'Precarious employment' still rising in Toronto & Hamilton

Since, I've written some blog posts on employment situation in Toronto, I won't write a long post again, except, highlighting a few stats from this article.

- precarious employment includes people in temp & contract work, along with those with uncertain work schedules, irregular earnings, inconsistent hours of work or jobs without benefits, & also includes some self-employed people as precarious, only if they have irregular, unpredictable work

- almost half (44%) of adults in Toronto & Hamilton are in precarious employment

- once someone is in precarious employment, chances are high that they are going to be in trapped in it

- workers in precarious employment are almost twice as likely to report worse mental health than those in secure positions

- visible minorities are far more likely to be working in unstable jobs

- “Not only has work become less secure for racialized workers, but also the pay has actually decreased for them,” said Wayne Lewchuk, McMaster professor of labour studies & economics

- precarious employment has grown almost twice as fast as standard employment since 1997

- more men are landing in precarious employment, while white women are the only ones who are getting more secure employment & less precarious employment

- In Toronto, only 45.7% of respondents are now holding permanent full-time jobs with benefits

- 47% of Canadian firms in a recent Deloitte poll said they plan to increase the use of “contingent, outsourced, contract or part-time” workers in the next 3 to 5 years
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/jobs/precarious-employment-still-rising-in-toronto-and-hamilton/article24531959/

Precarious employment is becoming more prevalent in Canada’s largest city, a shift that is putting financial strain & emotional stress on households.

44% of adults in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton Area work in jobs that have some degree of insecurity, a study ... says. That share, which includes people working through temp agencies, freelancers & contract workers, is greater than the last time the survey was conducted in 2011, when it was 41%.

The new study is based on a survey of 4,193 people & produced by United Way Toronto & McMaster University.

The changing nature of work carries a broad impact. For many workers, unstable employment means less access to training & opportunities to get ahead, fewer benefits, more trouble managing finances & more anxiety. The effect spills into family & home life too, making it difficult to pay for school trips & plan any activities ... .

The study also looked at whether people are able to climb out of insecure employment. “One of the biggest ‘ah has’ for us was that no, in fact – if you are in precarious employment, there’s a very good chance you’re going to become trapped in it,” said Susan McIsaac, president & CEO of United Way Toronto. This is the case not just for those in low-income work, but “for many people in the middle class, this was a huge challenge in being able to maintain their middle-class status.”

Its definition includes people in temp & contract work, along with those with uncertain work schedules, irregular earnings, inconsistent hours of work or jobs without benefits. It counts some self-employed people as precarious, only if they have irregular, unpredictable work.

That’s the case for Anna Withrow. She has been largely self-employed since 2001, as a communications & marketing consultant, & says erratic earnings have wreaked havoc with her life.

“Cash flow has been the biggest crippling thing,” said Ms. Withrow, 45, who lives in Toronto. Her income has ranged from $24,000 to about $77,000, with no income at all in some months, & she has worked anywhere between 40 & 100 hours per week.

The impact has been both financial – a run-up in debts, making it difficult to pay the mortgage & finish renovations – & physical too, leading to acute stress, a less nutritious diet & weight gain. “If the right position came along, I would take it tomorrow.”

Workers in precarious jobs are almost twice as likely to report worse mental health than those in secure positions, the survey shows. Nearly half of them say they often don’t know their work schedules at least a week in advance. Scheduling uncertainty makes it hard to find child care.

Visible minorities are far more likely to be working in unstable jobs.

“Not only has work become less secure for racialized workers, but also the pay has actually decreased for them,” said Wayne Lewchuk, McMaster professor of labour studies and economics.

The study comes as the provincial government is reviewing its employment & labour laws, noting that non-standard work has grown almost twice as fast as standard employment since 1997.

By gender, a growing share of men are landing in precarious employment, he noted, likely a result of fewer factory jobs, while white women “are the only group in the study who saw an increase in secure employment & a decrease in precarious employment.”

The longer-term trend points to more insecure employment, said Prof. Lewchuk. “Each time there’s a recovery, the level of security is a little bit lower than the previous boom. I think this is because the competitive pressures are greater – firms are looking to cut costs … technology has changed, & there’s an infrastructure where they can go to temp agencies, & get not just unskilled workers, but they can get CEOs now.”

