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Employer Complaints of ‘Labour Shortage’ Lead to Attacks on Income Security
Employer organizations are stepping up complaints about a purported ‘labour shortage’ that they say is holding back Canada’s employment recovery. These complaints are typically accompanied by demands that government push more workers into the labour market – by cutting back income support programs (like Employment Insurance and the CRB), and increasing inflow of temporary foreign workers (hired in insecure roles with limited protections and low wages). In this commentary (originally published in the Toronto Star), Centre for Future Work Director disputes whether a labour shortage truly exists (given persistent high unemployment), and argues that improving wages and working conditions are better strategies for recruiting and retaining workers. Hard Data Does…
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Centre for Future Work Submission to Ontario Future of Work Consultation
All provinces in Canada are still grappling with the economic and employment effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. Ontario’s labour market was among the worst-impacted in Canada by the pandemic. And these immediate challenges are layered on top of longer-run issues related to the future of work: including technology, demographic changes, new business models, and others. In this context, the Ontario government recently launched a hastily-organized public consultation on the Future of Work, overseen by a 7-person ‘Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee’. The consultation is unusual for several reasons, including the non-representative composition of the committee itself (there are no committee members representing union, worker, or equality-seeking organisations), the…