Chapter 5

http://www.workpermit.com/news/2007_03_22/canada/british_columbia_needs_350000_workers.htm

Canada is currently facing record low unemployment, and the article above addresses the issue. Kamloops has an unemployment rate of 4%, down from 4.3% in June of last year. More and more workers are needed to cover the shortage of employees in the workforce. BC is expected to lose roughly over a million workers in the next 12 years, with 350,000 of them in key sectors. Since, BC has a striving economy, losing workers will mean that the growth is stalled or stopped. The Canadian government has now made it easier for immigrants to join the country, which would appeal better to them over other countries such as England, Germany, and Australia. Obtaining citizenship has become easier, and students in universities have increased flexibility. The labour force has failed to keep up with the employment growth for the past four years, and competition between provinces is increasing. Provinces such as Alberta have minerals and oil to offer; but although energy sector is growing, there is a shortage of skilled workers in other sectors.

So, how does this affect the BC economy? Although losing workers in the workforce might seem negative, having a low unemployment rate might actually be good. Since the reason for such low employment is the cause of the retirement of our previous generation, the baby boomers, it is fitting that many job openings are suddenly available. It is just a natural event, like the natural rate of unemployment, that the economy will have to go through, and since companies need skilled workers, it is pretty much the opposite of demand-deficient unemployment. More jobs are available, and as long as the required skills have been attained, the possibilities are endless for the current generation. So, one solution may be to encourage immigration. This will seem like one obvious solution to increase the “participation rate,” which is the percentage of the population that is employed or actively seeking employment, since BC has the lowest participation rate amongst the four Western provinces. However, there are obstacles that will come in the way. Their language barriers and the fact that they will have to be accustomed to their new way of life will delay their potential to use their skills, and even if they start to learn, there are still a lot more job openings to be covered.

Being a Canadian citizen who has just been starting to create my skills for the future, this is a very promising situation for me. A shortage in workers means one thing: more job openings. Although it is not a walk in the park, it will still be easier to find a job that suits my likings, and having a skill can provide me with a large advantage over others. This means that I am currently experiencing frictional unemployment, one of the positive types of unemployment. I just left my previous part-time job and am now choosing not to look for another one. I can make the decision of not working, and yet be assured that there are job opportunities for when I want one. However, since many retiring workers are already very skilled, the economy is in need of skilled workers. Although individuals like me can enter the workforce, our skills will not compare to that of the retirees. So, although the province might find replacements, time will be an issue in training their new staff and there will always be problems in filling in positions. From losing workers, to losing skilled ones, businesses will have to deal with the losses while our economy keeps on growing. No matter how we take it, hundreds of thousands of workers are still needed in BC for the next several years – a lot of people.