The results show almost six in 10 workers hold some form of secure employment — with 48% in permanent, full-time jobs that pay some benefits, & 8% permanent, part-time employees. This share has slightly fallen. Meanwhile, the portion of people in the least secure type of work, dubbed “precarious,” grew to 28.5% last year from 25.9% 3 years earlier.

In the city of Toronto, less than half, or 45.7%, of respondents are now holding permanent full-time jobs with benefits.

A debate has emerged over precarious employment – how it’s defined & what the long-term trends are. One analysis, by Toronto-Dominion Bank in March, found precarious employment levels in Canada are higher than before the recession, though they’re currently declining. It said this type of work often tracks business cycles, & that precarious employment will remain “elevated” over the next 2 years.

A 2013 paper by the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity found a growing number of workers in Toronto are employed in temporary, part-time, low-paying positions in routine-service industries.

Almost half, or 47%, of Canadian firms in a recent Deloitte poll said they plan to increase the use of “contingent, outsourced, contract or part-time” workers in the next 3 to 5 years, a strategy the consulting firm says helps give firms the ability to scale up or down as business needs fluctuate.

In a global report ..., the Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development said workers on temp contracts in Canada have “particularly low annual earnings” & that the annual median earnings of the self employed are also “considerably lower” compared with salaried workers.

...

The paper recommends a range of measures, including the need for ensuring all workers have access to skills & work training, to developing – & sharing – the business case for secure employment. At the federal level, it called for better labour market information & for updating employment insurance rules to better fit with today’s jobs market.

Half of Toronto-area workers have fallen into 'precarious employment'

Although, this is a good informative piece & confirms my thinking that job situation in Canada keeps going downhill, I still come across people who work in career offices (employment agencies, government human resources centers, & university career offices) who think completely different, i.e. that there's nothing wrong with labour market of Canada & everything is on the up.

Those people have usually one suggestion: networking. Do networking.

I'm dumbfounded with that suggestion because I understand that networking is very important to have access to that hidden job market but then are all these millions of job seekers in Toronto & all over Canada are socially inept people that they aren't / can't network?

I can accept that perhaps, I am not the greatest person to make friends with people & network easily. But I can't accept that all these millions of people are similar to me on the social gauge. So, if they are not like me & most of them must be much more social than me, then why are they having problems landing a secure, permanent, good-paying job?

Part of my answer goes back to my previous blog post (of Robocops coming to Dubai by 2017) that with the help of automation & robotics, the bar of secure & permanent jobs in every category & profession is constantly rising. Although, the piece says that trends of changes in labour market cannot be predicted & can come suddenly, I say that they are actually predictable & can be seen from miles afar. For instance, hotel staff jobs will be going away within the next 10-20 years, thanks to the introduction of robot staff at Henn na hotel in Japan. Or the jobs of taxi drivers, truck drivers & chauffeurs are already in jeopardy, thanks to self-driving trucks, cars, & even Uber.

Although, the piece talks about politicians & institution leaders getting their heads together & make better policies in the areas of labour relations, employment, pay structures etc., I'd say that that's a useless suggestion.

We know politicians are controlled by rich business elites. Rich business elites didn't become rich by giving away money to poor through better pay structure, providing training & development, & hiring humans, instead of not automating their jobs. A business person will always look for efficiency & cost-cutting measures, & automating a job achieves both objectives.

Networking is useless if there are no influential people in your network to pull you in the upper echelons of a business or an organization. Because if you are a young individual & not at the top of the organization, & if there's no scope of you climbing higher quickly, even if you starts at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy, then your permanent job is already at jeopardy. You may get hired on contract or temporary basis later on in life, but not permanent. At that point in your life, you won't have time to go back to school to re-educate yourself & re-orient your ship of life.

Is this labour market situation unique to Canada where more & more people are falling into precarious employment? Sort of. Because, Canadian industries are mostly focused on fossil fuels & minerals extractions. Governments cannot do much since companies do come in Canada with the help of tax subsidies but then as soon as they realize their tax advantages, they go back to a low-cost area. Governments cannot intervene heavily since that would amount to dictatorship & governments' undue influences. That would go against the free market mantra of the West.

