December 18, 2017 Leave a Comment

Who are you competing with for work? A portrait of the modern Canadian workforce

In November, Statistics Canada released information from the 2016 census including the education, age, and even commute time for workers across the country; painting an interesting picture of Canadians in the workforce.

So, how does your work life compare with that of other Canadians? Here are some of the findings summed up by the CBC:

Education and Employment

The census revealed that most Canadians have a post-secondary education – 54 percent, which is the highest among industrialized nations worldwide. It also showed that in the last ten years there was a large increase in the number of women attending post secondary school – many of whom (40 percent) have at least a bachelor’s degree – higher than men. More women are also getting doctorates — especially in social sciences, education, health, the arts and communication technology. However, men still have more doctorates – especially in architecture, mathematics, engineering, IT and life sciences. Interestingly, the percentage of men who have chosen to pursue apprenticeships has almost doubled in the last 10 years, while that of women remains unchanged. Among new immigrants, most have at least a bachelor’s degree, which is higher than people born in Canada. This was even higher for doctorates, with more than double the immigrants having doctorates than those born in Canada.

In terms of income levels, men working in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields earned 24 percent more than those with a degree in the business, humanities, health, arts, social science and education fields. This disparity was less pronounced among women.

Were graduates able to find work in the field that they studied? The data showed that those with degrees in nursing, engineering, education and information technology were more likely to work in their fields. Graduates with degrees in arts, humanities, or social sciences degree often found themselves in lower paying jobs where they were not able to use their education.

Where do people work? Over two million Canadians (the largest single group) work in the health-care and social assistance sectors, and a similar number (just a few less) work in retail. Manufacturing dropped significantly over the last 10 years, with only 9 percent of the workforce (just over 1.5 million) in that field.

More workers are working part-time and seasonally than before. 10 percent of men (a higher percentage than a decade ago) and 18 percent of women did not work at all.

Age

In terms of the age of workers, unsurprisingly (considering the economy and reduced retirement savings) the number of older Canadians working full-time has doubled in the last 10 years. Younger Canadians are working less, with only 52 percent of 15- to 24-year-olds working, down from 57 percent 10 years ago.

Traveling to Work

Most Canadians drive to work; though that number is dwindling as more and more of us opt for public transit. There is also an increase in the number of people who cycle to work, though less are walking to work than before. Workers are also travelling for longer periods of time.

It is taking us longer to get to work, and we are travelling further, with the average commute by car increasing to 26 minutes, and public transit lasting 45 minutes. The longest commutes in Canada are in Toronto (34 minutes), Oshawa (33 minutes), Barrie (31 minutes) and Montreal (30 minutes). People are also travelling farther, with the median commute now at 7 kilometres.

Over 850,000 Canadians spend more than an hour each way travelling to work in their cars. Despite this, less Canadians work from home, which is surprising considering new technologies and our increased awareness of the environment impacts of travel.

How do you compare to the average Canadian worker? Click on this interesting infographic to learn more about where you fit in.

March 20, 2017 Leave a Comment

Job in Demand: the growing Information, Communications and Technology sector in Canada

In recent years it has become clear to policy makers and employers that there will soon be an unmet demand for skilled technology workers in Canada. Presently, the ICT (information and communications technology) sector is worth $741 billion per year, and employs almost 900,000 professionals throughout all sectors the economy.

A March 2016 report by the Canadian Information and communications technology Council (ICTC), titled Digital Talent: Road to 2020 and Beyond projected that by 2020, there will be a huge growth of the size of the global Internet of Things (IoT) economy, which could exceed $19 trillion. The term “The Internet of Things” describes the economic activity surrounding smart and connected technologies – which has wide impact, including on industries or sectors such as manufacturing, financial services, health, transportation, essential services and cities, as well as media and creative industries. The report describes Canada’s adoption rate of these technologies as still lower than other similar economies worldwide, mostly because of a lack of enough skilled workers with the necessary technological skills to enable companies to keep up.

The ICTC report describes that “the growth in digital jobs has outpaced the overall economy in the last two years by over 4 to 1, leading to a strong demand of 182,000 skilled ICT workers by 2019”, saying that “unfortunately, the domestic supply of ICT graduates and workers will be insufficient to meet this demand” It calls for engagement of “all available talent, including women, youth, immigrants, Indigenous persons and persons with disabilities” as critical in mitigating the talent shortage.

What skills are in demand?

The report outlines the knowledge and skills required by employers, including a balance between technical, professional and personal skills:

Technical Skills Business and Management Skills:

Data management and analytics • Network security • Cloud computing content, design, and service management • Java • Python • Mobile and software development

Business and Management Skills:

General Business Acumen • Business Analysis • Sales and marketing • Product management • Creativity and innovation • Leadership

Soft and Interpersonal Skills:

Communication (public speaking and writing) • Collaboration (virtual and in-person) • Adaptability • Cross-cultural competence and sensitivity

What jobs will be needed and where?

