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Multicultural meritocracy - 0 views

www.financialpost.com/...story.html immigrants work canada
shared by Omar Yaqub on 09 May 11 - Cached
  • Yezdi Pavri, vice-chairman of professional services firm Deloitte in Canada. "There is a competitive business advantage to having a diverse workforce and drawing from the widest talent pool possible. At Deloitte we have created an inclusive meritocracy. We have proven just as other organizations have that diversity leads to innovation. When you capitalize on the different experiences people bring you come up with better solutions. Now, many of our clients push us to have diverse teams. The worst thing you can do these days is go to a client with a team of five white men because that does not represent what the market or what our clients look like.
  • Here then are some strategies small businesses can use to attract and retain skilled immigrant workers:
  • "Make it known that as a small employer you are interested in hiring skilled immigrants,"
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • ALLIES [Assisting Local Leaders with Immigrant Employment Strategies] is an umbrella organization that reaches across the country. It's a good place to start
  • Conduct interviews in the applicant's first language. "From a recruiting perspective, we are out looking for people with the right skills and often we will find individuals who have tremendous technical capabilities but English may be a struggle and so they have trouble representing themselves in an interview situation,"
  • "If we bring someone on board, we go through an extensive orientation process and part of that includes offering them the opportunity to take English language courses or other types of assimilation courses. We also fund continuing learning across our teams. That is a value for us and it helps us retain our talent." Thales Canada's Toronto location has a 95% reten-tion rate among new immigrants.
  • Create a buddy system. "We partner every new employee with a buddy who is not their coach or manager and who helps them navigate Deloitte,"
  • "What is the right way to dress? What are the right cultural protocols? People coming from other parts of the world don't have the common protocols we take for granted. This buddy system has been tremendously effective. A couple of years after a skilled immigrant has joined us and assimilated into the culture, they are often the most keen to act as buddies to new people coming in.
  • Start small. "We piloted our strategy, nurturing our leaders and instituted cultural awareness training,"
  • "Organizations like TRIEC can help you with cultural training, often at no cost. This will help you identify cultural differences and then figure out ways to address them tactfully."
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How Do We Prepare Kids for Jobs We Can't Imagine Yet? Teach Imagination - Education - GOOD - 0 views

www.good.is/...-imagine-yet-teach-imagination trends work education
shared by Omar Yaqub on 05 May 11 - No Cached
  • When you were a kid, could you, your teachers, or your parents imagine your current job? Plenty of us go to work every day in careers that didn't exist when we were in grade school. How can schools set the next generation up for success when we don't have a clear picture of what the jobs of the future will be? The growing consensus is that we need to shift schools toward to fostering creativity and conceptual thinking abilities, and a new project called Imagination: Creating the Future of Education and Work wants to help educators figure out how to do it. 
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Does Local Firm Ownership Matter? - 0 views

edq.sagepub.com/...0891242411407312 local trends competitiveness
shared by Omar Yaqub on 04 May 11 - No Cached
  • Omar Yaqub on 04 May 11
     
    A data set for U.S. counties that includes residence status of firm owners is used to assess whether per capita density of locally owned businesses affects local economic growth, compared with nonlocal ownership. The database also permits stratification of firms across different employment size categories. Economic growth models that control for other relevant factors reveal a positive relationship between density of locally owned firms and per capita income growth but only for small (10-99 employees) firms, whereas the density of large (more than 500 workers) firms not owned locally has a negative effect. These results provide strong evidence that local ownership matters for economic growth but only in the small size category. Results are robust across rural and urban counties.
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ATB: Unemployment Rate Only Part of the Story - 0 views

www.industrymailout.com/...ic%20Comment%2020-APR-2011.pdf alberta edmonton work
shared by Omar Yaqub on 28 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Omar Yaqub on 28 Apr 11
     
    Since reaching its peak last April at 7.6%, the Alberta unemployment rate has  recovered to 5.7% as of March 2011. However, to say the labour market  has  completely recovered because the unemployment rate has fallen misses an important point. The average length of unemployment in Alberta was 16.8 weeks in the first quarter of 2011, still up near the peak of 17.7 weeks reached in Q2 2010. This is substantially longer than before the recession, when the average duration of unemployment was around 8 weeks (see graph). This is a sign that the current labour market consists of two distinct groups of job seekers: those who have the skills and qualities employers want, and those who do not.During the boom years the length of unemployment was abnormally low in Alberta as employers, suffering from labour shortages,  couldn't afford to be  too  selective. However, with labour demand  cooling with the recession, individuals who currently do not have  the skills employers desire face a tough hiring climate.The unemployment rate and the duration of unemployment indicator  have followed  similar (although less dramatic)  paths at the national level,indicating that this  phenomenon is not unique to Alberta.Long-term unemployment is a much larger problem than short-term as it leads to myriad of other  social troubles. Over the coming quarters, the duration of unemployment might trickle back down slowly as the economy improves, although the root of this problem (lack of skills/skills mismatch) can't be solved by more economic growth - the solution lies in things like further education and re-training.  
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After wild ride, employers have plenty at stake in this campaign - 0 views

