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Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises say they’re facing a skills gap. So, why aren’t they investing in talent? 

Malika Asthana

Skills don’t last forever, but many of our current models for skills development assume they do. As the need for skills changes alongside rapid technological advancements and demographic shifts, employers will need to consider how to keep their employees’ skills fresh – and our learning systems must adapt as well. This is particularly true when it comes to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that support millions of jobs. But can they do it?

To better understand the dynamics facing SMEs to support employees in lifelong learning, D2L commissioned Innovative Research Group to conduct two surveys of employers and employees. Focused on SMEs with 20 to 499 employees, this new research provides a snapshot of the current state of lifelong learning in small and medium-sized businesses in both the United States and Canada and reveals concerning gaps for employers and policymakers alike to address.

What’s happening with SMEs

D2L research shows that Canadian SMEs are facing a worrisome situation as they look at their future talent needs compared with their current talent realities. Only 21% of decision-makers at Canadian SMEs report feeling very confident that they will have the skills and talent they need to grow their organizations over the next three years, compared with 47% of those in the US who say the same. Most are concerned with recruiting and retaining skilled talent, with a sizable percentage of decision makers indicating this as the most important human resources challenge they face, ahead of concerns around compensation, adaptation to technology or workplace diversity.

These findings, explored in more depth in D2L’s latest whitepaper, Enabling Upskilling at Scale: Adapting to Meet the Needs of the Working Learner, echo other recent survey results about a noticeable skills shortage. For instance, eight in 10 (81%) of Canadian executives polled by CERIC in late 2021 said finding skilled workers is difficult – and more than half of them attributed that challenge to finding people with the right skillset.

D2L’s research findings reinforce that there is a fundamental misalignment between what SME employers need (that is, skilled employees) and what they get with their current training and development strategies.

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The disconnect

With smaller budgets, many SMEs struggle to create and deliver robust, broad training programs in-house. An alternative is to offer supports for their employees to take off-the-job training, but upskilling is not happening on the scale it needs to be.

Only 34% of SMEs in both Canada and the US provide financial support or time off for training delivered by external providers. Among the employers that offer it, Canadian SME training budgets are notably smaller compared to their US counterparts. Canadian SMEs are also less likely to hire internally for new positions. When they were asked to pinpoint the biggest barriers preventing them from investing further, SME decision makers said that internal training or on-the-job learning was sufficient.

“… there is a fundamental misalignment between what SME employers need (that is, skilled employees) and what they get with their current training and development strategies.”

On the other side of this equation are employees, who broadly said they are eager to keep learning. D2L’s research found that 72% of employees are interested in professional development outside of work. They said they see these opportunities primarily as means to build skills, rather than as a way to increase their salary or to qualify for a job promotion. But access clearly remains a problem. Over half of Canadian employees of SMEs surveyed said they hadn’t taken on any professional development over the past 12 months. The biggest barrier – reported by 43% of Canadian employees – was the financial cost of training.

Employers need options to help their employees upskill and grow. Employees want to continue their professional development and learn new things. Cost is a barrier for both. What options does this leave SMEs for facilitating professional development that is both an employer and employee need?

The opportunity

Continued upskilling for employees, which helps enable better recruitment and retention in SMEs, is a shared responsibility between employers, government and higher-education institutions in North America.

Employers must first recognize the problem at hand and urgently consider how they will invest in skills development for their workforce. With the speed of technological change, employers can’t reasonably predict all the skills they will need years in advance. That’s why they need to build processes that will support continuous upskilling and create pipelines of talent for jobs that may not exist. Providing financial support and time off for employees is an essential first-order investment for companies of all sizes. Technology can be used to provide quick and easy access to learning that aligns with their company or industry needs, leveraging higher education and industry associations to provide training.

Career development practitioners can also play a key role by serving as intermediaries between students or jobseekers and employers. Those liaising with employers can advocate for the development of career management supports for employees, as well as partner with businesses to provide resources or training for staff career development. Career practitioners working in post-secondary can also encourage employers to engage with students by offering value-added opportunities such as career education programming.

For their part, higher-education institutions must re-think how they define a learner to better serve working adults in need of high-quality skills training on flexible and more personalized schedules and timelines. They must think beyond credit hours and imagine new programs and partnerships with employers, associations and unions to help make continuous upskilling more accessible.