This labour market situation of more people falling into precarious employment is same in US & Europe. Germany & France engineered the European Union to increase their own employment & labour market situation. But, it was at the detriment of other countries which could not export & had to import German & French products, which in the end, put a huge dent in their labour markets. After all, somebody's GDP must decrease so someone else's increases.

Root of the problem of these labour market problems is that Western governments always acted reactionary, instead of proactively, to where the world was moving. North American countries didn't market technical professions (those jobs are plentiful now with good salary prospects, but not enough job seekers) or they pushed for dismemberment of unions, even though, they are the ones to push for higher wages. North American countries didn't, & still aren't, pushing for green technologies, which can help hire more people in secure, permanent jobs.
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/columnists/half-of-toronto-area-workers-have-fallen-into-precarious-employment-study/article9003680/

In just a few short decades Canada’s labour market has changed dramatically. The widely held belief that employment leads to economic security & social well-being has become out-of-step with an increasing number of people in today’s work force.

Research ... by McMaster University & United Way Toronto provides new insights into just how much the labour market in Southern Ontario has changed. Barely half of people working in the Greater Toronto & Hamilton areas have permanent, full-time jobs that provide benefits & stability. Everyone else is working in situations that are part-time, vulnerable or insecure in some way. This includes a growing number of temporary, contract & on-call positions. Jobs without benefits. Jobs with uncertain futures. This significant rise in precarious employment is a serious threat – not only to the collective prosperity of the region, but also to the social fabric of communities.

Beneath this finding is another surprise: precarious employment is hurting everyone. It’s found across all demographic groups, in every sector & across income levels that were previously immune. Having a middle-class income can now come with increased employment insecurity.

It is now common for many workers to piece together year-round, full-time hours by working multiple jobs. In addition, working conditions are more uncertain, as existing labour laws have not kept up with changing realities. Union membership is on the decline. Doors to opportunity are limited as opportunities for job training & development decline.

While we know that being precariously employed is worst when you’re living in low income, our research confirms this increasingly is an issue that affects people at every income level. Moreover, uncertainty about work is a major barrier for anyone planning for the future. People find it more difficult to chart a clear & stable path in their careers & are consequently delaying significant life plans, such as whether to start a family, because they feel insecure about their futures. Among parents, making plans, scheduling activities & spending time together as a family becomes much more difficult. The stress & pressure of being precariously employed is also more likely to lead to feelings of self doubt & anxiety.

Just as important, our study also found that job insecurity is about more than just poverty. Its impacts are far-reaching, affecting all parts of our lives, redefining how we contribute to our economy, give back to our community & interact with our families. Precarious work can make it more difficult to make ongoing volunteer commitments & donate to charities. Across all income levels, insecurity makes it less likely that people will have vital social networks, such as friends to talk to.

Trends that have caused nearly half of our work force to engage in insecure employment show no signs of slowing down. Among study respondents, even those who describe their current employment as permanent are aware that change can come suddenly & unexpectedly.

The question now is: How should we respond to this shifting climate? While the global nature of our economy can sometimes make it feel like change is beyond our control, policy paralysis is not an option. We have a variety of tools within our reach to effectively limit the spread of insecure employment & mitigate its negative effects.

The way forward is to confront these trends, assess how current labour market regulations & income security policies are supporting people in precarious employment, & explore options for making them more responsive. It’s time for a conversation that brings together the private sector, labour organizations, community groups & all levels of government in a discussion about how together we can mitigate the negative effects of precarious employment.

Raising incomes is an obvious & critical area of focus, but it is not enough. The reality that workers in precarious employment tend to exit & re-enter the labour market much more often than those in permanent employment requires a renewed look at basic employment standards & protections as well as revamped income security programs.

More attention also needs to be given to how we can best support human capital development so that our work force remains innovative & competitive. Training & education models with a life-long learning focus can help workers build the skills to continuously improve their employment prospects.

Family supports, such as early learning & child care, accessible recreation & settlement programs, & affordable housing are also keys to maintaining healthy households & building a stronger sense of community.

What we need today is a renewed public policy framework that will be supportive of those in precarious employment & responsive to the challenges associated with this shifting labour market. Given this reality, it’s crucial that we all work together, governments, employers, labour & other stakeholders, to identify common ground & advance a shared agenda for real & sustainable progress.


Susan McIsaac is president & CEO of United Way Toronto, Charlotte Yates, is dean at the faculty of social sciences at McMaster University.