Where have the workers gone?

By Mata Press Service

As help wanted signs appear in the windows of hotels, restaurants, and other businesses across the country, Canadian policymakers and consumers alike are asking, “where have the workers gone”?
A new study of more than 5,000 Canadians from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute helps answer that question by illuminating a shift in the labour market driven by an aging population and exacerbated by a global pandemic that has shifted the priorities of some workers.
The data shows an 18 percent decline in the number of workers in the service sector over the last two and a half years. This includes a 22 percent decline among 18- to 24-year-olds and a drop of 15 percent among 25- to 34-year-olds.
While the service sector has experienced significant attrition, the tech industry has noted a corresponding boost.
The proportion of workers involved in tech and information technology has increased 15 percent during the same period, with a 36 percent increase among 18- to 24-year-old workers.
Another notable aspect of these data is the movements of older workers. As COVID-19 shut down huge swaths of the country, many older Canadians chose not to return to work.
That said, six percent of workers who retired in 2020 have returned to work, perhaps beckoned back by employers hoping to fill vacancies with experienced staff.
Overall, the trend has been toward retirement, however, rather than away from it. Among those who are 55 to 64 years of age, there has been a 27 percent increase in retirement, despite those individuals remaining below retirement age.
The loss of older workers means a diminishing white-collar managerial and executive class. The number of Canadians employed in that sector has dropped 19 percent, led by a 26 percent drop among 55- to 64-year-olds and a 41 percent drop among workers of retirement age.
Key Findings:
Four-in-five full-time workers (78%) say they are satisfied with their employment currently, alongside seven-in-ten who are working part-time.
Satisfaction is highest among professionals (87%), tech workers (84%), and those in the creative or knowledge industry (83%). Satisfaction is lowest among the service sector (72%), office workers (70%), and labour workers (65%).
Just two-in-five Canadians who rely on gig work for their primary income say they are satisfied with their employment (39%), while 52 percent are dissatisfied.
The B.C. hospitality sector estimates that more than 20,000 people have left since the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the leader of one of Canada’s most influential companies is calling for an overhaul of the country’s approach to immigration, arguing that professions too often undervalue skills acquired abroad, that housing has become so expensive that prices risk deterring talented foreigners, and that employers tend to pay lower wages.
“Being welcoming, in this case, doesn’t just mean accepting newcomers,” Victor Dodig, chief executive of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, said in a commentary the Financial Post on Oct. 24. “It means ensuring that when immigrants arrive, they can thrive and participate fully in society and the economy. On this score, Canada has work to do.”
“We need to think bigger about immigration,” Dodig said so that Canada has “the population density, human capital and capacity to be a leader in the new economy.”
Immigration plays a key role in Canada’s labour supply, accounting for 84 percent of the growth in the total labour force during the 2010s, according to Statistics Canada. At the same time, data show the skills of newcomers are regularly underutilized. The number of university-educated immigrants working in jobs requiring a university degree fell to 38 percent in 2016, from 46 percent in 2001, compared to 60 percent for Canadian-born workers, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal government is on the verge of submitting its next Immigration Levels Plan. The policy update will outline the number of immigrants the country will accept annually through various programs.
As per the current plan, Canada aims to welcome 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023 and 451,000 in 2024. Dodig, the son of immigrants, urged the government to consider increasing those levels to counter the effects of an aging workforce.
Calls for an increase in immigration numbers were also made recently by two insiders within the governing Liberal Party of Canada.
Former Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Navdeep Bains and his former chief of staff in 2016 and 2017, Elder C. Marques, say Canada should become even more ambitious with its immigration targets.
“Canada deserves praise for our approach to immigration levels,” the two wrote in a letter in
The Financial Post.
“But while the absolute numbers may seem high, they actually need to be higher in light of Canada’s population and demographic challenges.
“In the early 1910s, a much-smaller Canada welcomed similar annual absolute numbers as today.
“Raising immigration targets responsibly and effectively will require more investments in infrastructure, housing, transit and resettlement services across the entire country, and that means better federal-provincial collaboration.”
The Liberal insiders make several recommendations to boost immigration to Canada, including significant reforms to what they describe as administrative chaos.
“Current administrative failures are unacceptable,” they insist. “Recently-announced investments should be celebrated, but more is required.
“For decades, badly-needed upgrades were put off by governments of both stripes, leaving the consequences for another day. That day is now here. There may not be much political credit in getting the administration right, but it’s essential if our system is going to be fair, credible and responsive to what the economy needs. We are in a global race for talent. We need systems that reflect that.”