Career Trends

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.

A very interesting article to read and reflect on prior to working as an employment counsellor, as many clients have worked, currently work, or will work in precarious employment relationships. The article defines precarious employment, gives a brief history, and provides great insight into why precarious employment is on the rise. It includes a study of about 400 workers in precarious employment in Ontario, and outlines the negative health benefits. Some of these include uncertainties in the following areas: uncertainty of future work, of level of income/ benefits, location of work, schedule, workload uncertainty, etc., which ultimately lead to negative effects in people's mental and physical health.

A recent survey on millenials - another name given to Generation Y - conducted by the Pew Research Center, explains how major events such as wars, social movements, economic downturns, and medical, scientific or technological breakthroughs affect all age groups simultaneously, but the degree of impact differs according to where people are located in their life cycle.

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.

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!

Now that we know what the "economy" is...what is Canada's Economic Action Plan all about? Small businesses across Canada are engines for job creation. They employ roughly half of the private sector labour force and represent about a third of Canada's gross domestic product. Economic Action Plan (EAP) includes many initiatives to help small businesses succeed including the Small Business Job Credit.

This is an extended excerpt from a book about the evolution of capitalism. I really liked how it got me thinking about the workings of capitalism and linked up with last week's readings about the future of work and the global market, and the need to look at things differently.

In a New York Times op-ed article, Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz theorized that capitalism does not inevitably produce inequalities in wealth. The authors of this article challenge his theory by stating that capitalism is responsible for economic inequality.

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 short, incredibly interesting and simple video about a different way to measure the "wealth" of a country. The idea was considered and put in place by the 4th Dragon King of Bhutan, who believed there was more than one way to measure a country's wealth than just its economic development. He believed the country should also be measured by its emotional and spiritual well-being: taking into account the people's community involvement, access to health care and education, and its celebration of religion or culture. While the concept has been subject to a lot of criticism (how do you actually quantify all of these factors?), it definitely gives us something to consider and echoes Stanford's assertion that GDP is not an adequate measure of human well-being. For more information, check out grossnationalhappiness.com.

This is an interesting article which introduces the reader to some of the pros and cons involved in job sharing.

We can help you with your Second Career funding application! Second Career is an Ontario government program that enables laid- off Ontarians to train for a new job in high-demand careers.

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 website was used by an entrepreneur I know. Basically it is like the marketplace InnoCentive mentioned in Chapter 5 of The Shift, however it is based around logo design. Basically entrepreneurs put out a call or contest for the logo you would like, with an explanation of what its being used for, who the audience is etc. Then graphic designers place in entries. Once the contest is over you choose your favourite one and they get paid the prize. It costs $29 to start a contest and then whatever you are willing to pay for your prize. My friend who used it was very successful, and as soon as I read about InnoCentive it made me think of this! I can image there will be more websites like this in the future

The Labour Market Information ( LMI) Service helps Canadians find information about occupations and labour market trends and outlooks, including skill or labour shortages and surpluses, and statistics on unemployment rates and the working-age population.

This website was found as a link from the LEDC_London Economic Develoment Council. Particularly interesting as it demonstrates specific job classes, educational requirements and whether they are on the increase in the local region or not. Even has a section specific to Career Counselors! We offer access to local labour market, jobs, and training/education information for Elgin, Middlesex and Oxford counties.

I find this website very helpful. It is a tool to find quick information about projections of the demand of specific occupations in Canada. Under the heading "projection summaries" then "occupational summaries" you are able to search for occupations to find out about projections for the years 2013- 2022.

I found this site very useful for seeing how an occupation will be affected in the short-term by people entering and leaving the job, by trends, and other statistics. Sorry for the duplication, I reviewed this site then the duplication was pointed out, I was not aware.

Canada's oilsands are midway down the pack of the world's climate change villains, according to a new Greenpeace report ranking potential carbon emissions from the globe's top energy developments. Climate enemies numbers 1 and 2 - by far - are expanding coal projects in Australia and China, the report says.

Brainstorm online with bubbl.us. Easily create colorful mind maps to print or share with others. Almost no learning curve. Businesses, universities, and other schools are using bubbl.us worldwide to generate ideas, map out processes and create presentations.

Original Link: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-ocean-acidification/