Specifically, the report predicts that the finance and health care sectors will have the highest demand for ICT labour in the next four year, specifically:

information systems analysts and consultants
computer network operators and web technicians
computer programmers and interactive media developers
software engineers
graphic designers and illustrators
computer and information systems managers
database analysts and data administrators.

Solutions?

Interestingly, the report claims that many Canadian youth are opting out of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses. The report recommends that the provinces make computer science mandatory in the education curriculum from Kindergarten to Grade 12, to and nurture:

Computational thinking (with or without devices) for students in early grades
Coding for students in intermediate grades
Application development, networking, and cyber security for students in advanced grades
Experiential learning opportunities such as co-ops or apprenticeships
Information about career paths and occupational roles that require computer science.

It also recommends “upskilling” the existing workforce, through:

Understanding the barriers to full participation (such as wage gaps) in the ICT field by women, immigrants, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples, and visible minorities
Sharing best practices in the area of diversity and inclusion
Establishing targets and an action plan to attract and retain underrepresented persons in the ICT field.

The report also calls for government to work harder to attract “global digital talent” and strengthen “digital literacy and digital skills for Canadians”, as well as work on “developing a comprehensive strategy that supports the transition of displaced workers into high demand jobs in the digital economy”.

In response to this report, the federal government has recently announced of a new pilot “Global Talent” project which aims to bring in more highly skills workers to Canada.

December 29, 2014 Leave a Comment

Find a Job in 2015: New Year’s Resolutions for Job Seekers

As we face the new year, it’s always useful to take some time to look back and evaluate, so that you can look forward and plan. The ever-changing nature of the labour market means that job seekers have to constantly ensure that they are tackling the job search process in the most up-to-date and effective way.

So, how has job search changed in recent years, and where is it headed in 2015?

The labour market is changing.

Job growth has been reported and is expected to continue in Canada in 2015, with 11 percent of companies reporting plans to hire in the new year, according to a Manpower Group Canada report.

The Manpower report found anticipated job growth in all 10 sectors of the economy, in the following order of strength:

Finance, Insurance and Real Estate
Manufacturing − Durables (defined by StatsCan as products made of Wood and Metal, as well as Machinery, Computers and Electronics, Electrical Equipment, Appliances and Components, Transportation Equipment and related)
Public Administration
Construction
Transportation and Public Utilities

Weaker hiring projections were reported by employers in the following sectors:

Services
Wholesale and Retail
Education
Manufacturing − Non-durables (products such as Food, Textiles and Clothing, Paper and Printing, Petroleum and Coal, Chemicals and Plastics and Rubber)
Mining

So, if you are thinking of a career change or considering new targets for your job search, consider focusing on the areas where growth is anticipated. Remember that these sectors hire a range of professionals, including Customer Service, Administrators, Project Managers, Finance and Sales, as well as experts in each of those sectors.

Job search is more competitive.

As optimism about the job market grows, more job seekers will return to looking for work. This means greater competition. In order to be noticed and have an opportunity to be considered for employment, job seekers need to be conducting the most effective job search possible.

Be prepared for digitization of hiring. One trend in hiring is employers’ increased reliance on Electronic Tracking Systems (ATS), which processes all applications through a computerized, standardized process, favouring certain keywords.

Mobile recruiting is becoming more popular — recruiters, employers and job boards are increasingly using mobile apps. Indeed Canada is a good example; even the Government of Canada’s Job Bank has developed a mobile app for job seekers.

But, as recruiting becomes less personal, concerns have been expressed that good candidates (up to 75 percent, reportedly) are being missed by employers. Ironically, to overcome this, it may be worth resorting to old-fashioned job search methods, such as setting out to meet employers in person, rather than relying on the passive online job search used by most other job seekers. Furthermore, you would do better targeting your job search — identify your top ten list of employers and go after them directly.

Social media continues to grow.

Employers are continually working on improving their social media strategies both for marketing and recruiting, using tools such as LinkedIn and other social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube). With the increased hiring anticipated in the market, we can assume that this trend will continue, as it has consistently in previous years. Jobvite, in its annual Social Recruiting Survey, found that 73 percent of recruiters intend to engage in social recruiting. Interestingly, they found that despite the fact that most (83%) job seekers turn to Facebook , LinkedIn remains recruiters’ top tool, with 94% using it for recruiting.

Employers also reported to Jobvite that they are scouring through candidates social media profiles, looking for information about candidates’ professional experience, length of professional tenure, industry-related posts, mutual connections, specific hard skills, cultural fit, as well as examples of written/design work.

What does this mean for job seekers?

Review your social media presence — look at all your online profiles as they would be perceived through the eyes of an employer
Make sure that your LinkedIn profile includes all the relevant experience you need, as well as showcasing your connections in the field, your hard skills and samples of your work
Review other profiles such as Facebook (66% of employers will check your profile). Make sure that it presents you well — as a thoughtful and interesting potential employee. Consider sharing posts publicly that showcase your professional and community interests and involvement.

2015 is promising to be an exciting year for job seekers. Make sure to face it with a clear plan, confidence and renewed energy.

We wish all our readers a happy and successful new year, and thank you for your support.