www.edmontonjournal.com/...story.html immigrants work alberta edmonton
shared by Omar Yaqub on 28 Apr 11 - Cached
  • job-creation plans
  • job retraining programs.
  • To me that's not good public policy because it's essentially paying for jobs
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • he says, adding the federal government should instead be looking for ways to increase productivity, such as by helping companies invest in labour-saving equipmen
  • Instead of needing help to create jobs, Alberta firms are unique in that they need help finding labour, says Dale Allen, president of the Acheson Business Association and head of SciTech Engineered Chemicals.
  • "And that means it's now becoming difficult to get labour," says Allen, whose company of six employees produces environmentally friendly products such as organic salts for cleaning gas plants. "Everybody is competing for the same people."
  • To help the situation, Allen says the federal government should try to recruit skilled workers from countries like the United States and Great Britain, which are still going through economic difficulty. Bringing in unskilled, temporary foreign workers is a more time-consuming and costly practice for companies, he says.
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http://www.employment.alberta.ca/documents/RRM/RRM-BI-mature-workers.pdf - 0 views

www.employment.alberta.ca/...RRM-BI-mature-workers.pdf employment alberta seniors
shared by Omar Yaqub on 27 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Omar Yaqub on 27 Apr 11
     
    With the workforce aging in Alberta and across Canada, labour force participation by mature workers is attracting increased attention. As people live longer, healthier lives, many wish to stay active in the workforce or to volunteer in their communities. Mature workers have developed valuable skills and abilities and a lifetime of knowledge and work experience.  At issue is not only the need for increased labour supply, but how to minimize the loss of experience, corporate memory, leadership and mentorship that can occur when people retire. Without taking action now to address the impacts of an aging workforce, there will be a significant decline in Alberta's labour supply. In 2006, the Government of Alberta acknowledged the need to increase the labour force participation of mature workers in its comprehensive labour force strategy, Building and Educating Tomorrow's Workforce (BETW). Between October 2007 and February 2008 an online public consultation on Alberta's aging workforce gathered input from Albertans on their priorities, issues and experience with an aging workforce. Following this, government has developed an action plan to support increased labour force participation of mature workers. The action plan is based on the following assumptions: * With the aging population, increasing mature worker labour force participationmay be important for improving productivity and encouraging economic growth.* Mature workers have identifiable work-related needs, such as the need forincreased flexibility, which are not being fully addressed. * Market forces and employer practices will have a positive influence on increasingthe workforce participation of mature workers; however, policy changes may be necessary to remove some barriers and to sustain strong labour market participation. Engaging the Mature Worker: An Action Plan for Alberta identifies four overarching goals to support mature workers in the labour force.
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Improving the urban aboriginal experience - The Globe and Mail - 0 views

www.theglobeandmail.com/...singlepage aboriginal work
shared by Omar Yaqub on 27 Apr 11 - Cached
  • Yet the censuses also show aboriginal residents still lag far behind other city dwellers. They’re more likely to be jobless or earn less money
  • These disparities have many native and municipal leaders calling for a new pact for Canada’s rapidly growing urban aboriginal population – such as a landmark accord initiative in Edmonton, begun six years ago, which established aboriginals as equal partners in seeking solutions.
  • In 2005, Edmonton and its native community created the Urban Aboriginal Accord, which aims to address native issues. A survey conducted for the accord found that four in 10 felt Edmonton was an unwelcoming and unfriendly city to aboriginals. “They’re a major part of our community, and yet they were kind of separated from our community,” said former city councillor Ron Hayter, a long-time champion of the accord’s creation.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Crafting the accord took time. Edmonton drew from the lessons of an unsuccessful attempt in Winnipeg, ensuring its aboriginal community was driving the dialogue, not consulted after the fact. Edmonton had to show its native residents it was serious about developing a better and more inclusive relationship, Mr. Hayter said.
  • Statistically, it’s too early to tell whether the accord has helped improve the well-being of Edmonton’s aboriginals. Mayor Stephen Mandel knows more work remains to make the city a welcoming and prosperous home for aboriginal residents. More job opportunities and better housing are required, he said, as well as a deeper understanding of the challenges aboriginals face as result of historical abuses and systemic discrimination.
  • Mr. Mandel would also like to see greater funding support from Ottawa for municipalities with large aboriginal populations. “The accord was the start of it and only the start,” he said. “We have a long way to go, a heck of a long way to go.”
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Working Smarter in a Tough Economy: Workplace Strategies | Area Development Online - 0 views

