soc 227

SOC227 – Sociology of Works and occupation

Chapter II Notes:

Demographic composition of the labor force – demographics (who specialize in studying the structure of dynamic population) can predict birthrates, life expectancy etc. Three trends very important:
1) Work Force Aging:
Population aging – impact on job opportunities, pensions, work values and organizational structure.
Baby boom generation (1946-1964) – largest generation in Canadian history. By 2000, 13% baby boomers, 2026 – 21.4%.
Concerns over future skill shortages., labor shortages in some sector is a problem as a result of baby boomer retirement.
Market trend towards “early retirement” due to labor market restricting and downsizing in 1990’s and 2000’s.
2) Greater Workforce Diversity
240,000 – 265,000 federal Govt. Quota for immigration (2009)
Research shows immigrants are NOT taking native away jobs from native Canadians.
Immigrants create own job, and carefully selected to match shortages of workers in specific occupational categories.
1991-2001, 58% of immigrants from Asia and only 20% from Europe.
Canadian immigrant policies no longer favor European immigrants, demand to immigrate to Canada has decreased.
2006 Census – 16.2% from visible minority group.
Immigration trends forced Govt. and employers to adapt equity policies to facilitate greater workplace.
3) A better educated workforce
Lifelong learning and learning organizations – refer to continuous education, both formal and informal in institutions and home.
Canada has mediocre employer-sponsored workplace training. 2008, ASETS (Access and Support to Education and Training Survey) 36% of adults received employer-sponsored training.
Education and training assumption – our workforce isn’t sufficiently educated and trained.
Underemployment - mismatch. 2001, 21% university graduates were in jobs that only required high school diploma. High among well-educated new immigrants.

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION TRENDS:
Labor force participation (LFP) – main indicator of a populations economic activity from the perspective of paid employment. Based on people +15 years working for pay and those looking for work. 2008 rate was 67.8%
Unemployed – out of work but actively looking for work in the past four weeks.
Gender Differences in Labor Force Participation:
Over a century, female labor force participation in Canada had almost quadrupled from 16% to 62%.
Male’s rates have decline over the century but not steeply. Two reasons: Men living longer (past retirement age) & men retiring early.
Job stability – average length of time in a job increases in Canada.
Aboriginal Canadians – much lower income. $34,960 vs. $41,592
Employment rates for disabled have risen but earn 20% less than others.
LFP among Youth (Age 15-24):
Rose steadily from 64% (1976) to 71% (1989), then dropped to 61% (1997) and risen to 67.4% (2008).
Recession in 1990’s reduced “good” entry-level jobs for youth and more youth continuing their education to improve employment prospects led to declining LFP rates.
Young adults (20-24) have higher LFP rates than teenagers, overall youth LFP rate decline.
LFP among Older Canadians (60-64):
Overall declined markedly – From 1976 to 2008, LFP of older men went from 61.1 to 55.3 percent. (2006, 22% of men 65-74 still in labor force)
Average retirement rate fell from 65 to 61 in 1997, remains 62-63 now.
1/3rd of retirees stopped worked for health reasons. 1/3rd retired for multiple reasons, the other 1/3rd would have chosen to work if: a) could work less hours, b) more vacation time, c) part-time.
Increase in bridge employment – people who have retired or who are receiving a pension continuing to work for pay.
This trend changes three-stage model of work life Education, employment and retirement and now researches focus on life course perspective – views individuals’ role more fluid and examines the choices and constraints underlying transition across roles.
WOMEN – tend to retire earlier than men but LFP rates for older women increased because of historically low levels of participation. Linked to financial reasons.
Unpaid Work:
Largest and most serious omission is unpaid household and child/elder-care-work. Men are gradually increasing their involvement in domestic work.
Elder care has increased for men and women.
If given dollar value, unpaid work would add to about 1/3rd of Canada’s GDP.
Subsistence work – Aboriginal people doing stuff.
Volunteer work also overlooked. 2007, Canadians volunteered 2.1 billion hours. Volunteers have also been replacing paid employees – Govt. departments cutting cost at all levels.
Hidden economy/Underground or irregular economy – illegal activities, drugs, prostitution, gambling etc. Concealed employment (legal but unreported) – 1 in five adults (few hours of work) in Western countries.
All this work is Nations “social glue” – American Economists.
INDUSTRIAL CHANGES: THE EMERGENCE OF THE SERVICE ECONOMY:
Overview:
Primary Sector (agriculture, mining, forestry), Secondary Sector (Manufacturing and construction), Tertiary sector (Services are provided).
Service – exchange of a commodity that had no tangible form.
Service Sector Growth:
By 1951, 47% of Canadians were involved in service industries, by 2008, 76.5% involved in service sector.
Now living in a service dominated industry. Reason - productivity gain due to new technology.
Expansion of production in the primary and secondary sectors has been accompanied by a relative decline in the need for employees.
Expansion of he role of the state in education, social services and health increased growth of service sector.
Employment Diversity within the Service Sector:
Six broad categories: 1) Distributive services, 2) business services, the 3) education, 4) health and welfare, 5) public administration, 6) retail trade and consumer service.
First 5 upper tier, bottom two lower tier.
Mexico has a smaller service sector.
Gender and Age Differences in Service-Sector Employment:
Women more likely to be employed in lower tier services, within upper tier, women more concentrated in health, education, and social services.
Men ore likely to be in trade, professional, scientific and technological industries.
Younger workers (15-24) less likely to be employed in upper tier, many (especially women), hold jobs in lower tier.
Food services, tourism, restaurants (lower tier) recruit many students creating student-worker segment of the labor force.

OCCUPATIONAL CHANGES:
Occupational distinctions are determined by the work an individual typically performs, the actual task he or she completes. Statistics Canada used Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system to categorize occupations. New strategy now = National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Blue-Collar and White-Collar Occupations:
Primary + secondary industries = Blue collar, service = White-collar workers.
White-collar jobs dominate the Canadian labor market.
Gender and Occupational Location:
Most white-collar positions have been filled by women, remaining blue collar jobs in primary and secondary are filled with men.
Pink collar jobs – heavy concentration of women in sales, clerical, and service occupations.

SELF-EMPLOYMENT TRENDS:
Dropped sharply over the last century. 33% (1946) to 10% (1981).
Self-employment in secondary and service sectors also declined but slowly continues to rise in Canada.
Self-employed employers vs. own-account self-employed were the same but the latter group is now larger.
1 in 10 Canadians is now own-account employed. Self-employment increases by age and still more prevalent among men than among females.
Are dispersed across a wide range of industries and occupations.
Staple theory of economic growth (page 77)

UNEMPLOYMENT TRENDS – COUNTING THE UNEMPLOYED
Number of people unemployed in 2008 > population of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador combined.
Official unemployment rate calculated by unemployed/total LFP (including unemployed).
Long-term unemployment – defined as 52 or more weeks without a job has fallen significantly since 1990’s.
Discouraged workers – believing there is no work available.
Unemployment excludes students who don’t want to work, unpaid domestic work, disabled who aren’t seeking work, and retired.
2000s labor market issue was labor shortages because 1) strong economic growth up to 2008 and) long-term workforce aging.
Atlantic provinces in Newfoundland and Labrador have had higher than average rates of unemployment for decades while Ontario and Quebec have lower rates. Regions most dependent on a few natural resources have typically experienced the most severe unemployment.
Also concentrated in specific occupational groups – Season work (fishing, logging, construction) high risk of unemployment. Manufacturing jobs also prone to unemployment – lay offs, plant shutdowns.
Aboriginal people exceptionally high rates of unemployment with low LFP. Twice as likely to be unemployed (lower education, limited work experience, low skill jobs, minimal access to information, hiring discrimination)

Causes of Unemployment:
“Blame and unemployed” explanation argues that individuals have insufficient skills and so are unable to compete for the jobs available tin the new knowledge-based economy.
Another theory – presumed laziness of the unemployed with the generosity of the government.
Cyclical unemployment – rises during recession and then declines as the economy recovers
Frictional unemployment – ongoing movement of workers on and out of jobs as they seek to match their sills and interest with the jobs offered by employers.
Canada developed serious problem of structural unemployment – One which would require new policy approaches because it was more deep-rooted and permanent than cyclical or fictional unemployment.
With industrial restructuring, many corporations outsourced to different countries.
Automation and information technologies have replaced workers in some sectors. Employers have also downsized, cut full time jobs, relying on temporary jobs.

International Comparisons:
During 2008-2009 recessions, Canada’s unemployment rate was 8.3% slightly lower than the rest of the European Union (8.9%).
Canada lies between the laiseez-faire or free market approach of the United States and the more interventionist European approach.
Canada relies on private sector to create jobs, infrastructure projects or the 2009 home renovation tax rebate helped keep the unemployment rate from going higher.
Low unemployment rate in Mexico as compared to Canada is because of informal jobs and self-employed economy sector.

HOURS OF WORK AND ALTERNATIVE WORK ARRANGEMENTS:
Fluctuated though history, 39 hours per week by 1976.
For self-employed, sometimes longer hours result in more income. For few, it means more money so standard of living doesn’t drop. Also cuts leisure time and family time.
Unpaid overtime violates employment standards legislation
Teleworking (accounts for 5% of the workforce)– working at home or in a remote site often using computers, flex-time – choosing the time to start and stop and job sharing have received much more attention.
Shoterwork weeks offer a potential solution – reducing unemployment by sharing work among larger number of workers. France legislated a 35-hour work week aimed to lower unemployment.

NON-STANDARD WORK ARRANGEMENTS:
Varieties of Nonstandard work:
Part-time work most common type of nonstandard work, number of multiple job owners has also increased and own-account self employed category has also been growing.
Temporary (contract or contingent) work has become more widespread. (3 out of 10 jobs for the four types above)
Nonstandard jobs pay less, fewer benefits, less likely to be covered by labor legislation, and have less employment security.
Multiple job holding increased form 2% (1997) to 5% in 1993 and is steady. Agriculture has the highest rate of nonstandard work and so does construction (temporary contract work). Lower tier service industries (retail and other consumer services) are the main source of nonstandard work.
Women more likely to be in nonstandard jobs than men, also concentrated amongst the youngest and the oldest members of the workforce.

Part-Time Work
Full time work is defined by working more than 30 hours/week (Statistics Canada). Since 1996, part-time workers have been defined as those who work less than 30 hours per week in their main job.
2008, 18,4% of all employed was working part time (Women comprise of 68% out of all part time workers).
Involuntary part time workers – forced to accept part-time jobs because they cannot find one that is full time.
Most part time jobs are in the service industries in both the lower and upper-tier services.
Temporary Employment and Part-Year Work:
Seasonal employment – tourism, construction industries.
Both private and public sector hiring workers (contract workers).
Younger workers were heavily overrepresented in temporary jobs.