Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
Job Search / Volunteering is valuable
It took me longer than I thought it would to discover my passion and career interests. Of course, I know that I will grow and change, but as I approached graduation and prepared to enter the workforce, I needed a focus. Fortunately, after four years of undergrad, two years of grad school, plus several internships … Continue reading
Canada / Home Depot hiring thousands to fill 6,700 jobs
The Home Depot is looking to fill 6,700 jobs across Canada, 1,067 in Alberta, as the home improvement retailer gears up for summer, its peak season. All stores in the province will be hosting career fairs later this month. On March 19 from 12 to 4 p.m., events will be held in eight Edmonton stores, … Continue reading
US / Immigrants to make up of a third new households
Between 2010 and 2020, immigrants are projected to make up about one-third of the growth among all households, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Research Institute for Housing America. Specifically, the report projects that between 2010 and 2020, immigrants will account for 32.2% of growth among all households. They’ll make … Continue reading
Canada / The Trouble With Apprenticeship / Overall completion rate was 4.9% in 2007
Skilled labour shortages are expected in Canada. Apprenticeship is seen by many as one of the best ways to provide for a supply of skills matching industry needs. The German model is praised around the world, exported and copied elsewhere. What about the system in Canada? Statistics Canada has published a study by Christine Laporte … Continue reading
Canada / Failure to graduate enough tradespeople has been a constant for decades
Canada’s failure to graduate enough tradespeople has been a constant for decades. While Canada had nearly 400,000 registered apprentices in 2010, less than 50 per cent went on to obtain their certifications. Most dropouts leave because current policies make it impossible for them to stay… The average starting age of an apprentice is 27. Surveys … Continue reading
France / New labor deal at Renault
French carmaker Renault (RENA.PA) has won support from workers for a nationwide deal on pay and conditions to boost its competitiveness as a second union gave its backing to the move on Wednesday. Force Ouvriere said in a statement that it had decided by a large majority to sign the new agreement “for a new … Continue reading
UK / Thomas Cook to cut 2,500 jobs
Travel firm Thomas Cook said it would cut 2,500 jobs from its U.K. workforce and close 195 stores in Britain as part of its plans to restructure the business. The 172-year-old group has struggled over the last two years with a slump in sales leading to a string of profit warnings, forcing it to renegotiate … Continue reading
Canada / The Government Training Agenda
Speaking at the Canada 2020 Conference on Skilled Trades in the Energy Sector in Ottawa Feb. 28, Diane Finley, minister of human resources and skills development, noted labour shortages and skills mismatches have become a “dominant policy concern.” A number options are under consideration, including: • Helping Canadians make more informed career choices, including at … Continue reading
Canada and the Provinces / New voucher plan for training being weighed by Flaherty to replace agreements
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty this morning met with Canada’s largest trades union, the AFL-CIO, to discuss transferring nearly $2 billion of funding for labour training from the provinces to a voucher system for individuals ahead of the 2013 budget. The transfer was part of a broader discussion between Flaherty and Robert Blakely, the chief operating … Continue reading
US / Megacommuters: 600,000 Travel 90 Minutes and 50 Miles to Work, and 10.8 Million Travel an Hour Each Way
About 8.1 percent of U.S. workers have commutes of 60 minutes or longer, 4.3 percent work from home, and nearly 600,000 full-time workers had “megacommutes” of at least 90 minutes and 50 miles. The average one-way daily commute for workers across the country is 25.5 minutes, and one in four commuters leave their county to … Continue reading
Saudi Arabia / Half of firms not hiring enough nationals
Almost half of all companies in Saudi Arabia are failing to comply with rules on employment of citizens, a source at the kingdom’s Ministry of Labour was quoted as saying. Speaking to English language Arab News, the source said 48 percent of 248,828 firms based in the Gulf Arab state are currently classified in the … Continue reading
UK / Jaguar Land Rover to create 700 new jobs
Jaguar Land Rover is to invest a further £150m to double the size of its unfinished engine plant in the West Midlands, creating 700 additional jobs. The company aims to raise the eventual number of jobs on the i54 business park on the Staffordshire-Wolverhampton border to more than 1,400. The first engines are scheduled to … Continue reading
Europe / Older workers: Neither the Member States nor the Commission are in a position to establish results
Member States and Commission cannot assess if programmes actually help – say EU Auditors Increasing the employment rate of older workers is part of the EU’s strategic goals. But a new report by the European Court of Auditors has found that neither the Member States nor the Commission are in a position to establish how … Continue reading
US / 5 Myths About the Minimum Wage
Myth #1: Hordes of Minimum-Wage Workers Very few Americans are actually working for the federal minimum wage—it’s just 2.9 percent of all workers in the United States. In other words, 97 percent of American workers make more than minimum wage. Myth #2: The “Working Poor” Getting By on Minimum Wage More than half of minimum-wage … Continue reading
India / 14 mn jobs lost in agriculture and 5 mn in manufacturing jobs between 2005 and 2010
As many as 14.08 million jobs were lost in the five-year period ended in 2009-10 in the agriculture sector which engages almost 60 per cent of the workforce in the country. The job losses in the manufacturing sector during the five year period from 2004-05 to 2009-10 was 5.03 million as per the draft 12th … Continue reading
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