www.areadevelopment.com/...-economy-cost-savings009.shtml work trends
shared by Omar Yaqub on 27 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Working Smarter in a Tough Economy: Workplace Strategies Particularly during a downturn, business enterprises can become more agile and competitive by rethinking the workplace model
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Where Are the Next Cities?| young knowledge workers, Next Generation Consulting, NGC | ... - 0 views

www.areadevelopment.com/...cities-knowledge-workers.shtml qualityoflife
shared by Omar Yaqub on 27 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • What is a Next City™? Next Cities™ are places with the assets and amenities that attract and retain a young, educated work force. They have bustling city centers, walkable neighborhoods, diverse career opportunities, and vibrant art and music scenes. In 2008, NGC surveyed young professionals in eight cities. These interviews and focus groups with members of the next generation revealed that they choose where to live based on the following seven indexes, listed in order of importance:1. Cost of Lifestyle: Young professionals are just getting started in their careers, and affordability is key. This index includes variables in the national cost of living index, which encompasses a roof over head, food on the table, clothes on the back, and a warm bed at night. 2. Earning: High school guidance counselors tell students that they’ll have between nine and eleven careers in their lifetime. The earning index measures the diversity of employment opportunities, the percentage of jobs in the knowledge-based sector, and average household income.
  • 3. Vitality: How “healthy” is a city? This index measures air and water quality, green space, and a city’s overall health (e.g., obesity, life expectancy, etc.). 4. After Hours: There’s more to life than work. This index counts the places to go and things to do after work and on weekends. 5. Learning: Is the city committed to high quality education for all of its citizens? This index includes measurements related to educational opportunities and expenditures, educational attainment, and accessibility of Wi-Fi hotspots. 6. Around Town: How easy is it to get to where you want to go in a city? This index measures a city’s walkability, airport activity, commute times, and mass transit opportunities. 7. Social Capital: Great talent comes in every race, creed, and color. This index accounts for how open, safe, and accessible your city is to all people. It includes measures of diversity, crime rates, and civic engagement (e.g., voter participation, volunteerism). Jane Jacobs actually coined the phrase “social capital” in The Death and Life of Great American Cities.
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http://www.urbanfutures.com/Q4%202010%20Migration.htm - 0 views

www.urbanfutures.com/Q4%202010%20Migration.htm immigrants trends competitiveness work
shared by Omar Yaqub on 27 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • For  those  of  us  that  follow  the  ebbs  and  flows  of  migration  data,  the  most  recent release from Statistics Canada’s Quarterly Demographic Estimates caught us off guard. While  most  media  did  not  report  on  the  release,  headlines  could  have  run  the  gamut, from “Canada  experiences  its  second  largest  quarter‐over‐quarter  decline  in  net international  migration”  to  “British  Columbia’s  net  international  migration  is  negative for the first time ever”
  • In  British  Columbia  the  rather  significant  divergence  from  recent  trends  was  the consequence of the departure of large numbers of temporary workers and/or students from  the  province,  presumably  returning  home.
  • Alberta  saw  the  number  of  non‐permanent  residents  decline  by  6,725, Saskatchewan by 414, Manitoba by 406, Ontario by 12,603, and Quebec by 5,900. The most  notable  changes  were,  however,  in  the  west.  In  only  two  provinces  (BC  and Alberta)  was  immigration  not  significant  enough  to  balance  the  outflow  of  non‐ permanent  residents,  thus  resulting  in  declines  in  total  net  international  migration  of 727 in BC and 2,092 in Alberta
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University and not-for-profit team up to explore local business - West Edmonton Local - 0 views

westedmontonlocal.ca/...m-up-to-explore-local-business edmonton
shared by Omar Yaqub on 27 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • $100 spent locally on food has three to five times the economic impact than supporting an alternative where the money more than likely leaves the province, or the country.
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ProActive Personnel - 0 views

www.proactivepersonnel.ca work staffing recruiting immigrants
shared by Omar Yaqub on 26 Apr 11 - Cached
  • ProActive Personnel is a staffing agency that specializes in temporary, permanent and contract placement throughout Western Canada.
  • Omar Yaqub on 26 Apr 11
     
