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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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There’s no Shortage of Labour: Employers Have to Improve their Offer
As the COVID-19 recession continues to destroy jobs and incomes across Canada, some employer lobbyists are complaining that federal government income security programs (like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, or CERB) are undermining the “incentive to work” and making it difficult to attract workers to their businesses. In this column, originally published in the Toronto Star, Jim Stanford refutes these complaints – and suggests that the CERB is placing desired pressure on employers to improve the wages and hours they are offering to prospective workers. Employer Complaints About CERB Expose Their Exploitive Staffing Model As health restrictions ease and stores, restaurants, and other services start to reopen, some employers…
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Pandemic Forces Us to Rethink What Jobs are Worth
This commentary originally appeared in the Toronto Star. After COVID-19, We Need to Appreciate and Value Essential Work In any public emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic, society naturally turns to tried-and-true public service professionals for advice, protection, and care. First and foremost, we depend on health care workers risking their own well-being to care for the ill – even in chaotic and over-crowded conditions. Other first responders provide emergency assistance. Utility workers keep the lights on, the water flowing, the mail delivered, and the garbage collected. These jobs are critically important. These workers can’t take leave. They can’t work from home. Not coincidentally, most of these jobs are in the…