Access to post-secondary education matters. This chapter presents data that underpin the importance of widening access to post-secondary education in Canada. It demonstrates that the relationship between em- ployment, earnings and higher education remains clear: post-secondary graduates are more likely to be employed, and they earn more than those who did not continue their studies past high school. For this reason, they are the strongest contributors to the tax revenues that sustain the key programs and services provided by governments. This information needs to be highlighted in order to challenge assertions that there is already too much pressure on young Canadians to pursue post-secondary education and that access should be restricted so as not to dilute the market value of a degree. These assertions notwithstanding, the data show that while the number of post-secondary graduates has grown in recent years, the benefits of a degree in terms of more stable employment and higher earnings have not diminished.

This study investigates post-migration educational investment among newly arrived immigrants and examines the effect of post-migration education on new immigrants' labour market integration, as measured by earnings and occupational status. The results indicate that younger immigrants who are already well educated, fluent in English or French and worked in a professional or managerial occupation prior to migration are most likely to enroll in Canadian education. But, acceptance of previous work experience by Canadian employers lowers the likelihood of enrolling in further education. Financial capital was not found to affect participation in post-migration education. Those immigrants who did enroll in post-migration education enjoyed an earnings advantage and were more likely to work in a professional or managerial job. The effect of post-migration education was greater for immigrants whose previous work experience was not accepted in Canada.

The ability to understand, evaluate, and use written information (literacy), process and communicate mathematical information (numeracy), and access and use digital technology are foundational to full participation in today’s global, knowledge-based societies. This paper employs the 2012 Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) that directly assessed the cognitive skills of adults ages 16 to 65 in 24 OECD2 countries, including the United States. In this report we analyze the U.S. data on English literacy and numeracy among U.S. immigrant adults and explore how their cognitive skills—skills that are tested in English—are related to key immigrant integration outcomes such as employment, income, access to training, and health. Immigrant adults lag U.S.-born adults and account for a large share of U.S. low-skilled adults. Overall, the PIAAC results indicate that U.S. adults fared worse than most of their counterparts across the participating countries in the tested areas of proficiency (i.e., literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments). The results are significant because research finds that literacy and other cognitive skills are strong predictors of income, employment, education and health and because differences in skill levels are an important source of widening income inequality. We found that immigrants lagged U.S.-born adults in terms of literacy and numeracy in English with both groups scoring below international averages. Immigrants were overrepresented among the low-skilled adults: While immigrants made up 15 percent of the total U.S. adult 16-65 population surveyed by the PIAAC, they accounted for 33 percent of adults with low literacy skills and 24 percent of those with low numeracy skills. Nonetheless we found that despite these relatively low overall scores, immigrants’ impacts on the U.S. overall scores and international standing is minimal.

This briefing, based on focus groups with visible minorities in management, supervisory and professional roles, explores barriers facing visible minorities in the workplace. It describes how visible minorities have overcome barriers to success, and it outlines their advice on how Canadian organizations might fully maximize the talents of this growing pool of labour.

Recent debates about the future of jobs have mainly focused on whether or not they are at risk of automation (Arntz et. al., 2016; Frey and Osborne, 2017; McKinsey, 2017; PwC, 2017). Studies have generally minimised the potential effects of automation on job creation, and have tended to ignore other relevant trends, including globalisation, population ageing, urbanisation, and the rise of the green economy. In this study we use a novel and comprehensive method to map out how employment is likely to change, and the implications for skills. We show both what we can expect, and where we should be uncertain. We also show likely dynamics in different parts of the labour market -- from sectors like food and health to manufacturing. We find that education, health care, and wider public sector occupations are likely to grow. We also explain why some low-skilled jobs, in fields like construction and agriculture, are less likely to suffer poor labour market outcomes than has been assumed in the past. More generally, we shine a light on the skills that are likely to be in greater demand, including interpersonal skills, higher-order cognitive skills, and systems skills. Unlike other recent studies, the method also makes it possible to predict with some confidence what kinds of new jobs may come into existence. The study challenges the false alarmism that contributes to a culture of risk aversion and holds back technology adoption, innovation, and growth; this matters particularly to countries like the US and the UK, which already face structural productivity problems (Atkinson and Wu, 2017; Shiller, 2017). Crucially, through the report, we point to the actions that educators, policymakers and individuals can take to better prepare themselves for the future.

This inquiry was established in 2017 to investigate the impact of technological and other change on the future of work in Australia. Particular issues included: the future earnings, job security, employment status and working patterns of Australians; the impact on different population groups; the wider impacts on inequality, the economy, government, and society; the adequacy of current laws, regulations, policies, and institutions to prepare Australians for that change; and international approaches. This report presents the findings of the inquiry and the recommendations for government policy and planning. It looks at how work is changing in Australia, assesses arguments around the possible impact of technology on jobs, examines how workplace laws can be modernised, considers approaches to knowledge and skills training, and examines how the social security and superannuation systems will need to evolve. Other issues include: the ageing population, gender inequality and the role of women, young people, Indigenous people, and people with a migrant background.

In recent years, there has been a revival of concerns that automation and digitalisation might after all result in a jobless future. The debate has been fuelled by studies for the US and Europe arguing that a substantial share of jobs is at œrisk of computerisation. These studies follow an occupation-based approach proposed by Frey and Osborne (2013), i.e. they assume that whole occupations rather than single job-tasks are automated by technology. As we argue, this might lead to an overestimation of job automatibility, as occupations labelled as high-risk occupations often still contain a substantial share of tasks that are hard to automate. Our paper serves two purposes. Firstly, we estimate the job automatibility of jobs for 21 OECD countries based on a task-based approach. In contrast to other studies, we take into account the heterogeneity of workers' tasks within occupations. Overall, we find that, on average across the 21 OECD countries, 9 % of jobs are automatable. The threat from technological advances thus seems much less pronounced compared to the occupation-based approach. We further find heterogeneities across OECD countries. For instance, while the share of automatable jobs is 6 % in Korea, the corresponding share is 12 % in Austria. Differences between countries may reflect general differences in workplace organisation, differences in previous investments into automation technologies as well as differences in the education of workers across countries.

The purpose of this research is to understand new and emerging skills required in the digital economy, nature and scope of the skills gaps, various causes of skills gaps, the impact on Canadian businesses, and how they respond. Hence, this report: 1. Provides a brief overview of the digital economy; how and why technologies are transcending all sectors. 2. Defines the new and emerging skills shaping the new economy and outlines the skills necessary to succeed in today‘s digital economy. 3. Explores the ―skills gap‖ concept in the Canadian context. 4. Highlights the strategies to address skill-related trends and challenges. 5. Provides case studies to showcase how companies address different aspects of the ever-changing skills landscape of the Canadian labour market. 6. Summarizes the policy responses to overcome skill-related challenges that will help Canadians compete and operate in the digital economy.

This report offers advice on the challenges, obligations and opportunities facing business leaders. It also outlines recommendations that, taken together - as coordinated action between industry, governments, young people and other stakeholders - create a strong framework for advancing the cause. But it’s more than a collection of ideas. This report represents a bold vision to convene business around a movement to prepare youth for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It’s a call to action—to respond to critical challenges by committing to support and develop the workforce of tomorrow.