Work in Canada and Future Prospects

The efforts to improve the future prospects for employment in Canada can be seen in the acceptance of labor education by top employers as a cultural expression of the working population, institutional involvement in the promotion of gender equality in the workplace, and the struggles to set salaries above the minimum wage rate. After nearly 150 years, Canada is still dealing with workplace difficulties like excessive hours, gender disparities, unfair job distribution, low pay rates, unfavorable working conditions, job insecurity, and overall minority group discrimination. Following the rising cases of unemployment and unsafe working condition that might have negative impacts on the country’s future economic outlook, labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Movement (CLM) established series of programs including “literacy,” “workplace training,” “apprenticeship,” and “labor education” with the primary goal of communicating the value of “workplace justice,” “hard work” (on the side of employer and employee), and “overpowering suppression”.

Today, the specific steps including learning, empowerment, outlawing workplace discrimination, and promotion of unity and diversity are the methods of setting up a conducive employment environment for the future Canadian generation. Additionally, the Canadian policymakers believe that the government’s decision to shift from a socialist to a capitalist society by eliminating individualism and inequalities that seem to affect the country’s development goals is another way of establishing a more competitive labour market. Such strategies aim at creating more employment opportunities for the future population. This essay investigates the future prospects for work in Canada based on specific employment issues including inequality, insecurity, health impact of workers, organization of workers, globalization of work, work and environment, and the impact of unions on work and workers.

Key Indicators of Future Prospects for Work in Canada

Labor Market Trends

Understating labor market trends is essential in helping potential job seekers recognize both present and future job opportunities as well as developing a clear comprehension regarding the shot-term and long-term challenges that might affect such opportunities. According to the country’s job vacancy and wage survey (second quarter 2017), Canada registered close to 17.2% increase in job vacancies from the 2016’s 393,000 job opportunities. The country realised an overall improvement in job vacancies by 0.4% point from the initial rate to 2.9 percent across all provinces. Both full-time and part-time works rose by 54,000 and 14,000 vacancies respectively. However, the country’s average wage rates only changed by a small value to 19.50 dollars. Accord to the survey, there has been consistent increase in the number of job vacancies in Canada in the past three quarters, and based on the current economic conditions and country’s political stability, it is possible that the rates will even grow higher in 2018 and beyond.These conditions only predict more stable earnings and increase in future employment opportunities.

Inequality, Insecurity, and Health Impact of Workers

The primary indicators of workplace challenges include employment-related inequality, job insecurity, and adverse health impacts of workers. In relation to the employment-based inequality, there is no doubt that Canada’s income gap in all its forms has been consistently increasing since 1980s. The increase in employment or workplace inequality partly results from the challenges of globalization and rapid changes in technology. Globalization expands the labor market, meaning that local employers can now source workers from other countries. In other words, there is opportunity for institutions to venture into international labor markets and recruit highly skilled workers, which they must pay higher wages that local workers. The introduction of modern technology in leading organizations means that Canada must restructure its economy to accommodate such changes. The transition period always has profound effect on the workers, as some individuals must be laid off while new people with the required the technical skills must be employed to take up such positions. The only advantage is that both Generation X and Millennials, who are the majority of the Canadian population, have wide knowledge and skills that allow them to adapt to the fast-paced technology environment. This trend means that the future employment for Generation X and Millennials is secured and may only experience insignificant changes.

Similarly to income, job insecurity in a country raises two fundamental issues. The first question captures the overall impact on the country’s economic progress. It is possible that a country experiencing high job insecurity will face insignificant economic growth because part of the productive skills and capabilities are not fully utilized. The second question considers the moral issues such as fair employment practices and social justices. It is always difficult to guarantee job security for individuals working in an economy that is experiencing structural changes. However, for the case of Canada, economic restructuring seems to have little impact on the employed population because the ability to adapt easily to the organizational changes.

