THE LABOUR MARKET CONTEXT: THE DEMAND SIDE OF THE EQUATION Presentation by Tom Zizys From Research to Practice Symposium March 13, 2013

Outline of presentation Changing hiring and promotion practices Occupations: the hourglass labour market Broad trends in employment incomes Post-secondary degree holders Educational attainment and entry-level jobs Job-education match What can be done?

CHANGING HIRING AND PROMOTION PRACTICES

CAREER PATHWAYS IN A 1950s COMPANY From Working Better: Creating a High-Performing Labour Market in Ontario Metcalf Foundation

THE 1950s CORPORATE STRUCTURE

The labour market perfect storm LATE 60s/EARLY 70s: STAGFLATION _____________________________

The labour market perfect storm LATE 60s/EARLY 70s: STAGFLATION _____________________________

The big ideas matter

FRAGMENTED CAREER PATH IN A 1990s FIRM

THE INTEGRATED FIRM NOW BECOMES THE NETWORKED FIRM

Entry-level jobs not what they used to be More casual, part-time and temp work Wages dropped for entry-level jobs Drop in minimum wage in real terms More income inequality (1): intra-firm equity More income inequality (2): lower status jobs have less bargaining power Less unionization Less opportunity for advancement

OCCUPATIONS: THE HOURGLASS LABOUR MARKET

From study for Toronto Workforce Innovation Group: An Economy Out of Shape: Changing the Hourglass

Comparison of distribution of jobs by skill categories, Canada,

Comparison of distribution of jobs by skill categories, Ontario,

Change in employment shares by pay level, Europe and United States, IMF, World Economic Outlook, 2011, p. 42

Percentage change in employment share of all jobs, by skill content, United States,

BROAD TRENDS IN EMPLOYMENT INCOMES

Average incomes, full-time/full-year workers, males and females, Toronto and rest of Ontario, (2005 dollars)

WORKERS WITH POST-SECONDARY DEGREES

OECD, Education at a Glance, 2011 Percentage of population that has attained tertiary education, and year olds, 2009

Canadian college graduate earnings (25-64 year olds) compared to other countries (2010 or latest available year) OECD, Education at a Glance, 2011

Canadian university graduate earnings (25-64 year olds) compared to other countries (2009 or latest available year) OECD, Education at a Glance, 2011

Share of college and university diploma and degree holders, by occupation, Canada, Ontario, Toronto CMA & Toronto, 2006

JOB-EDUCATION MATCH

Job-education match, by education level, Canada, 2006 Statistics Canada: Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, 2006

Mean hourly wage by education level and job education relatedness, Canada, 2006 Statistics Canada: Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, 2006

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

A strategy with three dimensions

Employer practices Overwhelming evidence base exists for the business case for workforce development Numerous measurable indicators: turnover, absenteeism, recruitment costs, productivity, value added, firm survival rate, innovation Enhance management and HR competencies Good literature reviews: NCVER; UKCES Workforce development increased productivity better jobs higher pay

Enabling environment Data and analysis: Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics; Canadian Council on Learning; Canadian Policy Research Networks Model practices: Developing a toolkit based on research and pilot projects Intermediaries: Workforce development boards; unions Sector strategies: value of sector councils Linkages: workforce development to: productivity innovation economic development The information, the networks and the processes needed to make workforce development happen

Norms & values (1) The value of government Evidence-based policies Tackling inequality Pre-distribution (flat median wage; increasing wages at top) Income tax; EI coverage; drawing attention to tax avoidance Restraining shareholder value Reaffirming other obligations: to economy, to employees, to community Incentives for longer-term investment (shares; bonuses) Slowing the rate of transactions (Tobin tax) A deliberate paradigm shift

Norms & values (2) Features: permanent jobs; workplace training; career advancement; unions; apprenticeships; experiential learning; paid internships; gender equity; living wage Using government procurement as lever Celebrating top workplace practices Child care International agreements: raising the bar on labour practices; corporate taxation Privileging good workforce development practices

QUESTIONS? DISCUSSION Tom Zizys Metcalf Foundation