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This article takes a very positive stance on Canada's current offshoring climate. Currently 50% of Canadian companies surveyed are outsourcing at least 10% of their work, creating an industry worth between $2.5 and $3 billion in Canada. But, according to the article, Canadian companies are offshoring not only because of cost efficiency and good productivity, but out of necessity. Apparently there are just not enough Canadians willing or able to fill all of the jobs that IT companies are offering. I have a hard time believing what this article says is true, since it is coming from the vice President of i-Gate Canada himself (one of the most successful outsourcing companies in Canada). I would like to see more research to support his words.

This is a short article from the Globe and Mail addressing the concerns of "Cloud Computing" in the business world, which is relevant as one of Friedman's flatteners. It also links to chapter three through the second topic in terms of horizontal business where you are able to do more yourself, the same principle is true with cloud computing - more can be done in-house with its use limiting the need for other tech/people.

The September 2014 edition of The Canadian Journal of Career Development has excellent articles on trends applicable to our class in general and specifically "The Shift" text. I recommend reading the article "Beyond Green Jobs: Assessing Sustainability Enhancing Career Options".

This grant program runs across Canada and provides up to $45,000.  Grants are available in many different forms and with special grants for new immigrants, transitioning Canadian Forces members, and existingentrepreneurs.  

This is an article written by the CBC (April 2013) reporting the common practice of outsourcing jobs to foreign workers by Canadian banks. It points the finger particularly at RBC and its close relationship to iGate, a foreign IT company, which receives 11% of its revenue from RBC. Canadian Bank outsourcing is kept very private, therefore it is difficult to identify how many Canadian jobs have actually been lost. In 2012, at least 45 Canadian jobs at RBC were lost, and at CIBC, at least 41. This has resulted in fewer full-time positions and the banks have offered very little support for lay-offs.

This website is interesting because you can learn about salaries and wages which is crucial when looking in to occupational information. Each job is also led with an NOC number which provides details on qualifications and what type of training is required. You can search any job title and with just entering your postal code, you can see the average wages for that occupation.

In this Canadian Living Article, the author describes what he considers to be the top 5 skilled trade jobs in Canada at this time. I think this could come in handy for job seekers looking to explore the skilled trades and I really appreciated that for each of the trade jobs listed, this article linked further sites containing more detailed information.

I chose this article for my own general curiosity about what research said about online programs, and the pros and cons of its education. Consistent with my own opinions (which are positive because I am enrolled in an online program), I found that the research and opinions given throughout the article lean towards the opportunity that online programming allows Canadian society, and the whole society can benefit from its effects, as it is not limited to age, disability, or learning styles.

Assessing our mental health is not as simple to do as measuring our physical health. There are no scales or endurance tests that rate mental fitness. But with the help of the Canadian Mental Health Association's Mental Health Meter, you can reflect on your unique strengths and identify areas where your level of mental fitness could be improved to help you cope with all of life's up and downs.

As a volunteer for the CMHA, I am an advocate for their website and useful resources! As part of this week's readings on what we are looking for in our working lives and what trade offs we will need to make, I feel that these resources are a helpful read. Take the time to see where you can make improvements to your mental fitness! I like to schedule "Christina time" every week :)

This article relates to what Stanford says about the economic gender gap, at the end of Chapter 9. He mentions that poverty rates are especially high for single mothers and single female pensioners. (p.118) The article discusses some of the reasons why this poverty level exists in these two groups of women.

This article is interesting because we are used to major companies outsourcing their positions across the world, but here a service paid for by Canadian taxes is being outsourced elsewhere, taking jobs away from Canadian taxpayers. This introduces an interesting ethical issue, as many believe it is wrong for a company paid for exclusively by Calgarians is outsourcing jobs to other areas of the world.

This article provides an overview of and link to the Cumulative Earrings of Post Secondary Graduates Over 20 Years report by Statistics Canada. It looks at gender and education level as main factors.

This brief piece offers an informative portrait of what is going on in the Canadian job market. In entirety, job market in the current month, compared to November 2014, is encouraging. "A healthy rotation toward more full-time jobs will be encouraging to the Bank of Canada which has flagged underemployment as a signpost of slack in labour markets."

The Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling is a Canadian non-profit that funds research and innovation in the career development field. You can receive weekly trends updates by signing up on their site. CERIC also sponsors the annual Cannexus conference.

Interesting article written in April 2013, when RBC was outsourcing jobs and there was much hype in the media about it.  The author makes some interesting points which I have highlighted for you to read.  Firstly, commenting on the fact that Indian workers are actually as well qualified or more qualified than Canadian workers to get the job done.  Friedman mentions this in his book when talking about his visits to Bangalore.  She notes that when businesses boost profit this is good for the economy because it means they will invest it. However, it was noted by Stanford in Economics for Everyone, that this is not always the case, and the amount of profit being spent on luxury goods rather than investment is currently increasing.  Interesting note the author makes about us vs them.  She mentions that if the jobs had been moving somewhere else in Canada, would the reaction have been just as passionate?  It is important to ensure that we are looking at cultural and racial issues here and taking these into account.   Lastly, she comments that on how we have to allow "the natural forces of capitalism to work".  Stanford also mentions how economists will often refer to capitalism as "natural" and that this is not true.  It is one economic system (which has been created by man) which we currently use, but it is not the only one that can exist, and it certainly did not exist before man did.  It is not natural like the seasons.  

"The trend toward "people without jobs, jobs without people" poses the single biggest long-term threat to Canadian economic growth, exacerbating Canada's already lagging productivity and innovation, according to one recent report. " Chris Sorensen; March 19, 2013

The Canadian economy shed 11,000 jobs in August but the unemployment rate stayed the same at seven per cent, Statistics Canada reported Friday. The figure was much less than economists were expecting. The consensus was that the economy would eke out a slight gain of about 10,000 jobs.

Maclean's article describing some pitfalls of American capitalism and how the Canadian more socialized system differs (and how it makes for fewer inequalities and a stronger nation). Published at macleans.ca, but written from an American perspective, and covering everything from unemployment to quality of life to a brief introduction into why the States fear the word "socialism".

Lynda Gratton comments about the future work world of Generation Y- they are a generation that has respect for diversity and human differences, and have grown up educating themselves on climate change and sustainability. This article can build on Gratton's description of Gen Y, as it describes the results of a survey of the attitudes of 546 millenials towards work in their future. The survey results do indeed show that millenials are interested in a work life that supports sustainability and social responsibility, but it adds the differences between male and female Gen Y'ers. The studies find that females are significantly more interested in environmental protection and social responsibility than are most males (more typically interested in profit maximization). While I believe this article may be fairly controversial and polarizing, it's interesting to further study the attitudes of what is my own generation.