Needs and Uses of LMI : Individuals, Intermediaries, Employers Sharing Results, Expanding Understanding Presented by: Michel Turcotte,Career Counsellor, Psychologist IAEVG – Finland -- June 2009

2 Purpose of Surveys  Identify actual needs and uses of LMI for specific purposes  Individuals: Work and Education Transitions (7)  Intermediaries: Human resources and career and employment counselling services  Employers: Recruitment, retention, or training/career development  Inform policy and service delivery options  Identify gaps in LMI data, products and services  Gain understanding of LMI context & use Sources of surveys: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

3 Definition of LMI Occupational, industrial, learning and community information used by workers to search for work, explore career options or to devise a learning plan related to work or by employers to recruit, train and retain staff. Also includes information on employers, labour market conditions, pay potential, skill requirements, job prospects, training and its financing, job search tools etc.

Individuals Use of LMI

5 1/3 Adult Canadians experienced work and/or education transition within previous 3 years Work Transitions School to work Home/Unemployment to work Change in field of work Change in working level (low to higher) Education Transitions Work to School Home/unemployment to school Change in education level  87% of transition-makers sought LMI

6 Types of LMI Used Employers / Labour market conditions (most) Skill requirements (most) Job prospects (most) Training, studies and financing Planning tools, job search tools General information – (least)

7 Ease of Finding and Using LMI  17% stated it was difficult to find LMI  12% reported difficulty understanding and using LMI (home/unemployment to school transition-makers found it most difficult)

8 Sources of Information – Categories (unprompted) 1. Formal In Person 2. Informal Contacts 3. Public Events 4. Info Products 5. Education Network 6. Employment Agencies, Clubs & Ads 7. Guidance Counsellors 8. Mass Media

9 LMI Assistance/Counseling ˜Nearly 40% of transition-makers did get any assistance in finding/using LMI; Work transition- makers less likely to use assistance finding LMI than Education transition-makers 31% would have liked more assistance in finding/using LMI 27% would pay a reasonable fee to learn how to find/use LMI

10 Sources of Advice/ Counseling Used Work Transitions: used mostly informal, friends/relatives, other employees; Education Transitions: used mainly professional and school counselors

11 Opportunities for Improving Information Categories: The following LMI categories were sought more often, but found to be less useful: Info on Employers (both for work and education transition-makers) Info on Skill Requirements (especially for education transition-makers) Info on Job Prospects (especially for education transition-makers)

Intermediaries: Career Development Specialists Use of LMI

13 Who Responded? (N= 600) Employment Counsellor (29%) Guidance Counsellor (12%) Career Counsellor (12%) Manager (11%) Career Practitionner (10%)

14 Background Formal Education Bachelor (36%) Master (33%) Professional degree (5%) College (11%) Some College/University (7%) Field of Study Counselling (34%) Career Development (33%) Education (26%) Psychology (21%) Business Administ(18%) Sociology (13%) Human Resources (12%) Social Work (11%) Other (23%)

15 Where do they Work with Whom Work Setting Employment Assistance (37%) Government (23%) College/University (17%) High School (7%) Private (3%) Primary Client Group Unemployed/Job Seekers (58%) Students (29%) New Immigrants (13%) Youth (13%) Employed/Staff (10%) Employers (9%) Person with Disabilities (7%)

16 Tasks Supported by LMI Advise on job search (76%) Identify employment opportunities (69%) Counsel on job search (65%) Research/analysis of LMI (40%) Training (35%) Job placement (23%) Facilitate job/career fairs (13%) Facilitate job finding clubs (13%)

17 Types of LMI Used Job Descriptions (90%) Career exploration tools (80%) Wages rates and benefits (73%) Training/educational programs (71%) Job search tools (69%) Job vacancies (64%) Projected shortages and surplus (61%) Lists of employers (60%) Licensing/credentials requirements (50%)

18 Primary Sources Federal employment services (HRSDC) (43%) Provincial/territorial governments (20%) Educational Institutions (6%) Other (8%)

19 Ability/difficulty to Find LMI Do you know where to look for LMI? Yes: 89% Do you have difficulty to find the LMI? Yes: 30% In which areas? – Projected shortages and surplus (38%) – Wages and Benefits (36%) – List of employers (34%) – Job descriptions (33%) – Training/educational programs (30% – Career exploration tools (30%) – Job vacancies (24%)

