LMI Research: April 5, 2018

The BC Labour Market Report's

Labour Market Hot Sheet

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April 5, 2018

Humans Wanted - How Canadian youth can thrive in the age of disruption

Research / Future-Planning

A new RBC research paper, Humans Wanted - How Canadian youth can thrive in the age of disruption, has revealed that 50% of Canadian jobs will be disrupted by automation in the next 10 years.

As a result of this disruption, Canada's Gen Mobile - young people who are currently transitioning from education to employment - are unprepared for the rapidly changing workplace. With 4 million Canadian youth entering the workforce over the next decade, and the shift from a jobs economy to a skills economy, the research indicates young people will need a portfolio of "human skills" to remain competitive and resilient in the labour market.

" Canada is at a historic cross-roads - we have the largest generation of young people coming into the workforce at the very same time technology is starting to impact most jobs in the country," said Dave McKay, President and CEO, RBC. " Canada is on the brink of a skills revolution and we have a responsibility to prepare young people for the opportunities and ambiguities of the future."

"There is a changing demand for skills," said John Stackhouse, Senior Vice-President, RBC. "According to our findings, if employers and the next generation of employees focus on foundational 'human skills', they'll be better able to navigate a new age of career mobility as technology continues to reshape every aspect of the world around us."

Key Findings:

Canada's economy is on target to add 2.4 million jobs over the next four years, virtually all of which will require a different mix of skills.
A growing demand for "human skills" will grow across all job sectors and include: critical thinking, co-ordination, social perceptiveness, active listening and complex problem solving.
Rather than a nation of coders, digital literacy - the ability to understand digital items, digital technologies or the Internet fluently ñ will be necessary for all new jobs.
Canada's education system, training programs and labour market initiatives are inadequately designed to help Canadian youth navigate the new skills economy, resulting in roughly half a million 15-29 year olds who are unemployed and another quarter of a million who are working part-time involuntarily.
Canadian employers are generally not prepared, through hiring, training or retraining, to recruit and develop the skills needed to ensure their organizations remain competitive in the digital economy.

" As digital and machine technology advances, the next generation of Canadians will need to be more adaptive, creative and collaborative, adding and refining skills to keep pace with a world of work undergoing profound change," said McKay. " Canada's future prosperity depends on getting a few big things right and that's why we've introduced RBC Future Launch."
RBC Future Launch is a decade-long commitment to help Canadian youth prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. RBC is committed to acting as a catalyst for change, bringing government, educators, public sector and not-for-profits together to co-create solutions to help young people better prepare for the future of the work through "human skills" development, networking and work experience.

Top recommendations from the report include:

A national review of post-secondary education programs to assess their focus on "human skills" including global competencies
A national target of 100% work-integrated learning, to ensure every undergraduate student has the opportunity for an apprenticeship, internship, co-op placement or other meaningful experiential placement
Standardization of labour market information across all provinces and regions, and a partnership with the private sector to move skills and jobs information to real-time, interactive platforms
The introduction of a national initiative to help employers measure foundational skills and incorporate them in recruiting, hiring and training practices

Click here to read: Humans Wanted - How Canadian youth can thrive in the age of disruption.

Hey millennials: Here's why joining a startup has nothing to do with the lottery

Editorial by Alyssa Furtado, Co-founder of Ratehub Inc.

If you've graduated in the past decade, you probably remember the nerve-racking process of choosing your career path. Your first foray into the job market can feel like a game of chess, where every move either brings you closer to your ambitions or sets you back.

As startups increase in popularity in major cities across Canada, they're becoming a new, popular option for new graduates. But are they a smart career move? Last week, an article by Bram Belzberg argued that millennials who choose to join startups are '[treating] their careers like lottery tickets,' but I beg to differ.

If you're a millennial who has discounted startups as a starting point for your career, you're missing out on some of the most rewarding job opportunities on the market today. Fortune favours the bold - a saying I found to be true when I left my management consulting job back in 2009 to co-found my startup, Ratehub Inc. Here's why you should be bold by launching your career at a startup.

