Creative Class

Evident of the shift away from manufacturing work in North America, Statistics Canada reports that there are now approximately 200,000 more women than men in Canada’s paid labor force.

The shift toward a majority female workforce is probably also further evidence that the current economic downturn has accelerated the shift toward a creative economy.

After all, jobs that have traditionally employed women are creative, or have become so in recent years. In addition to the female majority in problem-solving fields like health care and teaching, what were previously more rote occupations now require tremendous creativity and smarts. For example, the traditional “typist” or “secretary” who took short hand and then typed memos word-for-word now tends to be an administrative assistant or executive assistant empowered to draft the memos, use creative flare to format and polish documents going to clients, and organize the business lives of a group of people in her team – among dozens of other responsibilities.

Richard Florida has often touched on the role gender has played in shaping what we choose to do. Men (like Richard’s father) have often drifted into manufacturing jobs because it was the “masculine” thing to do, rather than doing something more creative that they might have enjoyed better.

Strong unions that emerged from “men’s labor” successfully lobbied to retain these masculine manufacturing jobs for perhaps years beyond when they made sense. They have, unwittingly, put many of their members at a huge disadvantage in the 21st century economy where different skills are needed.

Meanwhile, the multi-tasking, diverse roles of women’s lives – raising kids, managing a household, and often doing some paid labor – somehow seem to suit the newer, knowledge-based, and service-based economy that is ever-changing and workplaces that requires both firm direction and kindness, dedication to routine and ability to adjust to changing circumstance.

Happy belated Labor Day.

I welcome your thoughts, including how all of this relates to discrepancies in pay between “male” and “female” jobs and workers.

I’ve been examining the Statistics Canada employment data released on Friday. And while I’m not an economist (although I have a background in economic history), some observations are troubling me in relation to the doom and gloom being peddled by the media and some top Canadian economists.

Overall, employment was down 34,000 jobs in December. (Canada’s population  is roughly 1/10 the size of the U.S., for comparison purposes). That places Canadian employment at June 2008 levels – hardly worth panicking about.

Manufacturing jobs are down in Canada, particularly in Ontario. But this trend has been happening since the 1990s. The economic downturn may just be accelerating a process that was inevitable.

Construction jobs are down, too. But this should hardly be surprising given that many residential and non-residential developers cannot obtain the credit needed to finance construction.

Elsewhere, things look okay, too. Management, professional, engineering, finance, and administrative occupations are generally showing stability if not employment increases over the past few months, and year on year. (Indeed the Martin Prosperity Institute issued an Insights report on this phenomenon in Ontario last month)

Canadian firms – so far – have not been shedding workers, generally speaking. This may be because Canada’s economic downturn did not begin until approximately late September 2008 (in contrast to the U.S. downturn that began almost a year earlier) – and the job losses are still to come.

Or, this may be because of the demographic deficit in Canada and directly related talent shortage – generations x and y are far smaller proportionally than the baby boomers (again in contrast to the U.S.).  Employers may fear that if they cut too many talented people, they’ll never be able to hire the same caliber of people – or that their competitors will quickly absorb them.

Perhaps in time the doom and gloom will become a (self?) fulfilled prophecy – in the meantime, I eagerly await your thoughts.

Although many firms in Canada are not hiring, they are not firing either – yet. This has implications for the workplace that we can discuss below and I’ll raise in subsequent posts.

(And Happy New Year!)

A new report from Statistics Canada provides a detailed look at the income levels of first-, second-, and third-generation Canadian immigrants. Chinese and Japanese immigrants have the highest income levels, exceeding those of “white” Canadians. Canadians of Arabic descent are next, followed by South Asians and West Asians. Canadians of Caribbean, African, Filipino, or Latin American background fare worse.

The Globe and Mail reports that:

The old vertical mosaic – with whites from Britain and Europe at the top and visible minorities underneath – is no longer valid. Instead, second- and third-generation Chinese and Japanese surpass all other groups of newcomers, including whites, while for blacks and other groups, there is little or no economic mobility across generations.

The table below, from the Globe and Mail story, summarizes the key data.

GENERATION GAP

Average annual earnings of university-degree holders, age 25-44, who are working full-time:

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA