Journal Article

The job market in Canada is undergoing structural transformation brought about by innovative technologies, demographic shifts, globalization, and the rise of the gig economy. Traditional nine-to-five jobs are gradually changing in favour of mobile and on-demand employment. These labour market shifts are heightening the need for Canadians to continuously up-skill and remain marketable in tomorrow’s economy. Although the nature of work is evolving, an early focus on developing new forms of education and self-directed learning will be crucial to prepare Canadians for the future of work. This article discusses the role of public policy, particularly education.

At a time of rising unemployment and strained labor market policy budgets, Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) are currently facing difficult circumstances in Austria. If, and how, WISEs can continue to create and deliver quality services for their users (while meeting public authority's demands) is a topic of vigorous debate at the national level. In an endeavor to gain insight into the current situation, the focus of this paper is to explain the historical emergence of WISEs in the context of the Austrian welfare state. The analysis combines empirical data on key characteristics of ECO-WISEs - a major subgroup of WISEs with an ecological orientation - with an analysis of the institutionalization process of these WISEs, based on the outcome of a series of semi-structured interviews with key experts in the field. The discussion begins by describing their development in the 1980s, growth in the 1990s and concludes with the marketization and reorientation process experienced by these WISEs from 2000 onwards. The paper concludes with a discussion of the victories and challenges faced by these WISEs and highlights the important role that ECO-WISEs have assumed in recognizing and responding to societal needs, developing innovative services, and in meeting the requirements of policy makers.

The invention of the power loom was a response to the increase in supply of yarn in the 1780s. This led to an expansion of handloom weaving and a rise in earnings in the 1790s, thereby, creating the “golden age”. The high earnings increased the profitability of developing the power loom by raising the value of the labour that it saved. Consequently, less efficient—hence, cheaper to develop—power looms could be brought into commercial use than would have been the case had the golden age not occurred. The power loom, in turn, devalued the old skills, so poverty accompanied progress.

In this article, we analyse whether technological change induces skill obsolescence and early labour market exit, and to what extent training participation and on-the-job learning reduce these risks. Using panel data on older workers, we find that workers report skill obsolescence more often when learning is a structural characteristic of the job. This perceived skill obsolescence is not related to a higher probability of losing employment. Instead, workers who experience skill obsolescence appear to learn more on the job and participate more often in training, which decreases the risk of losing employment. These results are consistent with the dynamic model of skill obsolescence and employment loss we develop in this article. Moreover, we find that when workers with long job tenures decrease their training participation, this is an early indicator of future job loss.

This study aims to draw the outlines of present and future professions that are related to digital communication. After describing the specific context of the tourism sector, particularly affected by the evolution of IT, the article presents the results of a qualitative study of thirty industry professionals (directors of private tourist or public organization and loaded Communication). Four major emerging business analysis: community manager, responsible for digital home, digital animator of territory and strategic watchman. The inclusion of these businesses seems inevitable to meet future needs of the sector. [googletranslate_en]

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta stated recently that the US "has more than six million open jobs, but some employers can't find workers with the skills to fill them." Before the 2008 recession, employers complained repeatedly of skill gaps and mismatches. With low unemployment, around 4.5%, they could not find the workers they needed. Yet the narrative did not change even as unemployment peaked, with almost 15 million people out of work in 2010. Too many Americans lack skills suited to today's economy--technology-intensive and post-industrial, exposed to global competition in services as well as manufacturing. In late 2017, the chief executive of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, told Bloomberg Businessweek "There are 500,000 jobs today in the tech sector that are open." Some commentators go so far as to argue that skill gaps foster automation: if employers cannot find humans with the capabilities they want, they will buy robots and artificial intelligence systems.

This study showcases an empirical approach to delineate how competencies should be deployed for the purpose of recruitment decisions. A competency-based approach using the Brunswikian lens model was adopted to generate predictors. Three major competencies (people, individual, and business orientation) of HR incumbents were identified in an earlier study. Sixteen vignettes were designed to yield a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 (High/low people × High/low individual × High/low business orientation × Urban/rural background) completely within factorial design. These vignettes were administered to 35 HR professionals. The main effects of individual, business, & people and their 2-way interactions were significant. Cluster analysis categorized judges who have similar decision-making patterns. Comparing results of binomial logistic with ranking scores illustrates that the way interviewers actually evaluate candidates may differ from the way they believe they evaluate. Interrater reliability indicated ‘poor’ extent of agreement among judges. The results obtained have been discussed in terms of Brunswik’s Lens model.

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to explore the relation between diversity in work group members' employment arrangements and the actual performance of the work groups. Design/methodology/approach - A field study was conducted on 31 work groups in a public plant belonging to the industrial sector that constitute a unique data set. The 441 employees are contracted under four significantly different employment arrangements and are mixed together in heterogeneous work groups but perform similar tasks. Findings - The results indicated that the influence of employment arrangement diversity on work group performance is best represented as variation, and work arrangements diversity is positively correlated with improved work group performance. Research limitations - The study design prevented assessment of employees' opinions. Rather, the authors used objective type of employment arrangements as the basis for calculating diversity as separation. Using mean Euclidean distance as suggested by Harrison and Klein (2007), the authors arbitrarily set the distance between two different employment arrangements as one. Practical implications - The research results help in the stages of recruiting, structuring and development and application of necessary work team. Formal emphasis of diversity in work arrangements improves performance. Originality/value - To the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies using unique data set analyzing real-life team diversity and performance in the public sector. The research highly contributes to organizational decision-making processes regarding the importance of incorporating non-standard work arrangements in organizations. Management's implementation of formal diversity seems to alleviate the negative sides of diversity and increases its positive performance effects.

Does adoption of broadband internet in firms enhance labor productivity and increase wages? Is this technological change skill biased or factor neutral? We combine several Norwegian data sets to answer these questions. A public program with limited funding rolled out broadband access points and provides plausibly exogenous variation in the availability and adoption of broadband internet in firms. Our results suggest that broadband internet improves (worsens) the labor market outcomes and productivity of skilled (unskilled) workers. We explore several possible explanations for the skill complementarity of broadband internet. We find suggestive evidence that broadband adoption in firms complements skilled workers in executing nonroutine abstract tasks, and substitutes for unskilled workers in performing routine tasks. Taken together, our findings have important implications for the ongoing policy debate over government investment in broadband infrastructure to encourage productivity and wage growth.