If you can make it in a big city, you can make it anywhere, right?

Or at least you would think that when talking about a community that hustles and bustles like Toronto, literally day in and day out.

However, a new survey said that there’s a talent and skill shortage in Ontario and that Toronto has seen a 22 per cent increase in the number of new job roles that are still vacant due to this reason.

A poll, from specialist recruitment firm Robert Walters, found that 44 per cent of employers in the province would consider someone based on their potential instead of actual qualifications and experience.

In fact, some employers even said they would hire someone from a completely different industry if it meant they had a few transferable skills.

“Employers have been dealing with a lack of talent across Toronto for some time now – and this skills gap will not be filled overnight,” Martin Fox, managing director of Robert Walters Canada, said in a statement.

Apparently, the shortage of talent is also driven by changing demographics, with people retiring at a faster rate than they can be replaced.

This in turn puts stress on hiring managers who allegedly had to change their recruitment practices to “ease hiring pressures.”

“With over 150,000 jobs added to the economy this year, coupled with record levels of unemployment in the wider Ontario area, fears are growing that there is not enough local talent to support the growth of the region,” the survey said.

Yet, inflation hasn’t made things any easier because employers are sometimes unable to increase salaries in order to attract new talent.