Career Trends

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.

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.

Every dog has its day, and the same applies to economic theory. Today's dog is neo-liberalism, a policy framework developed by economists Friedrich Hayek and Milton Friedman, which found political expression under Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.

One of the main themes this week in the book "Economics For Everyone" is the term neoliberalism. Take a look at this article by the globe and mail. It talks extensively about how privatization, free trade and deregulation are changing society.

This article takes an interesting look at how Nordic countries are reshaping their economies after the economic lows in 2007-08. Interestingly enough, much has been changing since Economics for Everyone was published in 2008. Very interesting read!

The Globe and Mail has sought out columns from thought leaders in Western Canada, people whose influence is shaping debate, but whose names may not be widely recognized. There's a lot of talk of the need for a new economic system - capitalism 2.0 in shorthand - based on shared values, inclusive wealth accounting and social equity.

This is a resource from the Canada Revenue Agency about the underground economy, which was a term mentioned a couple of times in this week's notes. Though this document is skewed by the fact that it is produced by a government agency, it is still useful for getting more information and specifics.

"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

TORONTO, Aug. 25, 2014 /CNW/ - Ted Opitz, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke-Centre, on behalf of the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, spoke on Saturday about the importance of recruiting and advancing women in the skilled trades.

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.

This resource is great for entrepreneurs. More specifically, check out the "Planning" section. Topics covered include: learning how to conduct market research, finding stats and analyses related to your chosen field, read up on economic trends in your industry, learn about where to find your target demographic audience across the country, and a site selection tool to help you find the best location for your business to start or grow.

In Gratton's chapters 5 through 7 this week I especially enjoyed the thoughts she expressed about innovation and how technology will facilitate creativity and innovation in and between workplaces. It reminded me of a Creativity/ Innovation conference that I attended for 2 years in 2011 & 2012 in Ontario. A group of over 100 creativity and innovation professionals from corporations like Disney, organizations like Facilitators without borders and entrepreneurs like those from FlipSkills & ThinkX come together for 4 days to share the latest and the greatest with each other. It's worth a look and I'd encourage you to register.

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 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.

I found this article to be very interesting to read. It truly captures the idea that Generation Y is now having to reverse the impacts of capitalist greed on both the global community, as well as the global environment.

Of course an online quiz is no substitute for proper counselling, but this resource can help people to start thinking about whether their work/life balance in working for them or whether they should consider changes so they can get the most from their career. I chose this resource not only because of this week's discussion post topic, but also because of Chapter 6 of The Shift, where a healthy work/life balance is shown to be an essential part of the Crafted Future narrative.

If you go to work every week with the mantra "I hate my job!," this week's blog post is for you! This is the story of Amanda, one of 8 million people who have taken the MAPP career test. Amanda was working in a job she hated -- a retail job in an electronics store.

This website relates to this weeks readings about figuring out what you really want out of your career. Therefore, this career test will help people figure out what kind of trade-offs they can live with. For example, working with people as opposed to working with things.

Interesting article about trends among Generation Y workers