The federal government in the recent past assured the Canadian citizens that the new regulations for parenthood, maternity, and caregiver benefits as outlined in the “Employment Insurance Act (EIA)” and other corresponding rules under the “Canadian Labour Code (CLC)” would be fully implemented beginning December 3, 2017. The government indicated that once the laws are implemented, workers, particularly birth mothers, will have the opportunity to apply and acquire immediate access to employment insurance and maternity benefits including 55 percent weekly insurance income up to a maximum of 543 dollars. However, it is noted that this development will mostly affect the people employed in financial institutions such as banks and those working in federal Crown Companies and Broadcasting Centres. Employees working in provincial offices will not be affected by these said changes unless provincial institutions decide to amend their laws to meet national standards. By developing laws, policies and regulations that have direct impacts on the health of worker, the government creates a better working condition and encouraging individuals to search white-collar jobs. In other words, there is an expectation that number of people seeking jobs will increase significantly.

Organization of Work and the Question of Post-Industrialism

The term “post-industrialism” as used in the context of socio-economic development means shifting from one society to another in order to achieve higher economic or social benefits. After several years of economic struggles, the Canadian government ended up establishing policies meant to ensure successful transition from an industrialized society to a service and knowledge dominate community. The country’s workforce is slowly shifting from a society that focusses on mass production to one whose economic gains rely on service provision. The switch from physical and heavy machines to knowledge and skills is characterised by organization of work and high level of creativity required by most employers. Therefore, by advocating for skill-based education and workforce training, the government is simply expanding the scope of employment for its population, both locally and across international markets. The fact of the matter is that the Canadian knowledge-based economy tends to favor the individuals with the high level of education and creativity. Only the people who have the required skills will survive the strict employment conditions.

Globalization of Work and Employment Environment

The globalization of work is also another factor that continues to shape the Canadian economy and economic policies. Globalization in areas of employment is characterised by widespread adoption of free-market labor policies and expanded global labour participation. Although globalization comes with its own challenges, it become incontestable that the recent trend of globalization in Canada has brought great benefits citizens. The free-market labour polices makes it possible for Canadians to move to other countries in search of green pastures.

Today, there are many Canadian citizens working in other countries and contributing by lifting out poverty from their home county. It is also true that the current period of economic integration correlates with the country’s second-longest economic expansion characterised by improvements in household real incomes and heaving employment as well as more stable and foreseeable inflations. These conditions also predict more stable employment opportunities that is characterised by an increasing number of workers.

The most significant disruptive feature of the digital economy includes the emergent of virtual workers. Through online platforms, prospecting employees can now make advertisements regarding their skills and be in a position to find short-term contracts with employers from different parts of the world. The Internet creates a digital workplace environment that employs close to 112 million Canadians. Therefore, it is possible that the advent of the virtual employment environment will reshape the kind of tasks in Canada as well as how such jobs are performed.

The Impact of Unions on Work and Worker

In several instances, the position and performance of labor union members are aligned with political goals as specific objectives that the union must achieve. When labor movements were first introduced, members were made to understand the needs to prevent social challenges and work towards eliminating the problems of radicalism. One area of focus for these unions is labour education in Canada that seems to bode well for future employments. Through workplace training and learning, labor unions help people understand their employment rights including better pay, relatively lower number of working hours, improvement in working condition, and good salaries.

Conclusion

To conclude, the acceptance of labor education by the top employers as a cultural expression of the working population, institutional involvement in the promotion of gender equality in workplace and struggles to set salaries above the minimum wage rate are indications of the efforts to improve the future prospect for work in Canada. Based on the increases cases of unemployment and unsafe working condition that might have negative impacts on the country’s future economic outlook, labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Movement (CLM) established series of programs including “literacy,” “workplace training,” “apprenticeship,” and “labor education” with the primary goal of communicating the value of workplace justice, hard work (on the side of employer and employee), and overpowering suppression.



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Endnotes