afterGrad: Part 1 of 3

Page 1

feature 28

the

gateway

afterGrad

www.thegatewayonline.ca

a feature series about life after an undergraduate degree ~ part one of three

The

Job Market Written by Andrew Jeffrey Illustrations by Ross Vincent

A

s students, grades seem like the most important part of life, with long study sessions the norm to pull off killer marks. But in the end, it all comes down to what you can do with that degree after four years — specifically, what sort of job you can get. With a fluctuating economy still recovering from the last recession, it can be difficult for students to secure a foothold in the job market after graduating. Job prospects seem abundant for university students in Alberta. Numbers from Statistics Canada have shown that Alberta has one of the lowest average unemployment rates in Canada. But nationally, finding stable employment in the job market is as difficult as it’s ever been for students. Youth unemployment rates for Canadians have not improved much since the end of the 2008 recession — now sitting at 14.7 per cent — creating a market just as problematic for students as it was during the 2008 recession. Since Canada came out of that recession three years ago, technically all of the jobs lost in that period have been recovered. The government likes to tout this statistic to show Canada’s economic improvement in recent years. But it doesn’t tell the whole story. When examining the improvement since the end of the recession, the job market growth favours older workers over youth. Each month, Statistics Canada releases the Labour Force Survey that gives detailed estimates on hiring and unemployment rates over the past month, both nationally and provincially. The statistics show that 250,000 young Canadians lost their jobs between 2008 and 2009, and only 15,000 jobs for that demographic were recovered by the end of 2011. This March marked the fifth consecutive month in which the youth unemployment rate had grown. It’s not unusual for the unemployment rate for younger workers to be higher than for workers with more experience in the job market. But it’s the length and depth of this recession that makes it unique from

past economic downturns. The C.D. Howe Institute, an independent think tank that examines Canadian public policy, is one organization that has looked at the cause of youth unemployment and what it means. Research from the Institute shows that unemployment rates are lower for workers between 45 and 60 because longevity in the workforce has allowed them to be promoted into managerial positions. Meanwhile, younger workers rotate through a series of different jobs early in their lives, often in search of a job they like more. Yet the numbers from this past recession are still perplexing to some researchers. “The magnitude of which the job growth that’s been coming back online has been concentrated mostly on older workers, especially older men, tends to be quite surprising … This recession is a bit unique compared to previous ones in terms of the magnitude it’s exacting on young workers. It’s certainly been quite prolonged,” said C.D. Howe Institute Senior Policy Analyst Colin Busby. The long-term effects of this recession on students is an area that often gets overlooked, but is worrying to Busby. Students need to remain active members of the workforce to stay viable candidates for the positions they want. But with fewer opportunities, the current market not only hurts students in the short term, but has longterm consequences. “Essentially what happens is you have to work for a long time. Your human capital, these skills that you’ve built up, generally tend to depreciate or at least that’s how it’s perceived by those who are hiring workers.” The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is one organization that see the combination of this high unemployment with rising tuition fees making it particularly difficult for young workers attending university to contribute to Canada’s economy. It’s the goal of the organization to advocate for the interests of university students on a federal level, making sure students can find employment both while in school and after graduation.

March 21, 2012


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