Wage gaps / Destroy employee morale and productivity

Research has long cited the ongoing gap that exists between the wages of men and women, and those of immigrants and native Canadians. The context for the debate tends to revolve around the valid and omnipresent issue of discrimination, but rarely is the economic impact of the wage gap emphasized — a significant oversight given the labour market constraints businesses face today.

Simply put, the underemployment and under-payment of women and immigrants disengages a valuable segment of the labour pool, leaving employers with an insufficient supply of well-trained, well-educated and highly skilled workers.

When it comes to closing the wage gap for immigrants, little progress has been made in recent years, reports Andrew Sharpe, executive director at the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, a not-for-profit economic research organization in Ottawa. “In fact it deteriorated for a long time, although it seems to have levelled off now. This may be a result of more immigrants coming from countries where English is not a primary language, or where their credentials are not recognized here.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Wage gaps destroy employee morale, productivity | Productive Conversations | Financial Post.