A WORKER’S WORLD // HUMAN RESOURCES
A WORKER’S WORLD HOW THE JOB MARKET HAS CHANGED
BY MELANIE DARBYSHIRE
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inding a job in Calgary today, especially in the energy industry, is like finding a needle in a haystack – extremely difficult, though not entirely impossible. The multitude of candidates vying for the few available jobs means that to get hired, one must stand out from the crowd in new and creative ways. Flexibility, learnability and possession of the right qualifications are key. Even with these things, however, landing a job is not easy. While Alberta’s situation – the direct result of a precipitous drop in oil prices and the primacy of the energy industry to the province’s economy – is unique, jobseekers nationwide face new, often bleak, realities. Times have changed, and the days of long-term employment with traditional pensions and benefits are, unfortunately, over. There are jobs in Canada, to be sure; it’s for those who know where they are and how to land them that things will work out well. “If you’ve got the right background, education and degree, it’s very much an employee’s market [in Canada],” explains Bill Greenhalgh, CEO of the Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA). “There’s big demand. When you look at Ontario, people coming out of [university] with computer backgrounds are hired instantly.” Students graduating with ‘STEM’ degrees – in the sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics – are generally in a good position. “This is where the jobs are – in software, computers, technology – there’s big demand,” Greenhalgh says. Despite the preponderance of technology-related jobs, Greenhalgh says three-quarters of students graduating from post-secondary institutions in Canada are doing so with
degrees in the soft sciences – the arts and social sciences. They then struggle to find jobs. The continuation of the shift away from manufacturing jobs has been offset somewhat by growth in other industries. “There’s been some [job] replacement through services, particularly in areas like tourism, culture, restaurants and the hospitality industry,” Greenhalgh says. Jobs in the trades, too, are plentiful. “There’s a huge shortage of people in the trades and there’s all kinds of apprenticeships available,” he says. “They have longterm security, and you don’t need a degree. You need skills.”
ABOVE: BILL GREENHALGH, CEO OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES PROFESSIONALS ASSOCIATION.
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NOVEMBER 2016 // BUSINESS IN CALGARY // BUSINESSINCALGARY.COM