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Contents contributed and discussions participated by jscharrer

jscharrer

Working hard or hardly working? - Macleans.ca - 0 views

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    In writing my paper on Shift I reflected a lot how technology globalization and fragmentation are impact the stress felt at work. This in an interesting article burnout norms of Western work culture.
jscharrer

Jason Fried: Why work doesn't happen at work | Talk Video | TED.com - 0 views

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    This is a really interesting talk on why so many people struggle to be productive at work and how it impacts our lives; this connects well with Gratton's comments on fragmentation in the workplace.
jscharrer

The Big Idea: The Age of Hyperspecialization - 1 views

shared by jscharrer on 17 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • The term “hyperspecialization” is not synonymous with outsourcing work to other companies or distributing it to other places (as in offshoring), although it is facilitated by the same technologies. Rather, it means breaking work previously done by one person into more-specialized pieces done by several people.
  • separation often leads to improvements in quality, speed, and cost.
  • consider how much time you personally spend on tasks that don’t draw on your expertise and that you may not even be particularly adept at performing.
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  • Quality improves when more of the work that goes into a final product is done by people who are good at it.
  • The improvement is even greater when, as with TopCoder projects, people who are good at work compete with one another to get it.
  • power of the online “open innovation marketplace”
  • another major benefit of hyperspecialization: speed.
  • More generally, hyperspecialization can reduce clock time by assigning related tasks to different people who then accomplish them in parallel rather than serially.
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    The growth of hyperspecialization and new markets such as TopCoder, through which individuals can 'sell' their specialized talents, allow individuals to compete in an increasing "flat" world. Outsourcing if often thought of only in terms of wealthy developed world companies seeking cheaper labour from developing countries, however this article highlights that some outsourcing is done to increase the quality of work, not simply to decrease cost. In an increasing connected world, individuals can 'outsource' the parts of their job that they do not excel in, to other individuals who are specialized in it.
jscharrer

Outsourcing Pregnancy - Michael Sandel - 0 views

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    This is an interesting YouTube video of a talk Michael Sandel gave on the idea of outsourcing surrogacy to India and whether this is or is not exploitation - audience members also shared their thoughts.
jscharrer

Bad Apple: Could the Era of Exploitation Outsourcing Be Near Its End? - 0 views

  • by farming out production to suppliers in China and other low-wage countries with few labor protections, they often have outsourced not just work but worker abuse.
  • U.S. consumers have been willing to turn a blind eye to Apple and others.
  • urvey of Americans late last year found that only 2 percent mentioned Apple's overseas labor practices as a concern.
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  • ollective apathy about working conditions behind iPods, iPhones and the like has allowed the company to prioritize speed and profit over decent treatment of people.
  • "You can either manufacture in comfortable, worker-friendly factories, or you can reinvent the product every year, and make it better and faster and cheaper, which requires factories that seem harsh by American standards," a current Apple executive told the Times. "And right now, customers care more about a new iPhone than working conditions in China."
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    Outsourcing as a form of exploitation - this article comments on the environment and working conditions in Apple's outsourced manufacturing facilities and that despite media coverage of this issue, the general pubic is more concerned with speed, innovation and price than the treatment of workers overseas.
jscharrer

Poverty & Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario - 0 views

shared by jscharrer on 20 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • evidence suggests that precarious employment relationships compound the problem of poverty in our communities, the capacity of households to deal with it, and the ability of agencies to advocate for new policy initiatives.
  • cademic research points to an increase in precarious employment
  • combination of low pay and new forms of insecure employment may be having effects beyond the workplace with implications for household and community well-being
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  • he research will address issues such as the impact of precarity on household formation and family stability
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    An interesting current community and university partnership research project on precarious work and its impact on poverty in Ontario.
jscharrer

Toronto Employment & Labour Market Information - 0 views

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    An example of local labour market information for Toronto provided by the City of Toronto.
jscharrer

Education and Labour Market Transitions in Young Adulthood - 0 views

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    This page of the Statistics Canada website provides a detailed account of the Youth in Transition Survey - an 8 year study conducted of youth aged 18-20 and the major educational, career and personal transitions which occur during young adulthood.
jscharrer

Canada Unemployment Rate | 1966-2014 - 1 views

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    This site shows current unemployment data in Canada for 2014. Unemployment remained unchanged at 7% in August and July of this year and has averaged 7.74% since 1966.
jscharrer

