Warnings that Canada doesn’t have enough people with the right skills to fill available vacancies have been dominating the headlines. However, the situation is not so grave, argues a new report by TD Bank.
“There is some evidence of mismatch across certain occupations and provinces, but the […] data prevent us from saying whether the situation today is worse than in years past,” says the report, called Jobs In Canada. “There is some evidence of tightness across certain occupations and regions, but the analysis failed to provide a real smoking gun.”
The authors of the report arrived at this conclusion by analyzing figures on unemployment rates, wage rates and vacancy rates (which are a measure of unmet labour demand) for about 140 occupations.
Professions that are widely believed to be facing labour shortages—such as engineering and healthcare—have seen unemployment rates that are much lower than average, but vacancy rates that are only moderately higher, according to the study. However, vacancy rates have risen more significantly in the Prairies, especially in those areas that are perceived to have a shortage.
The report also notes that Canada has seen some degree of quickly growing demand for high- and low-skilled individuals at the expense of a relative decline in demand for medium-skilled workers, but that this situation is not as pronounced as it is in the U.S.
Another trend identified by the study is that “older workers are punching well beyond their weight in terms of their contribution to net new employment.” However, the study admits that since the onset of the economic meltdown, the issue of youth unemployment has grown. It also concedes that contract jobs have become more prevalent, making up one in seven positions, which has sparked fears that many of the jobs being created are not of high quality.
But although Canada isn’t facing an immediate talent crisis, work on skills development is needed on the part of governments, employers and employees in order to avert future problems, the study argues.
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