Exploring the multiple dimensions of quality of work
Job quality has always been an important, yet often overlooked, element of the labour market. It encompasses factors that affect worker well-being and business productivity. While wages often receive the most attention, elements such as job security, career advancement, work conditions, and positive environments are crucial for a thriving workforce.
With current low unemployment and labor shortages, there’s increased focus on improving job quality in Canada. Understanding job quality is important for the future of work, influencing worker choices, employer productivity, and policy-making.
Delve into all our insights on quality of work:
We partnered with leading organizations to define and measure job quality in Canada. Our Open Call (now closed) aimed to address key gaps in policy and practice related to job quality.
State of Skills
Quality of Work
Improving quality of work, through better wages and benefits, social environments, security, safety, and inclusion, alongside skills and professional development is one part of a larger strategy to address these labour shortages.
Research
Quality of Work: Literature Review
We’re exploring in depth the concept of Quality of Work. This literature review is the first in a series of reports on the topic. Here…
Project
Quality of work of Canada’s contingent workforce
This research sheds light on the reasons why people engage in gig work and the policy levers needed to mitigate the risks associated with this new form of employment.
Project
Improving the quality of work in Canada: Prioritizing mental health with diverse and inclusive benefits
This research examines the relationship between access to benefits and quality of work in the current Canadian context, with a central focus on mental health and well-being, diverse forms of care and greater inclusion for those without benefits.
Project
Shaping the future of work in Canada: Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic
The research explored the extent of economic and job quality inequities between those who had access to remote work options during the pandemic and those who did not, as well as the widening disparity in job satisfaction between the two groups.
Project
Understanding CERB’s Impact: More than just an income support program?
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Canada’s unemployment rate reached one of its highest levels at 14.1 per cent. In response, the federal government launched the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), providing a financial benefit of $2,000 a month to workers directly affected by COVID-19.
Project
The right to disconnect in Canada’s post-pandemic context
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the nature of work, leading to more connectivity and a blurring of boundaries between work and non-work.
Project
Assessing the impact of hybrid work models on work quality
The pandemic accelerated the move to remote work. Today, the question of continued remote work versus going back to the office, versus hybrid models of work is one of the key elements of quality of work for many.
Project
Technology impacts on quality of work in Canada
The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a rapid increase in the adoption of digital technologies, leading to significant disruptions across work and society.
Project
Career pathways of immigrants: Looking for meaning amid starting again
Skilled migrants often face barriers in the Canadian labour market, leading them to pursue other jobs in different sectors – alternative careers, often characterized by occupational downgrading.
Project
Work quality experience and engagement among young workers
Pandemic lockdowns impacted school and work for most young people, alongside accelerated technological change and the increasing prevalence of gig work (characterized by short-term, on-demand, and task-based labour) have all had negative impacts on quality of work for young people.
Project
Understanding the relationship between quality of work and remote work support and monitoring
The pandemic expanded digital technologies to connect and support remote workers, and increased electronic monitoring of those working remotely. While some employers see value in monitoring, overuse can negatively affect employee well-being and job satisfaction.
Project
Workplace innovation for quality of work: Research synthesis and recommendations on adaptation for Canadian contexts
The world is changing rapidly and the way enterprises respond to those changes will have long-term consequences for economic competitiveness, social cohesion and environmental change.
Project
Examining quality of work in Grand Erie: An assessment of needs, gaps and opportunities
The COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with economic uncertainty, has prompted various members of the workforce in Grand Erie to consider quality of work more holistically.
Project
Disabled gig workers in Canada: Exploring experiences and identifying interventions to improve safety and well-being
Platform apps and gig work predate the pandemic, but the number of people that they employ increased sharply as a result of COVID-19 related lockdowns and job losses.
Project
Autism CanTech!: Social return on investment and policy review
Autism CanTech! (ACT!) was a 6-month program for young people with autism to receive skills training and paid work placements in entry-level data management positions.
Project
Did the pandemic and labour shortages impact job quality?
This project used Canadian job ads to understand changes in the terms of employment offered to job seekers, focusing specifically on skill, education, and experience requirements, as well as job benefits, between the two-year period prior to the pandemic (2017-2019) and 2022.
Project
Skills and strategies for quality hybrid work in Canada
With several years of hybrid work implementation, this project sought to document the hybrid work experiences of 20 Canadian executive-level leaders in workforce innovation and skills development and private sector organizations in culture, finance, tech, and professional services.