Sweden: The new model | The Economist - 0 views

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    This article from the Economist published in 2012 discusses recent changes to the Swedish economy and the lessons that Anglo-Saxon economies such as the US can learn from their example.
jscharrer

Generation Y: why young job seekers want more than money - 0 views

  • those born between 1980 and 2000, are less interested in financial gain than their parents, and more concerned with job fulfilment.
  • The y-generation has a holistic outlook on the world, and social enterprises help enable this
  • Those born after 1980 have also grown up with the internet, and so Generation Y are the first working-age generation to be considered "digitally native"
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  • growing up with the internet has given Generation Y a better insight into society's core problems
  • At the global level, we are more likely to have travelled abroad, to have friends from other countries, or simply to have grown up with the internet for a core part of our lives.
  • Older generations have gained greatly from the pursuit of wealth and this has left many young people wondering if there is more to life than getting rich quick
  • Others believe social enterprise offers graduates a sustainable alternative to charitable giving.
  • Young people want to simultaneously reach levels of financial wellbeing as well as achieving social good.
  • By prioritising job fulfilment over financial gain, Millennials are sure to shape the workplace in years to come. However, we will have to wait to see exactly how this generation changes workplace dynamics.
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    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.
jscharrer

Thinkopolis V: Education Nation - Workopolis - 1 views

  • we are spending 13 per cent longer in school in 2014 than we were in 2000.
  • 6 per cent more of us now have a bachelor's degree as our top level of education on our resumes. Post graduate studies are increasing as well, with 43 per cent more Canadians having master's degrees on their resumes,
  • 3 per cent of people told us their degrees are not relevant to their jobs. (39 per cent not at all related, and 34 per cent not directly related.)
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  • 56 per cent also say they are over-educated for the requirements of their jobs
  • Employers look at 16,000 resumes a day in the Workopolis resume database to find candidates. The vast majority of their searches are keyword based. However, only 1 per cent of keyword searches are related to degree type or specific education
  • ive degrees (bachelor, masters and PhD) most likely to land you a job in your field: Human Resources (88 per cent) Engineering (90 per cent) Computer Science (91 per cent) Pharmacy (94 per cent) Nursing (97 per cent
  • Salary-wise, Economics grads come out on top, with the average wages for their first jobs being $57,000 a year. The average pay for the first jobs of the other liberal arts graduates is just over $43,000*.
  • From a financial point-of-view, the most lucrative fields of study for first jobs right now are Computer Science, Engineering, Law, Math, and Healthcare.
  • While Canadians are obtaining higher levels of education in 2014 than they were at the turn of the century, the vast majority of employers show more interest in a candidate's skills and experience and where they've worked previously than in their education
  • you are choosing your education based on job market demand, the best return-on-investments currently are in Computer Science and Engineering along with certain healthcare fields such as Pharmacy and Nursing.
  • university educated Canadians are 68 per cent more likely to land leadership roles within five years of graduation
jscharrer

Footprint for Nations - 0 views

  • Each country has its own ecological risk profile: Many are running ecological deficits, with Footprints larger than their own biological capacity
  • a resource accounting tool that helps countries understand their ecological balance sheet
  • It is almost certainly the case that countries and regions with surplus ecological reserves—not the ones relying on continued ecological deficit spending—will emerge as the robust and sustainable economies and societies of the future
jscharrer

USA - footprint - 0 views

    • jscharrer
       
      I found this graph to be extremely alarming - the ecological footprint of the US surpassed its biocapacity decades ago, even before 'climate change' became a topic of discussion.  The difference between the biocapactiy of the US and its footprint continues to increase over the period shown - a clear indication that change needs to happen now.  
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    USA's footprint compared to biocapacity.
jscharrer

UK - footprint - 0 views

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    UK's footprint compared to biocapacity.
jscharrer

Canada - footprint - 0 views

    • jscharrer
       
      It is interesting to note that Canada's ecological footprint has stayed fairly constant over the time period depicted, however the biocapacity has fallen dramatically. This organization stated on the previous page that "... countries and regions with surplus ecological reserves-not the ones relying on continued ecological deficit spending-will emerge as the robust and sustainable economies and societies of the future." Based on this, it would seem that with careful ecosystem management, Canada could become one of these "robust and sustainable" economies, particularly in comparison to others such as the USA, UK and China which have already surpassed their biocapacity.
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    Canada's footprint compared to biocapacity.
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