20 Importance of Geography Local information (94%) Provincial/territorial (87%) National (47%)

21 Types of Barriers Faced in Using LMI Lack of relevance information (40%) Difficulty to find information (30%) Difficulty in applying info (25%) No barriers (23%) Not knowing the infor exist (20%) Difficulty to understand data (15%) Difficulty with terminology (8%) Difficulty with technology (3%

22 Type of Assistance Required Finding the appropriate information (60%) Applying the information (50%) Interpreting the information (38%) Did you get assistance from outside your organization? 42 % said Yes

23 Keeping Up to Date with LMI They use a wide variety of methods for monitoring the labour market; Government publications, contacts and websites were the most used sources. Perceived level of expertise with various LMI competencies: Although they felt they were experts or competent using most of the LMI related competencies, they also stated a strong interest in getting more training in them. Most respondents stated they learned how to find, interpret, and apply LMI on their own or through interactions with others. Less than a third stated it was part of their post secondary training. They stated a very strong interest in training to enhance their LMI related skills.

24 Small-Medium Employers (SME) Survey (2006) and Medium-Large Employers (MLE) Survey ( )

25 Use of LMI by HR Task SMEMLE Recruiting and hiring of employees 37%61% Retention41%55% Training and career development 47%55% Note: LMI used came from external sources

26 Type of LMI Looked for SME General Info (63%) Trends and Forecasts (55%) ‘How To’ Info (55%) Assistance From Others (e.g. HR Consultants) Government, Colleagues (54%) Hard Data (33%) 11% None of the Above 2% Never Look for LMI MLE  Current trends (83%)  General Idea on LM (77%)  Forecasts (70%)  Hard Data (61%)  ‘How To’ Info (59%)  Assistance From Others (e.g. HR Consultants)  Government, Colleagues (55%)  2% None of the Above  2% Never Look for LMI Employers seek value-added analysis, such as trends and forecasts, more than statistics

27 Type of LMI Used PurposeExamples of Information Needs Human Resource Planning Occupation descriptions, employment standards, skills profiles, licence requirements and regulations, availability of workers, general trends and forecasts Recruitment Wages/working conditions, availability of workers, training/education institutions, legal requirements, licensing, job banks/labour exchange Training and Development Occupational descriptions, skill profiles, training options (in-house, on-the-job, mentoring, classroom) Retention Career paths, competitive wages, working conditions, worker benefits, management practices, work-life balance Business Decisions Availability of workers and skills, wages

28 Importance of Geography Providing specific, detailed LMI at the local level improves the applicability and usefulness for employers for recruitment, training, and retention. – SME's and MLE's place very similar importance on having locally-based LMI 86-95% stated it as ‘important’ to ‘very important’ depending on HR activity MLE's more inclined to use regionally- and nationally- based information

29 SME: Assistance with LMI  About 1/3 of LMI users received help in finding, interpreting or applying LMI  Sources of assistance included:  HR consultants, business colleagues, government, local business association and colleges/universities  Even more said they would have benefited from assistance with their HR activity:  Recruiting: 52%  Training: 68%  Retention: 60%

30 MLE Assistance with LMI External assistance used for locating, assessing or interpreting LMI for HR activities, ranged from 27%-35% Government 2 nd source cited for Recruitment, overall not used as top source of LMI Assistance Professional Associations used more than Sectoral Associations HR/Career Development Consultants top source of assistance for 2 out of 3 HR activities

31 Usefulness of LMI SME  High degree of satisfaction with LMI usefulness  Those that obtained assistance from a government office or website were more likely to consider the LMI to be very useful than those using other sources  LMI was ‘somewhat’ or ‘very useful’ for:  Recruitment: 86%  Training:91%  Retention: 87% MLE  High degree of satisfaction with LMI usefulness  Slightly more likely to indicate LMI to be very useful compared to SME  LMI was ‘somewhat’ or ‘very useful’ for: Recruitment: 92% Training:97% Retention: 96%

32 MLE: Influence of LMI on Business Decisions “To what extent does information on the availability of workers and skills, or wages for example, influence business decisions, such as whether to expand, relocate, outsource, or invest in skills development, or technology?” n=1321

33 Summary Employers seek value added information (e.g. trends, forecasts) more than statistics Employers significantly use assistance in finding, interpreting, and applying LMI High importance placed on locally-based LMI Increased detail and specificity desired Federal government an important source for MLE, but other sources used more extensively than SME Employers sought LMI and assistance from professional (occupational) associations more than industry associations Since governments are already a significant source, increased government engagement with intermediaries could expand reach, use, and usefulness of LMI