Clearly, there is also a role for government, which must reconsider its funding offerings for SMEs to increase general awareness and eligibility for training and skills development. Government must also uplift the voices of SMEs in consultations and consider taxable incentives to encourage employers to invest in training funds. Finally, government can also play a critical unifying role, bringing stakeholders together and helping shape a shared vision for workforce development that ensures nobody gets left behind.

Malika Asthana is the Manager for Strategy and Public Affairs for D2L. Asthana leads the development of strategic thought leadership, policy submissions and proposals to support, expand and improve learning opportunities for all students in Canada. She is passionate about making connections across disciplines and enjoys research at the intersection of policy spaces – from education and employment, to skills and economic development.

Addressing the entrenched issues around newcomer employment in Canada will require systems-level change

Yilmaz E. Dinc

Overqualification is a common and well-known problem for the immigrant workforce. But the pandemic shed a different light on the issue: the products and services that we consider essential are also provided by immigrants whose talent potential is underutilized.

Immigrant underemployment in Canada is what we at the Conference Board call a “wicked problem” that has been around for decades. Many newcomers in Canada, particularly those without Canadian qualifications and work experience, and those with a background in a regulated profession, face considerable difficulty in finding jobs that match their skillset. They often have to take low-income jobs that don’t use their full skillset just to make ends meet.

Underemployment affects immigrant careers even in the longer term – and nowhere is this effect more pronounced than in essential jobs. A study that we conducted at the Conference Board of Canada last year showed that immigrants are a critical part of the essential workforce, constituting close to one-third of all workers in sectors such as food manufacturing, truck transportation, and nursing and residential care. However, many are overqualified for their roles. For instance, 28% of newcomer transport truck drivers have bachelor’s degrees even though their job doesn’t require one, compared to only 1.6% of their counterparts born in Canada.

What this data tells us is that even though many immigrants are performing essential work, these are often not the right opportunities that build on their talent potential. This in turn limits their earnings and negatively affects their career trajectories. This impact is usually much more pronounced for racialized newcomer workers and newcomer women.

“Underemployment affects immigrant careers even in the longer term – and nowhere is this effect more pronounced than in essential jobs.” 

This phenomenon isn’t only applicable to newcomers. Among people on temporary visas, more than 20% of fish and seafood plant workers and over 30% of labourers in food and beverage processing are overqualified. As Canada welcomes more people with previous experience in Canada and grows its immigration targets, the overqualification question becomes even more prevalent.

The qualifications disconnect is not just an individual-level problem. Canada loses up to $50 billion every year due to employment and earning gaps between immigrants – including essential workers – and people born in Canada.

At the same time, this creates challenges for employers, who continue to report difficulties in talent attraction and retention. Employees who feel overqualified for their role will likely experience lower job satisfaction and be more likely to look for other jobs. It’s worth considering to what extent skills shortages would be addressed by better matching immigrant competencies with labour demand.

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Moving the needle on credential recognition

There are multiple drivers of why overqualification happens. Despite decades of consultations and efforts to improve credential recognition, it remains a complex, costly and time-consuming process for many regulated occupations. However, there are also promising steps being taken in the right direction.

The Government of Ontario has recently removed the Canadian experience barrier for many professions, including electricians, engineers and plumbers. This move will surely help newcomers with a background in these occupations find better-quality job opportunities. Other provinces will likely take note of the results and mirror a similar approach.

However, Ontario’s recent changes did not include health-care occupations, which remain the thorniest part of the problem. Our report found that nurse aides, orderlies and patient support associates were the occupations with the highest degree of overqualification (surpassing farm workers, truck drivers and food manufacturing workers).

The data indicates that licensing internationally educated health professionals should be a government priority at both federal and provincial levels. A March 2022 Toronto Metropolitan University policy brief, for instance, highlighted the need for a “Health Human Resources Strategy” in Ontario that would address the gaps in licensing, seeking alternatives to Canadian experience as well as boosting access to permanent residency.

Tackling bias

The problem, however, does not end with formal credential recognition. Some occupations require further practice but have additional limitations, such as fewer residency spots for internationally educated doctors.

Bias is also an issue. Some employers discount the value of work experience and qualifications obtained abroad. Discrimination against international degrees and experiences, combined with race, gender and ethnicity biases, push many newcomers into difficult essential jobs that people born in Canada don’t want to work in. Groups such as racialized newcomer women end up facing the most complex challenges when it comes to securing quality employment.

