Group items tagged

This article analyses both the positive and negative impacts of technology upon the jobs skills and indutrial working-pattern which The Shift focuses on. The digital technology has added a great deal of quality to productivity and industrial services, official work trends and has also created new jobs such as web designing, internet operator and so on. But it cannot be without negative consequences. The "new technologies have also shrunk or even eliminated other industries and the jobs associated with them 9e.g., electronic typewriter)." This is similar to what Gratton's reference to robot soemwhere in the book.

I thought this was a particularly good source to end the term with as it summarizes many of the issues we have been exploring throughout the course

This article discusses the challenges and impacts to the labour and career markets, and provides some techniques and strategies for Human Resource departments within organizations to use to combat and diffuse the impact of global competition. These techniques are crafted for each actor involved within the global issue, and provides advice for the HR departments, as well as managers and individual employees to attempt in order to diminish the outcomes. The article not only emphasizes the importance of managing the organizational structures and its employees, but also highlights the significance of career development to the future of work. The idea that HR departments not only need to manage their current employees, but also must take developmental steps towards implementing a recruiting system that seeks the most talented workers from a global labour pool. The future of work relies on the combined efforts of individuals seeking to become self-aware and pursue their aspirations, with the supportive and developmental efforts of the HR department, to ensure that the future of the workforce is positive and continues to innovate and create new opportunities for employment and employee satisfaction/fulfillment.

Discusses the trend of "hyper-connectivity" where the lines between work and home have become blurred and suggests that we need to establish socially acceptable guidelines in order to give ourselves a break.

An interesting current community and university partnership research project on precarious work and its impact on poverty in Ontario.

2014 will be a slow period, where a lot of major workplace issues will surface and executives will be scrambling. As more boomers retire and more people work from home, the idea of "work" will start to change. Hiring processes are going to start to shift as more recruiters rely on the Internet and the word "reputation" will become even more important to professionals and companies alike.

Average household expenditures in Ontario in 2012 was $78,495 whereas the total median income of Ontario census families in 2012 was $74,890. This can be seen in this second link: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/famil108a-eng.htm This relates to chapter 9 of Stanford's book as he states "most households spend essentially all their income on consumption, and hence their savings are non-existent" (114). This can be seen with the two figures above. If you take the two numbers, households are actually spending more than they are making.

In the first few chapters of Stanford's book - Economics is for Everyone - he speaks to how Economic Impact is measured in both the private and non-profit sectors in different ways. Having worked for non-profit organizations for a number of years, I was especially curious about how the economic impact of the non-profit sector is measured and found this great resource put together by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Especially enlightening is the PowerPoint presentation of International best practices for Tracking Economic Impact. Enjoy!

"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

This website examines the Frasier Institute of Canada, it relates to the InnoCentive program Gratton speaks about in his book. They work to solve various problems in Canada and around the world by uniting people from various backgrounds.

This article related to chapter 6 of the The Shift, where Gratton outlines how Gen Y-ers like John and Susan seek social engagement over personal financial success. It also discusses a recent rise in 'social entrepreneurship', where young graduates are creating their own social change start-ups as a way to fulfill both their need for employment and sense of social responsibility.

The site lists the minimum wage across Canada. Interesting that working full-time for minimum wage puts a single person below the poverty line.

In "The Shift", Lynda Gratton mentions on page 168 that, "... billions of people are choosing to take control of their working lives and to craft them in a way that resonates with their own values and aspirations." I especially liked the metaphor of weaving different threads into your career fabric.

Interesting article that states that virtual offices are NOT a part of the future!

The Workforce Planning Board of Waterloo Region has created this document to point out population changes, including changes in the working age population, migration changes, and employment changes for each sector in the last year. According to the document, Real Estate, Crop Production and Animal Production are the top 3 growing industries in the Waterloo Region, while Specialty Trade Contractors, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services, and Management of Companies and Enterprises are the 3 most declining sectors. The 2014 report has not yet been released.

This week I started on JobBank.gc.ca and searched my local market, York Region (as listed under "Basic LMI Resources - Where to Start" in our course notes). As I typically work with students, this particular site www.betakit.com and an article about funding for youth entrepreneurs was a great source of info to share with my students! Reza Moridi, Minister of Research and Innovation, was at Communitech this morning in Waterloo and announced a partnership with the Campus-Linked Accelerators (CLA) and On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA) to help students interested in building their own business gaining skills to succeed. The CLA is investing $5.8 million and the OCEA providing over $650,000.

Workforce Planning Ontario is made up of a network of 26 Workforce Planning Boards covering four regions across the province. They gather intelligence about the supply of labour and the demand side of the local labour market by working with employers to identify and meet their current and emerging skills needs. The primary role of Workforce Planning Boards is to help improve understanding of and coordinate community responses to labour market issues and needs. If you click on an area of interest, such as the city you live in, there are publications on LMI, including spotlights on specific industries in that area.