Precarious employment is work that is not secure, generally does not include any type of benefits, and is paid so lowly that it generally does not meet the living wage. This type of employment is unfortunately a growing trend in today’s societies due to many factors such as outsourcing, globalization, a saturated job market, shifts from manufacturing to the service sector and jobs also being replaced by computerized units. When speaking on precariousness these trends also affect European societies due to the fact that the outsourcing is generally to places where labour is extremely cheap in order to lower the costs of goods such as Asia and South America. This growing trend is also resulting in negative effects on the economy such as the bottoming out of the middle class and a large amount of citizens living below the poverty line and not able to earn a livable wage. Minimum Wage is on the incline, however, it is still not enough to live on practically and there are many other factors that make precarious work disadvantageous other than the wages such as job security and room for growth and promotion within the company. The negative changes to the job market brought on by the changes to it have resulted in higher expectations and demands from the employers which reduce the amount of people which are eligible for what are now known as “good jobs”. These good jobs generally entail a livable wage, benefits, more flexibility and better job security. Precarious work is categorized and gendered as women and immigrants make up the vast majority of employees in this type of work. Since precarious work affects citizens on a global scale, in this essay, there will be comparisons and contrasts drawn between precarious work in Canada ... ... middle of paper ... ...te University of New York Press. Yogendra, B. (2013). M. Spasevski (Ed.), Where Are The Good Jobs (1 ed., Vol. 1). Retrieved from http://accessalliance.ca/sites/accessalliance/files/Summary_Where are the Good Jobs Report 2013.pdf Gellatly, M. (2007). Working on the edge. Workers’Action Centre, 1(1), Retrieved from http://www.workersactioncentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/pb_WorkingOnTheEdge_eng.pdf Jackson, A. (2004). Gender & work: Knowledge production in practice. In A. Jackson (Ed.), (1 ed., Vol. 1). North York: York University. Retrieved from http://www.genderwork.ca/conference/Jackson_edited_final.pdf Teelucksingh, C., & Edward-Galabuzi, G. (2005). C. Teelucksingh & G. Edward-Galabuzi (Eds.), Working Precariously: The impact of race and immigrants status on employment opportunities and outcomes in CanadaToronto: The Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
Throughout Canadian history, discrimination in all forms has been a constant battle; whether its race, gender, religion, beliefs, appearance or anything else that makes one person different from another. One significant inequity problem the world’s population is combatting occurs during employment. Women, who are equally trained, educated, and equipped with the same skill, as men are not getting equal, pay. This form of injustice dates back for centuries and derives from the common belief that men supply for women and women stay at home with the children, thus it is assumed that men therefore are more efficient in their career. This is also
Precarious employment, also known as precarious work, is a type of employment that is unstable, doesn't provide job security, may have high risk working conditions, often does not provide much in the way of benefits nor the option for workers to join a union, and typically provides low wages that usually are, on their own, insufficient to support a basic household. Precarious employment can include part-time, temporary, self-employment and contract work categories. In recent years during tougher economic conditions, this type of employment has become more and more common in some of Canada’s most populated major cities, such as Toronto and Hamilton, and it continues to be on the increase. Employers are taking advantage of this less expensive
HRSDC Labour Statistics Division. (2007). Looking Ahead: A Ten-Year Outlook for the Canadian Labour Market (2006 – 2015). Ottawa, ON: Retrieved from
Due to different reasons, many people are unemployed in Canada which is a problem that can lead to many negative consequences. It can influence families, individuals and children. It also may increase the crime rates, divorce rates, and child poverty rates. Children may not be able to finish their education because of their financial situation and their stress which will have a huge impact on themselves and on their future. People may fall into debt problems, many find it difficult to keep up with their mortgage repayments because of long term unemployment. Unemployment rates increased to 7.1% in November 2015 (Statistics Canada, 2015), and nearly 5 million Canadians were considered low income in 2012 (Grant,
Stoffman, Daniel. Who gets in: What's wrong with Canada's immigration program, and how to fix it. Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2002.
Outsourcing creates a loss in secure work and leaves people with retail and restaurants jobs, where there is little to no employee benefits and are essentially dead end jobs. Barbara Ehrenreich, “Nickel-and-dimed on (Not) Getting By in America”, talks about her undercover experience working a low wage job and the difficulties living with those financial constraints (1998). She concludes that her wage needs to be increased by about two more dollars an hour to really be a livable wage. That was in 1998 and almost 20 years later we are still facing the same issue. The lack of a livable wage cause some workers to take on two, three, or even four jobs to make ends meet. Ehrenreich continues on by saying that welfare recipients use the funds given to them in conjunction with their job(s) in order to live (1998). When marginalized groups are constantly working with low wage jobs, they have no time to trying to pursue a technical trade or higher education to get a better job in the future. This problem is what creates the continuous rut, that never allows the disadvantaged a chance in achieving
Work is more than just a way of earning money to pay the bills; it is also a key feature of our culture and provides people with purpose and dignity. Many people define themselves by what they do. Thus, determining the future prospects for the job market in Canada is very important (Watson 2008). For the most part, Canada’s economy has done relatively well during the recent economic crisis, especially when compared to some other nations. However, the economic and technological trends that have driven changes in the workforce in recent years are likely to continue for the near future. These shifting trends will affect Canadian society and its workers in a number of areas, and it is vital that steps be taken to deal with any problems that result.