The way forward

So, how do we address the overqualification challenge? It won’t be solved overnight, as systems-level change involving multiple actors will take time. In addition to government actions to expedite licensing, employers need to build more inclusive workplaces that help immigrants find jobs matching their skill level and address bias and discrimination.

Employers will also need support from the government, non-profit and settlement sectors to assess foreign work experience and qualifications more effectively and objectively. This is particularly true for smaller businesses.

For many immigrants already underemployed within the system, forming and strengthening upward and cross-sector mobility is critical. That needs to include identifying and building on their transferable skills to help them transition into more skills-commensurate opportunities. Tools such as OpportuNext could help chart those pathways. Reskilling and upskilling might be needed for immigrants whose skillsets are no longer up to date.

As the government and employers work on addressing systems-level challenges, it will be up to settlement and career development practitioners to support overqualified immigrants in pursuing more fitting employment opportunities. This could include identifying sectors with growing employment prospects and helping immigrant workers to assess and rethink their skillsets accordingly. Immigrants may also need guidance on how to diversify their job search as well as when to pursue further qualifications and training to secure skills-commensurate employment.

The pandemic has shown us that Canada relies significantly on immigrants to do the essential jobs, but many newcomers shouldn’t be in these jobs to begin with. We cannot afford to ignore the overqualification challenge if we want to make immigration work better for everyone.

Yilmaz E. Dinc, PhD, is a Senior Research Associate for the Immigration Knowledge Area at The Conference Board of Canada. Dinc brings a decade of experience in applied research, along with his passion for inclusion, to drive thought leadership on immigration. Previously, he worked as Research and Evaluation Manager at the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council and in the global private-sector hub of the United Nations Development Programme.

We need a national strategy on career development in Canada to capitalize on social shifts and respond to labour market needs

Lisa Taylor and Taryn Blanchard

It’s an exciting time in Canada’s career development sector. Individual actors, organizations and projects are coming together. Awareness, expertise and commitment are coalescing. Focus is shifting from isolated activities to ambitious initiatives that emphasize co-ordination, amplify impact and prepare the sector for what comes next: a catalyst that ignites revolutionary change.

Challenge Factory and others are calling for a national strategy on career development in Canada. This call is urgent and essential if we want Canada to capitalize on social and economic shifts, to respond to labour market and employment needs and to seize on powerful opportunities for change when they arise.

Revolutions feel chaotic and disordered, but they also follow predictable patterns (Figure 1). In this article, we explore how the career development sector can shape its future in revolutionary times.

Signs of a career development revolution: Early phase

In quiet discussions among practitioners, it’s well known that the career development sector is undergoing significant disruption. COVID-19, social justice awareness, advancement in technologies and the role of post-secondary institutions in linking learning and work are all causing cracks in traditional careers work.

The early phase of revolutionary change is marked not only by disruption, but also by an abundance of innovation, study and analysis. Over time, these separate activities come to align in a variety of ways that push sectors and societies forward. Let’s take a look at four early phase activities.

“The early phase of revolutionary change is marked not only by disruption, but also by an abundance of innovation, study and analysis.”

International benchmarking: In February, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a major report on the state of adult career guidance in Canada that details the need to strengthen co-ordination of careers policy across the country, encourage greater and more inclusive use of adult career services and promote high-quality service provision.

Dialogue and storytelling: Challenge Factory and CERIC are collaborating on a new Careers and Canadians webinar series that also focuses on the intersection of career development and public policy. Based on Retain and Gain: Career Management for the Public Sector, this series examines the personal career stories of senior policy leaders and where opportunity lies for a careers lens to inform policy development.

Professionalization: The Canadian Career Development Foundation (CCDF) is co-ordinating inclusive, sector-wide collaborative activities, including the renewal of practitioner standards and guidelines, the creation of a comprehensive competency model and the exploration of the feasibility of a professional institute.

Sector mapping: Efforts are under way to map the career development sector, including a project by CERIC and another from the Labour Market Information Council and Future Skills Centre. These projects aim to better understand career service providers across Canada, types of services being provided, client groups being served and the impact of these services.

These types of activities and information sources are important for building an evidence base that can be used to make informed decisions. To properly position the sector for revolutionary change, however, activities that look to learn from the past and understand the present will have a greater impact if they are also combined with activities that focus on anticipating what futures might be possible.

Recommendation: Stakeholders leading separate activities should recognize that our collective future is tied to working together. This is when true transformation will become possible. They should also start investing in future-focused tools and approaches, in the same way that they have invested in tools and approaches that research the past and present.

