Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - March 2008
Experts are concerned about the aging workforce with regards to the labour shortage in Canada. The latest census data, released last week by Statistics Canada, reveals that over half of the workers in this country are over the age of 40.
This means that within the next 20 years, more than half of the jobs will be vacated as the �baby boom� generation moves into retirement. Employers, who are already facing labour challenges, will be left scrambling even more so, to find solutions.
Some analysts warn that the government is not doing enough- especially considering the remarkable amount of job growth Canada is experiencing of late, also reported in the census data from Statistics Canada.
The industries most likely to be hard-hit by the labour shortage include the health sector, the IT sector and the skilled trades- which are already facing severe crunches in the booming provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.
However, though the situation seems dire for employers, workers should be able to see some gains in the fall-out. Less competition for each position means �power to demand better wages, benefits and working conditions.� It means that new students are juggling job offers before they graduate.
Yet to rely on youth recruitment alone would leave a deficit. To compensate, employers and analysts are increasingly pointing to immigration as a source of skilled labour.
Though the government has recently taken some steps to mitigate the immigration process, including revamping application processing, dedicating more staff and increased funding to this department, and implementing more temporary worker programs, there is still much to be done- particularly with regards to foreign credential recognition.
�It�s really hard for them [immigrants] to go back to the same job level that they had before,� said Camilo Cortez, an employment advisor with the Vancouver-based Immigrant Services Society, in reference to the jobs many immigrants have in their native country. �In some cases they could work right away, but they would have to go to a basic job.�
In the next couple of decades, Canadian policy-makers must resolve to make these issues a priority if the economic growth of this country is to be sustained. Already, some employers are at the point of closing shop, not due to a lack of demand, but purely because there is no one to do the job.
To ostracize highly qualified workers because of outdated bureaucratic policies is to turn a blind eye to a crisis that may be unavoidable, but could certainly be eased.
Source: Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/
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