The knowledge-based economy requires more highly skilled workers at a time when our workforce is shrinking and many Canadians are being underutilized.(1) The Canadian government is spear-heading a national campaign to:
- attract more youth and people from disadvantaged groups to the workforce and give them the education and training they require;
- retrain more adult workers; and
- attract more immigrants to this country and help them integrate into the Canadian economy.(2)
The economy of the 21st century will need workers who are lifelong learners, who can respond and adapt to change. Canada's labour market programs must be transformed to meet this challenge. - Speech from the Throne(3)
As Canada's workforce changes, Canadians need new knowledge and skills to keep pace with the evolving employment environment. Yet our citizens cannot be assigned to education, training programs, or to jobs; they must choose them. To make relevant choices they need accurate career and labour market information and they need the skills to use this information effectively. They need career management skills suited to today's workforce and society.
Canada's new career management paradigm recognizes that career development is a lifelong process of knowledge and skills mastery reflecting a continuum of learning and mastery.
The key to success in the modern workplace, as in life, is not just finding the right job, friend or life partner, it's becoming the right worker, friend or life partner. The new paradigm sees Canadians learning a new set of career and life management skills that will enable them to construct personal meaning and plan their lives and careers with confidence and intention. "Constant change and shifting work relationships are the footprints of a knowledge-based workplace."(4)
Canadian workers with career management skills are more likely to choose education, training and employment that meet their needs, and those of Canada's evolving workplace. In turn, individuals who find suitable work are more likely to be productive and remain in their jobs longer. This results in higher productivity and lower recruitment and training costs for employers. People capable of planning and managing their careers are less likely to be underemployed or unemployed for extended periods, to need social assistance, to require health care due to work-related stress, to flounder in arbitrarily chosen education and training programs or to drop out.
Helping more current and future workers improve their career management skills will increase Canada's productivity and international competitiveness, and reduce public and private sector expenditures. If one makes the modest assumption that increasing career management skills will result in a 1 percent decrease in corporate and government expenditures (see following pages), the net national effect is billions of dollars freed up annually to be invested in Canada's future.
The career management paradigm shift is underway. Previous public and private sector investments are paying off. A number of initiatives are in place and form the foundation of the new paradigm. Among these are Human Resources Development Canada's Skills and Learning Engagement Strategy, Sectoral Skills, Skills Information and Essential Skills Initiatives, Industry Canada's Innovation Initiative, and the Conference Board of Canada's Employability Skills 2000+ Initiative.
A cornerstone of the paradigm shift is the Blueprint for Life/Work Designs. The Blueprint is a comprehensive framework of competencies (skills, knowledge and attitudes) Canadians of all ages need to be self-reliant career builders and managers. It's also a "how to" guide of tested approaches any organization can use to create or re-engineer programs to enhance career management skills in their employees, clients and students. Moreover, the Blueprint provides an accountability framework and standards by which the success of individuals and organizations can be measured.
School-to-work transition and workforce development initiatives fail too many Canadians because career management skills do not receive the curricular focus that academic and technical skills receive. Career theorists provide clear and unequivocal evidence to demonstrate the need to imbed career management skills in all education and training programs and services designed to help Canadians succeed in the employment market of the future. Implementing career-relevant programs that integrate the Blueprint career management skills and accountability procedures will:
- help more youth and adults become satisfied, fulfilled, self-reliant, contributing and prosperous citizens;
- bring more motivated and engaged learners to teachers and trainers, thus improving achievement and completion rates;
- provide more qualified and motivated workers to Canadian businesses that are increasingly challenged to find the talent they need to compete successfully;
- save billions of dollars now spent annually by all levels of government and by the private sector to support people who are not sufficiently self-reliant to locate and maintain suitable work roles; and
- increase Canada's international competitiveness and improve living standards in communities across the nation.
| Career Management Paradigm Shift |
| Prosperity for Citizens, Windfall for Governments |
| Phillip S. Jarvis |
| Vice-President, Partnership Development |
| National Life/Work Centre, Ottawa(5) |
The economy of the 21st century will need workers who are lifelong learners, who can respond and adapt to change. Canada's labour market programs must be transformed to meet this challenge. - Speech from the Throne(6)
The new knowledge economy is changing the way people work. Recent projections(7) suggest that new labour market entrants are likely to experience a succession of work roles, with 12 to 25 jobs in up to five industry sectors in their working lives. At times they may have concurrent part-time jobs, at others no paid work. Work periods will be interspersed with periods of learning, either full- or part-time while holding one or more jobs. Krumboltz and Worthington(8) describe a future where " . . . there will be more of a need for worker flexibility as worker requirements change more frequently and new teams are formed to work on specific projects. Workers will increasingly be expected to move from project to project doing whatever work needs to be accomplished, and not merely to fulfill a written job description." That future is here. Project-based work is the norm in more and more public and private sector organizations across Canada.
At the same time, Canada's workforce is changing drastically. Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians, the recent discussion paper from Human Resources Development Canada, describes the challenges:
- First, the knowledge-based economy means an ever-increasing demand for a well-educated and skilled workforce in all parts of the economy and in all parts of the country .
- Second, there is a looming demographic crunch that will exacerbate these skills shortages .
- Third, our learning system must be strengthened if we are to meet the skills and labour force demands of the next decades.(9)
Canada needs more highly skilled workers, yet our workforce is shrinking. 50 percent of our 2015 workforce is already working. By 2011 immigration will account for all net workforce growth. In all sectors, it is more important than ever that Canadians connect with the best possible learning and work opportunities. Yet too few education and training institutions teach career management skills, and most companies of 50 or fewer workers have no employee training and development or human resources services. As a result, current and future employees typically make career choices unassisted, without the benefit of key career management skills they need to succeed.
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