Millennials shouldn't treat their careers like lottery tickets

First, the skills developed at a startup are highly valuable for recent graduates. Early- stage startups often have very small teams and a lot of work to do, which allows younger team members to engage in high-level work early in their careers. One of Ratehub's very early employees, Kurtis, started out as our office co-ordinator straight out of university. Unsure of where he wanted to focus his career, he developed a passion for product and analytics work. As we grew, we were able to give him more of this work and support him outside of work with coding courses and training, enabling him to grow to become Ratehub's first product manager. Today, he leads product at Zoocasa, a tech-powered brokerage.

There's no topping on-the-job learning or the opportunities that will be presented by the fast-paced growth of a startup. If you later want to transition to the corporate world, you can rest easy knowing that your startup experience is held in high regard. Established companies frequently tap startup founders and talent to lead technology, digital advertising and digital transformation projects and divisions.

In his article, Mr. Belzberg argues that startups don't provide formal mentorship opportunities for young talent. I agree that mentorship can get dropped down the list of priorities at some startups when they're finding their legs, but this becomes less true as the companies mature. It's important to distinguish between early stage startups and scale-ups, which usually refers to companies with more than $5-million in revenue that have had multiyear growth rates on employee count and revenue. Scale-ups are better suited to create and implement formal mentorship programs to foster talent, as their scale requires more experienced managers and they have the revenue or funding to pay for more senior talent. But early stage startups are also uniquely positioned to provide millennials with the latitude to grow and experiment as one of just a handful of employees. In either scenario, mentorship is available to those who seek it.

Another common worry from young talent: the potential of a startup failing, and how that impacts their future job prospects. The anxiety of 'hitching your wagon to the wrong horse' can make millennials wary of promising career opportunities. However, Canada's strong startup ecosystem puts young people in a great position to find new roles even if the worst comes to pass. Cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Kitchener-Waterloo have close-knit tech communities supported by networks of industry experts. I've personally received handwritten recommendations from former startup heads vouching for the strong talent they've worked with that will soon be coming on the market. In the startup world, we have a solid community of people who support each other and care about each other's success.

For millennials, one way to mitigate the risk of joining a startup is by doing your due diligence before signing on the dotted line. Be sure to do your research on the strength of the leadership team and its commitment to its employees. Asking the right questions early in the hiring process will have a big impact on whether you join the right company and get the right experience. Think of working at a startup as an investment in your career, and make sure you choose the right company for your goals.
Joining a startup allows you to set the pace and direction of your career growth. If you're a tenacious, challenge-driven millennial looking to establish or pivot your career, Canada's startups could be exactly what you're looking for.

Latest payroll employment, earnings and hours report

Research / Salary

According to the latest data from Statistics Canada, salaries in Canada are up 3.2% over the same period in 2017. Compared with January 2017, average weekly earnings increased in 7 of the 10 largest industrial sectors, led by accommodation and food services. At the same time, earnings declined in manufacturing and were little changed in construction and in administrative and support services.

Among employees in public administration, average weekly earnings increased 4.5% to $1,303, driven by gains in local, municipal and regional, as well as provincial and territorial public administration. Ontario contributed the most to the rise.

In wholesale trade, earnings grew 3.4% to an average of $1,220 per week. Gains were mostly attributable to machinery, equipment and supplies wholesalers, which has been the largest contributor to year-over-year increases in this sector since March 2017. The earnings gains in the sector were largely the result of increases in Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia.

For retail trade employees, average weekly earnings rose 3.1% to $576, with most of the growth occurring in the second half of 2017. Increases were spread across a number of subsectors, with building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers, as well as clothing and clothing accessories stores contributing the most to the rise. Ontario and British Columbia accounted for the majority of the year-over-year earnings growth in the sector.

In professional, scientific and technical services, earnings were up 2.9% to an average of $1,357 per week. The rise in earnings was driven by computer systems design and related services, which has been the largest contributor to earnings growth in the sector since September 2017. Among the provinces, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia had the largest increases.

Average weekly earnings in educational services grew 1.9% to $1,054, driven by gains in elementary and secondary schools, as well as community colleges and CEGEPs. Ontario and Quebec contributed the most to the rise.

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Community Calendar

Career Development Events

WorkBC Job Fair in Nanaimo

Thurs April 5th | 1:00 - 4:00 pm

Vancouver Island Conference Centre, 101 Gordon St, Nanaimo, British Columbia