The Human Resource Challenges Facing The Canadian Labour Market
Stress due to imbalance of work and life
In 2010 a large General Social Survey (GSS) was taken with the intention of following up on earlier studies which had taken place back in 2002 and 2005. In the end the GSS revealed some shocking and extremely concerning information about the overall mental state of Canadian workers. The first piece of data revealed that 27%, or 1 out of 4 Canadians claim their lives are ‘quite a bit’ or ‘extremely’ stressful. This tells us that around 3.7 million Canadians go through most of their days constantly feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Another 46% of the population claim their days are ‘a bit stressful’, which works out to about 6.3 million people. To make matters even worse, the GSS survey then revealed that out of the ‘highly stressed’ workers 62%, or 6 out 10 of them claim it is because of their job that they are so consistently stressed out.
The interesting part of these statistics is that 9 out of 10 overly stressed people were either Canadian or have been living in Canada for a minimum of 30 years. This is a very concerning statistic for the Canadian Labour Market, and should not be taken lightly. This piece of data clearly shows that Canadian workers are not in a good mental state and this can have all kinds of negative side effects that are directly related to Human Resource departments. Some of these side effects are for example absenteeism or when an employee requests a paid ‘stress leave’. Both these situations cost the employer time and money therefore they are affecting our economy negatively. There are also the additional costs of greater use of our health care system and the fact that majority of those stressed due to work choose to have fewer children, if any at all.
Skill shortage due to lack of post-secondary education
An association called the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, also known as CME, has stated that over the next decade Canada will have an estimated number of over five hundred major
In 2010 a large General Social Survey (GSS) was taken with the intention of following up on earlier studies which had taken place back in 2002 and 2005. In the end the GSS revealed some shocking and extremely concerning information about the overall mental state of Canadian workers. The first piece of data revealed that 27%, or 1 out of 4 Canadians claim their lives are ‘quite a bit’ or ‘extremely’ stressful. This tells us that around 3.7 million Canadians go through most of their days constantly feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Another 46% of the population claim their days are ‘a bit stressful’, which works out to about 6.3 million people. To make matters even worse, the GSS survey then revealed that out of the ‘highly stressed’ workers 62%, or 6 out 10 of them claim it is because of their job that they are so consistently stressed out.
The interesting part of these statistics is that 9 out of 10 overly stressed people were either Canadian or have been living in Canada for a minimum of 30 years. This is a very concerning statistic for the Canadian Labour Market, and should not be taken lightly. This piece of data clearly shows that Canadian workers are not in a good mental state and this can have all kinds of negative side effects that are directly related to Human Resource departments. Some of these side effects are for example absenteeism or when an employee requests a paid ‘stress leave’. Both these situations cost the employer time and money therefore they are affecting our economy negatively. There are also the additional costs of greater use of our health care system and the fact that majority of those stressed due to work choose to have fewer children, if any at all.
Skill shortage due to lack of post-secondary education
An association called the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, also known as CME, has stated that over the next decade Canada will have an estimated number of over five hundred major