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Welcome!
Labour Market Information & Company Research
Workshop (JVS Toronto, 2006. shared with permission )
Agenda
 About the Labour Market
 Labour Market Trends
 Break
 Employability Skills
 The Hidden Job Market
 Gathering Labour Market Information
 Independent Research
 Conclusion, Questions & Evaluation
What Is The Labour Market?
 Industries & Industry Trends
 Wages
 Unemployment rate
 # of people looking for work
 # of jobs available
 Economy
 The official definition of the labour market is the supply and
demand for labour.
Factors Influencing the Labour
Market
 Economic & Political Climate
 World Events, Recession, War, Health Issues
 Social Issues
 Lack of free or leisure time
 Demographic Characteristics
 Age
 Gender
 Labour Force Activity
 Aging of baby boomers
The Needs of an Aging
Population: a growth area
 Food & Nutrition, for eg., Meals on Wheels
 Health Care, for ex., community and in-home nursing or
personal support services
 Medication: manufacturing and delivery
 Social Services, for ex., Parkinson’s support groups
 Travel, Recreation & Entertainment
 Financial Planning, Life Insurance & Investments
 Specialized Housing
Do you see yourself fitting into one or more of these areas?
Where can you find employment based on these needs?
Finding Work
 What are employers looking for in a candidate?
 Employers are looking for people with a combination of
technical (hard) and personal (soft) skills.
 Why is it difficult for newcomers to find a job?
 There is increased competition for available jobs.
 Employers often prefer to hire people with Canadian
experience.
Labour Market Trends
 The full-time permanent job is a thing of the past,
for the most part.
 It is being replaced by contract, part-time,
temporary, consulting, freelance and seasonal
work.
 One in five Canadians is self-employed.
 Globalization: In Canada there are fewer unskilled
and general labour jobs as this type of work is
outsourced to developing countries.
More Labour Market Trends
 Changing technologies require a higher level of
skills. Skills for all jobs are increasing.
 To stay competitive, workers need to keep up-todate and expand their skills set.
 Life-long learning - constant re-training and
upgrading - is necessary.
 Personal skills are more important than before.
Structure of the Workplace
 Traditionally the workforce was a pyramid with
management on top and workers at the bottom.
 Today, there is less management and more
emphasis on TEAM WORK.
 Teams are made up of a variety of workers, and
managers may oversee numerous teams.
 As a result, employees need to develop flexibility,
communication, interpersonal and adaptability
skills.
Employability Skills
 There are 3 major skill sets:
 Fundamental Skills
 Personal Management Skills &
 Teamwork Skills
 These skill sets focus on soft skills and are
becoming more and more important.
 The following are the key skills employers are
looking for: communication, information
management, problem solving, adaptability, a
positive attitude, and team work.
The Hidden Job Market
The Hidden Job Market
 How can you access the hidden job market?
 Networking
 Cold calling
 Information interviews
 Professional associations
 Conferences
 Trade shows
 Company websites
 Employment agencies and recruiters
 Job fairs
 Cold calling
Hiring Process
How Employees Look For Work
4. From within
3. Through Friends
& Colleagues
2. Through
Agencies
1. Ads
How Employers Fill Positions
4. Ads
3. Through
Agencies
2. Through Friends
& Colleagues
1. From within
Gathering Labour Market
Information
 Occupational Research
 Industry Research
 Local & Provincial Labour Market Trends
Occupational Information
 National Occupational Classification (NOC)
 All jobs in Canada are grouped together and listed under
a specific classification number and title.
 There are 30,000 occupational titles grouped in 520
occupational groups
 See: www23.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca
 Job Futures: www.jobfutures.ca
 newspaper classified ads
 information interviews: speaking to people in your
field
Research Your Industry
 Is my industry in Toronto? If not, where?
 Is this industry growing or declining?
 How is this industry changing?
 What occupations am I qualified to do ?
 What are the professional associations or organizations
representing this industry?
 What are the sector specific publications?
 What companies are in my industry?
Sources: www.labourmarketinformation.ca
people within industry, associations,
newspapers, trade publications, industry magazines
Self-Research
 What positions appeal to me?
 Where do my skills fit within this industry?
 Do I have the hard skills required?
 Do I have the necessary credentials?
 Do I need more education/training?
 Do I have the soft skills required?
 Do I have the experience required?
Resources
 Business directories, e.g. Scott’s, Who is Hiring?
 Trade/Industry Journals
 Employment Resource Centers (ERC’s) &
Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street
 Professional associations, company websites, job
fairs
 Schools: universities, colleges, trade schools,
technical institutes
 Networking, cold calling, information interviews
Independent Research
 Top 5/10 List: research small and medium sized
companies. You are more likely to find
employment there than in larger companies. Who
is responsible for making hiring decisions? Obtain
contact information, phone number & email
address. What department(s) hire people with your
skill sets? Check the company websites.
 The 5/10 Ten list is a list of companies you want to
work for immediately, and are companies likely to
provide you with Canadian experience.
Labour Market Geography
Labour market information can be defined by four
general geographic areas; which range from a micro to
a global level.
Local
Provincial
National
Global
Local
 First area of search for both employers &
employees.
 Focus is on local industries.
 What is Industry?
 A way of grouping similar employers together. An
example would be the automotive industry: GM, Honda,
Volvo, Volkswagen, Hyundai, etc.
Provincial
 The next area of search for both employers &
employees.
 More diverse employment opportunities than
found in locally
 For example: Based on occupational research a
welder from Toronto has limited employment
possibilities, but in Waterloo there are many
employment opportunities.
National/Canadian
 The next area of search for both employers & employees
 Tends to be more highly skilled and considered to be in short
supply.
 For example: A mining engineer will have limited
opportunities in Toronto, but has increased opportunities in
the New Territories with the opening of new diamond mines.
 Other professions like this would be doctors, nurses, and
skilled trades people such as tool & die makers (machinists).
Global
 The fourth area of search for both employers &
employees.
 Canada currently has a shortage of tool & die
makers and has therefore permitted many skilled
tool & die makers from Great Britain & Germany
to help meet the current manufacturing needs.
 United States currently has a shortage of nurses
and man Canadian trained nurses are heading
south of the border to fill the gap in the American
labour market.
Why only you can create your list ?
 You know your filed best
 You know your skills best
 You know what you can do best
 You know what environment you’re suited to
Steps to Top 5/10
 Why only 10 ? Bigger list do not mean better
chances.
 At first , you going to make a broad list of target
companies and than you will narrow it down to 10.
The real secret to getting what you want !
 Determination, investigative skills and persistence
 Matching your strengths, accomplishments and
interests with the needs of the company
 RESEARCH !
 AND….
 Find out the right person to contact ( Person who
makes hiring decision)
Seven major sources of information
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Directories: like Scott’s business directory
Trade journals: most professions have at least one
magazine
Internet
Contact professionals in your own field :
information interviews
Contact employers directly: go to company
Call business directly
Network, network, network
Consult professional associations
What to Research ?
 Which companies are offering work in your
particular field?
 Where are they located?
 What kind of employees they are looking for ?
 What kind of products or services do they offer?
 What make these particular company special?
 How many employees they have?
 Is company growing or downsizing?
 Will they hire me?
RESEARCH
 How the company treated its employees
 Salary and benefit packages
 Location of head office, branches, plants etc.
 The operating style and corporate culture
 Financial status of the company including profit
history and future forecast
 Who is responsible for hiring?
Selecting the top companies
 Narrowing down the field
 Ask yourself these questions:
 1. Which of these companies would I really want
to work for?
 And flip over this question around and ask
yourself
 2. Which of these companies would ever want to
hire me? Who will hire me immediately?
 Then concentrate your affords on the best
prospects.
Once you gather all information
about company you need to:
 Determine who makes hiring decisions within the
company ?
 What is the name of supervisor/ manager of the
department where you want to work?
 Name of this person ?
 What is his/her job title ?
 What is his/her phone number ?
 What is his/her e-mail address?
 What is his/her fax number ?