Does your age affect your work? This article speaks of age demographics and how different ages affect people differently in the workplace

"The World is Flat" chapter 6 reveals that less young people are interested in science compared to the 'race to land on the moon' era which is really interesting, This website offers statistics on the most occupied college majors and business is overwhelmingly #1. People seem to want to make as much money as they can and the university I went to (Laurier) was very business dominated - so much they are building their own business building across the street!

Friedman describes three convergences that have changed the playing field. The second one describes new technologies combined with new ways of doing business and how it creates a bigger impact. Friedman uses SouthWest Airlines as an example and this article is about five businesses that have changed because of technology - travel being one of them.

OpenSource.com focuses on how open sources (flattener #4) are applied to different areas in life including business, education, government, health, law, and more. They focus on real experiences and ways to solve problems in the open source way. Explore the webist via the tabs at the top of the page.

This short article focuses on the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing. It also shares the most commonly outsourced businesses.

I think unemployment rates are something we should all be aware of. This PDF is government research that shows the average unemployment rates in Canada and in each province from 1976-2013. Note that in most provinces in the 1900s, the unemployment rate increased dramatically. This is clearly shown in the highest increase of 20.1% in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1993. It is also interesting to see how provinces like Saskatchewan were not hit with unemployment nearly as bad. Why do you think that is?

This site is in Alberta however is great because you can easily see the type of occupation, the NOC code (for qualification purposes), average wage and average salary. An important pat of labour market information is being able to see what wage/income you will be receiving. This could make or break whether you accept a job or not.

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.

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 this week's course notes the idea of the precarious worker caught my attention. Many health issues as well as discriminatory issues are seen while doing precarious work as it is not long term and there is constant change. This article outlines and defines what the precarious worker is and the gender differences in the precarious work environment. To give one example, the article states that women represent more precarious workers than men being 33%:12%. This automatically gives way to questions regarding sex discrimination in full time work and brings in the idea of women trying to have a work/life balance for their family.

Alternative Link: http://www.erudit.org/revue/ri/2010/v65/n1/039528ar.pdf

This is a great article that relates to Miguel in Gratton's book. Miguel and his colleagues from around the globe are intuitive about the world around them and want to save it! This article is saying that Generation Y want to save the world. They are the most educated generation, understand that global warming is real, and also want to learn and make a difference in the world.

I chose this article as it suits the idea of trends that can shape the type of field you major in at school and or the type of business you choose to start. The trends help you get an idea if your business will potentially be a success and also if your major will be able to land you a career down the road.

This article relates to the TED Talks video by James Hansen that we watched this week. The article describes the way in which environmentally unfriendly jobs such as work in the Alberta Oil Sands needs to be slowed down however so many people are employed there, they are unwilling to give it up. The article also states that climate change will dramatically affect outdoor employment such as construction jobs, postal jobs and landscaping. These workers will be forced to adapt to hotter working conditions which can in turn affect one's health. It is also important to note in the article that they give alternatives to work with the changing climates. Green jobs are readily available for people who are willing to make the career change. This is an interesting article and definitely worth the read!