights the interconnected nature of economic development, housing policy, and workforce retention.
What’s Next?
The Durham Workforce Authority will:
- Launch the Employer Survey in 2025 to capture the demand side of the labour market.
- Convene stakeholders from government, education, and business to align training and job creation.
- Develop a strategy for sharing survey findings with employers, service providers, and community groups in accessible formats.
The key takeaway from this survey is that Durham Region’s labour force is highly educated and motivated—but there are still gaps in job quality, skills alignment, and access to support. Cross-sector collaboration will be key to unlocking the region’s full economic potential.
About the DWA:
The DWA creates an annual plan supplying helpful information for community planning. The DWA hosts Jobs First Durham (JFD) a boutique job board with hyper-local information.
The DWA provides just-in-time custom labour market information and often conducts custom fee-for-service research. If you are interested in local data, please don’t hesitate to contact the DWA.
The Province of Ontario partially funds the DWA to supply Labour Market Information (LMI) to the Region of Durham.