    ProActive Personnel is a staffing agency that specializes in temporary, permanent and contract placement throughout Western Canada.
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Canadian immigrants labour shortage - 0 views

www.canadianimmigrant.ca/...779 canadian work immigrants
shared by Omar Yaqub on 26 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • The labour shortage, particularly in industries like construction, means there are jobs that are not getting filled, while many immigrants are not getting jobs. Seems like it’s our immigration system that really needs the help
  • He was only half-kidding. Industries like construction, oil and gas, energy, transportation and manufacturing are reeling from a lack of unskilled labourers and skilled workers and tradespeople (i.e., welders, plumbers, electricians, sheet metal workers).
  • We’ve hired a couple of recent immigrants and they’ve worked out very well,” she adds. “It is production work so there is not a huge amount of communication involved, so it’s okay if their English isn’t yet the greatest.”
  • ...14 more annotations...
  • Hiring temporary foreign workers has crossed her mind, but the thought of looking into the process overwhelms her. “It seems to have a lot of government red tape. We’ve all got so much on our plates right now, we’re all maxed out.”
  • Adding to that is the fact that hiring temporary foreign workers is inherently a short-term solution for a problem that has far-reaching effects. Even if the construction boom tapers off after 2010, the baby boomers will still be in retiring, and Canadians still won’t be making more babies, so it seems inevitable that the issue of worker shortages will keep arising
  • ratio of residents aged 65 and over to those of traditional working age (18–64) will rise from 20 per cent in 2006 to 46 per cent in 2050.
  • report by the Canadian Bar Association says temporary foreign workers are not meeting the needs of labour-hungry employers, because time is spent getting the person trained on the job, particularly where safety is concerned, and just when they are up to speed, employers have to start all over again with new workers.
  • Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) President Gil McGowan says the AFL supports more permanent immigration to Canada. “Bringing in temporary workers, who are very vulnerable to abuse and exploitation is no solution,”
  • “Immigration policy should be about building a stronger society, not about importing cheap labour to serve the short-term needs of employers.”
  • Canadian Construction Association (CCA) is advocating for an expanded temporary foreign workers program for the construction industry, it also recognizes it can’t be the sole solution.
  • labour crisis has been like a mirror held up to the immigration system, reflecting its many flaws. Thanks to the shortsighted “points” system to immigration sales offices that falsely “recruit” immigrant professionals (see Publisher’s Note on page 3), the Canadian immigration system has lost sight of what Canada needs, how Canada works, and how to make immigration policies sophisticated and flexible enough to reflect these things.
  • In B.C., the provincial government is trying to do its part to fill its labour gap, partly by subsidizing the new Skills Connect for Immigrants programs that help skilled immigrants enter positions equivalent to their qualifications in such hot industries as construction, transportation, energy and tourism.
  • Six service providers have been chosen to administer the program, including ASPECT, Back in Motion, Camosun College, Douglas College, Multicultural Helping House Society and Surrey Delta Immigrant Services Society (SDISS).
  • “If immigrants move to B.C. to work in a field where there is a shortage, then we need to help them get their training and credentials recognized [through these programs],” says Minister of Economic Development Colin Hansen
  • Number 1 is career assessment, which includes credential and language evaluations. Number 2 is skills enhancement services. “For example, if a participant wants to go into CAD construction and wants to top up his training, we can help arrange that,” she says. Number 3 is a workplace practicum, which allows them to get a little Canadian experience.
  • “Although it’s not the end focus of our Arrive B.C. program, the largest gap is labourers,”
  • Proactive Personnel (www.proactivepersonnel.ca).
  • Omar Yaqub on 26 Apr 11
     
    The labour shortage, particularly in industries like construction, means there are jobs that are not getting filled, while many immigrants are not getting jobs. Seems like it's our immigration system that really needs the help
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The Default Major - Skating Through B-School - NYTimes.com - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...edl-17business-t.html education
shared by Omar Yaqub on 14 Apr 11 - No Cached
  • Business education has come to be defined in the minds of students as a place for developing elite social networks and getting access to corporate recruiters,
  • Omar Yaqub on 14 Apr 11
     
    Business education has come to be defined in the minds of students as a place for developing elite social networks and getting access to corporate recruiters
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