Valuing skills in Canada: A statistical approach
In this research, we examine the relationship between skills and income, considering which skills have a strong positive association with earning and which have a negative association. As the Canadian economy becomes more knowledge centric and service based, what will be the demand for workers who can manage and perform more cognitively challenging tasks? In which occupations will these skills be more necessary and common. And which skills will tend to have lesser value in the job market?
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Key findings
When looked at individually, we see that nearly all skills are positively associated with earnings. But when looking at whole skill sets, we see that some skills have a strong positive association with earnings, while other skills show a negative association.
The five most valuable skills are troubleshooting, operations monitoring, time management, reading comprehension, and monitoring.
These skills are cognitively intensive and tend to be more common for management-level occupations, as well as for some jobs that need stronger technical proficiency. As the Canadian economy continues to become more knowledge centric and service based, demand for workers who can manage and perform more cognitively challenging tasks will increase.
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