Major changes are occurring in the labour market.
There presently is a split between the secure, who are mainly skilled jobs, and others who are insecure – mostly unskilled others.
All of this is compounded by the spread of occupational licensing.
In Canada many of the lesser trained workers are temporary ones and immigrants; the government helped find work for them as stopgap employees; oftentimes the displaced native workers subsequently became unemployed.
That government program proved to be very unpopular and so this being amended.
In a free enterprise economy destruction of unprofitable enterprises entails the closure of operations and, of course, a loss of a number of jobs. They then are replaced by other businesses. This job “churning” continues, but still notably a multitude of older workers remain unemployed and leave the labour market entirely.
John Haltiwanger of the University of Maryland describes the movement in and out of jobs as “fluidity” caused by job misallocation; hiring, quitting and firing; along with companies expanding or ending.
Structural changes in the labour market are an ongoing process. Companies such as Walmart and Tim Hortons recruit many of the unskilled labourers. A significant feature of labour market is the rise of occupational licensing.
That has raised barriers to entry for occupations that should not demand such licensing.
There are jobs that customarily do not involve much training, so immigrants, the very young and semi-retired can fill these positions. Many of them appear to have no rights and can be fired as the employer chooses. Yet, there seems to be an implicit contract between the employers and the employee so that workers cannot be dismissed easily without cause.
It is not surprising that the firms are reluctant to employ full-time workers because it is even more difficult to dispense with them as it is with makeshift ones.
Temporary workers should understand the lack of inherent stability. Nevertheless, many strike for various reasons, such as claiming discrimination against women, racial groups or the elderly. The Trudeau-inspired Charter of Rights has led to innumerable and unnecessary litigation.
In addition, occupational licensing, for example, for beauty parlours or for some sales agencies affects the free market flow of work. Many barriers reduce the opportunity to be more productive.
The solutions to our turbulent labour market are clear: more job training and less government intervention, with the end of many mandated rules and regulations.