the last word
Uncharted Territory
THE LABOUR MARKET IS CHANGING GLOBALLY AND IN CANADA.
HOW CAN HR ADAPT TO IT AND WILL OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM SUPPORT IT?
By Joel Kranc
HR professionals are bombarded
with information on a daily basis.
New regulations, employee
satisfaction reports, changes in
management direction and shifts in corporate
thinking can be overwhelming enough
for one person to take in and incorporate
into their HR duties. But, the economy –
a large and looming topic in its own right
– must be part of HR’s thinking when
looking at internal labour issues and the
general bottom-line needs of the company
being served.
In a keynote address at HRPA’s 2016
Annual Conference in the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre, Benjamin Tal, deputy
chief economist with CIBC World
Markets, discussed the current world
economic situation, how it links to HR
professionals and why they should care.
“This is a global economic situation
that is in unchartered territory,” said Tal.
“We have to understand where this economy
is going because that will impact
the labour market in Canada and globally
in a very significant way.” Some of the
problems facing the world economy range
from a slowing Chinese economy to a
faltering Euro to the stagnant Japanese
economy and, of course, the slowing oil
and Canadian economic sectors.
The global economy is in the midst
of a transfer of wealth from producing
countries to consuming countries, something
Tal says is a positive thing in world
economics. A slow but still growing manufacturing
sector in the U.S. and the growth
of savvy and motivated consumers (such
as those in China) is fueling this growth
and will continue to help grow economic
prospects for the U.S. Commodities will
also make a comeback, according to Tal –
not at the level we have seen before, but at
a more balanced level.
In Canada, there is a tale of two economies.
The first is the oil sector, which will
continue to struggle for some time and the
other is the service sector, which will grow.
For HR professionals, there are a few
issues that have direct correlation to our
community. With a low dollar and a growing
U.S. economy, the Canadian economy
is somewhat struggling. Our manufacturing
capacity is low and any capacity growth
will be “invisible.”
“Those companies will be creating solutions
as opposed to goods,” said Tal. “The
new capacity will pose major challenges for
banks and for HR professionals.” Canada
is a service-oriented country. Although
Statistics Canada does not measure it
per-se, 45 per cent of Canada’s economy is
based in the service sector.
He stressed that as an economy (and as
HR professionals), Canadians must support
this growth, which will be high-tech
and value added.
“We have to start re-thinking about
how we are hiring, retaining jobs but define
what the job is,” said Tal.
One of the major issues in the economy
is in our educational system and the fact
that Canadians, in general, do not have
the skill sets the market is looking for,
according to Tal.
“We must break the negative stigma associated
with colleges,” he said. “Universities
and colleges must work together to achieve
a more optimal labour market.”
There is a rising proportion of college
students who are university graduates
leading to a sub-optimal way to get an
education. Combining forces and having
joint programs, the gap of education and
the labour market can be closed, says Tal.
“Young kids are struggling and they
need help. The help is a better, more effective
education system,” he said.
Overall, divergent world economies are
having different effects depending on the
regions being addressed. While Canada
was able to weather the economic storm
of the Great Recession, our U.S. cousins
are now faring better in a post-recovery
world. HR is struggling with these issues
as they directly affect how our labour market
adapts to economic linchpins and how
best to train and educate those workers.
Action is what is required, says Tal,
rather than further study, and bridging
the education and economic gaps will better
aid HR’s efforts in dealing with the
labour market as well as navigating the
uncharted territory of the current world
economic environment. n
64 ❚ MAY/JUNE 2016 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL