Employment
Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33)

Under this topic you will find information on the number of employees in Canada's Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33) sector, broken down between production employees and administrative employees. This information can provide you with insight into how labour is used in the subsector and may help you to identify important trends in how goods are manufactured.

Change NAICS Level…11-33 > Goods-Producing Industries 311 > Food Manufacturing312 > Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing313 > Textile Mills314 > Textile Product Mills315 > Clothing Manufacturing316 > Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing321 > Wood Product Manufacturing322 > Paper Manufacturing323 > Printing and Related Support Activities324 > Petroleum and Coal Product Manufacturing325 > Chemical Manufacturing326 > Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing327 > Non-Metallic Mineral Product Manufacturing331 > Primary Metal Manufacturing332 > Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing333 > Machinery Manufacturing334 > Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing335 > Electrical Equipment, Appliance and Component Manufacturing336 > Transportation Equipment Manufacturing337 > Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing339 > Miscellaneous Manufacturing
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• Employment by Type of Employee
• Important Notes on Employment Data
• Understanding Employment Types

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Employment by Type of Employee

Initially we examine the total employment in the Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33) sector, including a breakdown of the number of production workers and administrative workers employed.

Employment by Type of Employee: 2001-2010*
Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33)

Type of Employee	Number of Employees		% of Total 2010	CAGR** 2001-2010	% Change 2009-2010
	2001	2010
*Prior to 2004, data covers incorporated establishments with employees, primarily engaged in manufacturing and with sales of manufactured goods equal or greater than $30,000. **Compound Annual Growth Rate Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2001 to 2003; Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging, 2004 to 2010.
Production	1,587,141	1,084,451	73.3%	-4.1%	1.0%
Administration	371,268	395,559	26.7%	0.7%	0.5%
Total	1,958,409	1,480,010	100%	-3.1%	0.9%

The total number of employees in the Manufacturing sector decreased from 1,958,409 workers in 2001 to 1,480,010 workers in 2010, an average annual decrease of 3.1% over this time span. There was an increase of 0.9% in employment between 2009 and 2010.

Breaking employment into its two principal components, the number of production employees in the Manufacturing sector fell from 1,587,141 workers in 2001 to 1,084,451 in 2010, a decrease of 4.1% per year on average. There was an increase of 1.0% in the last year.

The number of administrative employees in the Manufacturing sector increased from 371,268 workers in 2001 to 395,559 in 2010, an average increase of 0.7% per year. There was an increase of 0.5% over the course of most recent year.

Number of Employees by Type: 2001-2010
Manufacturing (NAICS 31-33)

Source: Statistics Canada, special tabulation, unpublished data, Annual Survey of Manufactures, 2001 to 2003; Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging, 2004 to 2010.

For the Manufacturing sector, the percentage of employees that are production workers decreased from 81.0% in 2001 to 73.3% in 2010. As a result, there was a relative increase in the proportion of administrative workers.

Aside from cyclical economic fluctuations, several factors may contribute to changes in the composition of an industry segment's workforce.

In an increasingly knowledge-based economy, the administrative component of the workforce (including business administrators, managers and professionals such as engineers and computer and research scientists) may be growing in significance.

Technological advances may result in lower demand for production workers, which can in turn have a proportional impact on requirements for managers and support staff. At the same time, the trend of outsourcing work for contract rather than performing it in-house can have an impact on employment levels for both production and administrative staff.

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Important Notes on Employment Data

The data in this section come from Statistics Canada's Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging. Data are available for the years 2001-2010.

Due to methodological changes to the Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging (summarized in the Data Sources section of this site), caution should be used when interpreting trends in the data presented below.

Employment statistics obtained from the Annual Survey of Manufactures and Logging are annual averages as part-time and temporary employees are included as are employees absent with pay. Contract workers, company pensioners, outside directors of incorporated companies and persons working on a full commission basis are excluded from the estimates.

Additional information related to employment is available in the Salaries and Wages and Performance sections of Canadian Industry Statistics.

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Understanding Employment Types

Employment within the manufacturing sector is separated into two major categories: production workers and non-production workers. Non-production workers are often called administrative workers and this convention is adopted on this site.

Production employees include those employees engaged in processing, assembling, storing, inspecting, handling, packing, maintenance, repair, janitorial, watchmen services and working foremen.

Administrative employees include all employees that are not involved directly in production and related manufacturing activities. Examples include those involved in management, personnel, secretarial, sales, finance and other similar activities.