Getting organized: Emergent shift

In the second stage of revolutionary change, what we call the emergent shift, the importance of collective effort receives buy-in and everyone can see that a big moment is coming ­– but the conditions are not yet perfect for the catalyst that will set the full-scale revolution in motion. How do we ensure the sector is prepared to meet that big moment when it arrives?

Former Saskatchewan Deputy Minister Alastair MacFadden, the first guest in CERIC’s Careers and Canadians webinar series, notes that much of the sector is focused on optimizing the individual services provided to clients within current policy constraints. This includes advocating for better supports to reduce unemployment and faster access to training to fill skills gaps that are affecting the economy.

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“We’ll really start to make headway when we flip our focus,” MacFadden says. “We need to develop programs and policy with a view to what they mean for individual careers. Rather than investing in training programs for displaced oil workers, for example, we need to create energy policy that has meaningful employment embedded within it as a key priority.”

Recommendation: The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should be taken up as an organizing framework for the sector’s future-focused planning. We already see this happening in pockets and on an ad hoc basis. Full adoption will allow us to draw together isolated activities and align our workstreams in service of broader needs and opportunities, such as the green economy, social justice and global migration patterns.

Preparing for the catalyst: urgent change

We don’t yet know which spark will be the catalyst that truly starts the revolution in career development across Canada. But once that catalyst occurs, it will activate urgent change, the third stage in the revolutionary cycle, and we will be able to move forward into whatever the new world is going to be – if we don’t let the uncertainty of upheaval stop us.

Recommendation: Create a national strategy on career development that is realistic in its implementation and wildly aspirational in its intent and impact. A national strategy must change how we perceive ourselves, our work and our impact, while demonstrating strong ties to other areas of social progress (the SDGs). Working toward this national strategy will position and prepare us to recognize the catalyst moment, when it comes, and shape a future that benefits Canadians and the sector.

Developing a national strategy (on anything) is a monumental task in Canada’s federated, diverse environment. Yet there are tools and methods to bring everyone to the table, to set achievable expectations and to ride the wave of revolutionary change. Right now, we would start by asking a few deceptively simple questions:

1. What are the historical drivers of change in the sector?
2. What emerging issues are we excited, concerned or confused about?
3. If we continue as we are, what are a few likely scenarios that might occur (given what we know about current and future trends related to employment, labour, productivity, wellness and competitiveness)?
4. If we had a national strategy in place, what additional scenarios might emerge?
5. Which of the scenarios outlined in questions 3 and 4 are worth exploring in more detail?

Knowing how to ask better questions and what to do with the responses is a critical skill. Done well, this effort will challenge us all to zoom out from our work today, identify the collective future we want and see that future so clearly we can’t help but take steps to make it happen.

It’s time for the career development sector to forge a path to better work, employment, engagement, well-being, prosperity and productivity for all. Blazing new trails is challenging work. But such is the nature of revolutionary change – and Challenge Factory is energized by the potential. Let’s get to work!

Lisa Taylor is a sought-after expert, speaker and columnist on today’s changing world of work. She is the President of Challenge Factory, a full member of the Association of Professional Futurists, an associate at the National Institute on Ageing, and co-author of The Talent Revolution: Longevity and the Future of Work.

Taryn Blanchard is the head of research at Challenge Factory and holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Toronto.

How a mindset shift helped a graduate with a disability embark on a new career with confidence

Shakira Rouse

In my line of work, I am constantly helping students navigate major transitions from academics to the workforce. It is easy for me to look back now and understand how every step, failure and win helped me climb my career ladder. However, for a new graduate, the first step can seem like a hurdle – especially for a student with a disability.

Helping a new graduate make the transition from the classroom to the workforce requires a different approach to mentoring. I learned this first-hand with one of my most memorable mentees, Juliet.

Juliet’s story

Juliet was a recent graduate with an interest in social impact and community development. Yet she was not sure how to start working toward a career in this field with a degree in sociology. Specifically, she was worried about gaps in her career and work experience, which were a result of health issues. As a student with a disability, she was not sure how to enter the workforce with a disability and how to advocate for herself so potential employers would see her for her skills and talents.

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Mindset is the foundation

The first step in helping new graduates climb that ladder is setting the foundation with a renewed mindset. Not every new graduate is able to obtain co-ops, summer jobs or internships in an area related to their studies and interest. Often, these new professionals do not see how the value and the skills obtained in previous jobs can be transferable to other positions.

