A new study concludes Hamilton's youngest workers have a sense of entitlement that's keeping them out of jobs.

In its 2014 Labour Market Plan, Workforce Planning Hamilton and other agencies said the survey of employers showed getting workers with the right "soft skills" is becoming more difficult.

"Soft skills … refer to personal qualities, habits, attitudes and social graces that make a worker a good employee and compatible with an organization's workplace culture," the report states.

In particular, survey participants — employers, and the employment and training community — identified "the difficulty of finding job seekers with adequate soft skills among new labour market entrants (including youth) and those with barriers to employment."

"The lack of soft skills seems to be the issue now," said Judy Travis, executive director of Workforce Planning Hamilton. "The big learning from this is the emphasis that employers place on these soft skills.

"Employers said consistently they would be willing to provide the training if they can find applicants with the right attitude," she added. "We're not saying soft skills are the silver bullet for finding a job, but it goes a long way with some employers."

Beyond not assuming an employer, or the world, owes them a living, applicants face other challenges in a Hamilton job market that continues to demand higher levels of education or skills training for even entry-level positions and a willingness to commit to "lifelong learning" to stay qualified for their positions.

Specifically, the study found 67 per cent of surveyed employers expect skill requirements to increase to a moderate or significant extent over the next five years. Many clients, however, continue to resist academic upgrading, partly because of a perceived negative stigma, the immediate need for employment income or a lack of understanding of what skills are truly required.

The 2014 version of the study found Hamilton's labour market continues to evolve as its reliance on manufacturing and heavy industry dwindles.

Retail and wholesale trade is the largest single employment sector in the Hamilton-Burlington-Grimsby region, occupying an average of 57,500 workers in 2013 or 15.2 per cent of the workforce. Following is the health care sector with 50,100 employees or 13.3 per cent of the labour force. Manufacturing is in third place with 47,500 workers or 12.6 per cent of the local force.

The study also found the area continues its slow recovery from the job losses of the 2008-09 recession. In 2013, the area supported an annual average of 377,100 workers, an increase of 0.8 percentage points from the depths of the recession in 2009. The area also notched an unemployment rate of 6.4 per cent, down 2 percentage points from the recession's lowest ebb.

The study notes that while the area's unemployment rate has steadied in the past three years, the number of residents of working age actually in the labour force has decreased, indicating a portion of the local labour force has given up the search for a job.

While the unemployment rate has declined, the number of people counted as unemployed in the region has remained relatively constant — 25,900 in 2011 and 25,700 in 2013. That's still an improvement from the 34,100 record in 2009.

As the emphasis shifts from basic to advanced manufacturing, the study found the education requirements for a job in Hamilton are also changing.

"Occupations that typically require postsecondary education are increasing and accounted for 56.9 per cent of all employment in 2011. In fact, employment in occupations typically requiring university education has increased 21.8 per cent since 2001 in Hamilton, more than six times the increase than the next leading skill level change," the study says.

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"Academic upgrading and continuous learning are essential for job seekers to be competitive in today's labour market. While workers with any postsecondary education have lower unemployment rates than those without, those who studied education, health and related fields, and mathematics, computer and information sciences have the lowest unemployment rates in Hamilton."