One certainty regarding Canada’s diverse labour market is that, simply, some jobs are better than others, and specific people/groups experience exclusion from obtaining the good ones. Various factors such as work hours, wages, benefits, required education/skills, as well as mobility and security, determine a job’s status. Permanent, full-time, well-compensated (secure) positions fall into the “better” category, while precarious (unreliable and/or unpredictable), part-time, temporary, low-wage, benefits-absent jobs fall into the “bad” one. Complicating this labour market division is the prevalence of inequality within the market(s), driven by historical precedents and ongoing market standards which marginalize workers based on gender,
“Welcome to Canada” Canadian government website cic.gc.ca have this tagline in their immigrants webpage. But does new immigrants really feel the welcome after coming here? According to statistic Canada- “in 2013, the total population’s unemployment rate in Canada was 5.9% where new immigrants’ unemployment rate was 11.2%.” Immigrants faces unemployment problem after coming in Canada. There are several reasons behind new immigrants’ unemployment problem in Canada. The reasons for new immigrants’ unemployment in Canada are, they have language barriers, credentials problem and lack of Canadian experience. After coming in Canada immigrants’ start facing language problems as English is not the first language for most of the immigrants. They also face credential problem as they have to evaluate their foreign certificates in Canada. Mostly immigrants’ remains unemployed because they don’t have Canadian experience which could get them a job in Canada.
In Canada their currency is the Canadian dollar, which is the seventh-most traded currency on foreign market. Canadians were first introduced to the coins by the French colonists, it was first called Canadian pound but after 17 years the Canadian dollar was invented, in 1934 the Bank of Canada was founded in Ottawa, Ontario.
Krings, F., & Olivares, J. (2007). At the doorstep to employment: Discrimination against immigrants as a function of applicant ethnicity, job type, and raters' prejudice. International Journal of Psychology, 42(6), 406-417.
It is possible to say that people there are a difference between a member of society and a member of a team of workers. The difference lies in the professional and educational background of the individual and expectations that come from these backgrounds. In fact, the immigrants as human beings are treated well in Canada, they have the same rights as the citizens of the country, apart from being able to vote, they have the same access to the healthcare system, education, being able to marry and have children. Nonetheless, there is a huge difference for the immigrants to have theoretical opportunities to be employed and the actual ones that are present on the labor market. As a matter of fact, the immigrants have to face that their backgrounds – in this case, their accent – plays a significant role (Labour Market Barriers, 2017). The employer considers the ethnicity and the language barrier one might have inside a team of workers. The employer has certain prejudices against the immigrants when it comes to their ability to speak English and French. Even though their experience and educational background correlate with the position they apply for, still the employer might reject hiring them. Nonetheless, one of the weaknesses of the concept is a lack of analysis from a perspective of the employer and the possible explanations behind the excepted features of the immigrant
The issues facing workers and unions include unemployment and the rise of precarious and part time work. Unemployment occurs is when workers have a difficulty in finding a job. Technological changes can play a negative factor because it works against unskilled workers (Johansen & Strom, 2001, p. 388). In today's society many individuals’ jobs are not permanent, as one can lose their job in a flash. An example would be machines taking over people's jobs; this can save a lot of money for the business. The goal of employment and unemployment is to focus on full time and part time jobs (Montgomery, 1989, p. 171). There are positive and negatives of employment and unemployment. It is surprising to see that when increasing wages in a union sector
There is the common myth that it’s too difficult to get into the physical labour sectors if you are a female. New strides have been made in levelling the career playing field with the advancements in technology and changes in the availability of educational programs. Careers thought in the past to be traditionally male oriented are becoming more female affiliated. For example construction or police work, females have trouble entering and maintaining their careers. According to Statistic Canada, 67% of all employed women are working in one of teaching, nursing and related health occupations. However, jobs in SET sectors such as engineers, artisans and construction workers have revealed that there are too few women in these positions. With more women pursuing university degrees in SET sectors, why is it still difficult for women to stay in these fields when they have applicable knowledge? Knowledge is power in these occupations when you are a woman. Getting through the actual barriers and getting people to believe the knowledge one possesses is hard as a woman (Alison Andrew, 2009). The ability of women to access SET ...
Minas, A. (2000). Gender basics: Feminist perspective on women and men.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.