In my initial meeting with Juliet, I conducted a small exercise with her. I asked Juliet to tell me more about her previous job experience. I challenged her to get specific by describing to me what a daily shift would consist of.

In this case, Juliet had previous experience as a sales associate in a department store. To her, key responsibilities such as helping customers, working the cash and stocking inventory did not equate to the skills new employers would be looking for. I coached Juliet to reframe her skills, indicating that it is all about language and how you view your experience. Responsibilities such as helping customers can translate to customer service. I helped her transcribe her skills into a new language that would be more appropriate and suited for her resume.

Changing the language of these skills also helped to change Juliet’s mindset and perception of herself. Gradually, Juliet began sharing more details about her academic journey, touching on why she decided to change programs and took an extra year to complete her degree.

Now in her late 20s, she feared that she was getting a delayed start in life. Many young professionals are living to fulfill an unwritten social rule that they need to accomplish major milestones by 30. I had to interject: “Juliet, you are right on time. There is no ‘30 time bomb,’” I said.

“You are not going to catch a whale by fishing in a lake. You want something big but are looking in small spaces.”

At this point in our mentee-mentor relationship, I felt it would be beneficial to share my personal story and journey. I told her about what led me to start Special Compass – an organization aimed at helping students with learning disabilities achieve success within and outside of the classroom. I talked about my setbacks in school, regaining my confidence, and juggling corporate life while starting a second degree and starting a business. I wanted Juliet to see that what may have seemed like a setback or a failing moment is actually a stepping stone to greatness. All the experience she has gained on her academic journey has helped give her insights and perspectives needed for community development.

Most importantly, I also reminded Juliet that having a disability is not a weakness but your biggest strength. Supporting Juliet to create a new perspective of her academic journey and work experience helped her give her that push needed to take action toward her success. Juliet came to our meetings more engaged and enthusiastic about finding a job.

However, while she was taking more impactful steps and initiatives, she was still hitting a bit of a wall in her job-hunting process.

Stepping into new arenas

Job hunting is a full-time job in itself. You need to stay up to date on the various new recruitment and interviewing methods. Unfortunately, almost every young professional I work with is not using effective job-hunting processes.

“You are not going to catch a whale by fishing in a lake. You want something big but are looking in small spaces,” I told Juliet. I explained that she needed to step into new arenas in her job-hunting process. For instance, using industry-specific job banks is more strategic than only using general job search banks.

Most importantly, networking is a must. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram can be a great tool to make connections, establish a following and create a digital portfolio of one’s career.

Most new graduates are intimidated by the word networking. I once was too, until I learned that networking is just about meeting new people and having conversations.

A good way to help recent graduates step into new arenas is to encourage them to find a hobby. I encouraged Juliet to take this time to try a new class or do a workshop on an activity she enjoys. I also reminded her that with her studies behind her, she had more time to explore the things she may have always desired. In doing a new activity, you get out and meet new people, start conversations and build natural connections. This is what building your network is all about. You never know when you might be one degree of separation from a great job opportunity.

Today, I am happy to say that Juliet found a job and is embarking on new adventures in her career.

Shakira Rouse is the creator and founder of Special Compass, an organization dedicated to helping students with learning disabilities achieve academic success. Her innovative facilitating style has led to speaking engagements and interviews at various events in North America. In 2016, she received the Black Role Model Award from the Black Canadian Business Network, and in 2021, she was a nominee for the Universal Women’s Network’s Women of Influence Award.

A career in professional fundraising opened up an unexpected path for this business owner to connect with her culture

Rowena Veylan

I recently spoke with an Elder from my community. He told me that the Creator is there to guide those who will listen and then he taught me about the Medicine Wheel. I do not have much experience with learning from an Elder, metaphorically sitting at their feet and trying to absorb truths handed down through each generation. I often wonder what that would have been like, if things had been different.

My Grandmother spent 15 years in residential school, from the age of 3 to 18. She did not leave that residential school at all during those years. I once read an excerpt from an interview where she spoke about watching the birds outside and wishing that she had wings so that she could fly away. But even if she had wings, she had nowhere to fly to, nowhere to go.

It has taken me a long time to realize and fully appreciate what has been lost to me and to my family. Not only culture, but also the connection to family – both our direct family and the feeling of being a part of a larger community. I have spoken a lot about my own journey of finding my way home and have had to try to navigate that path forward for both myself and my daughter. It has not been an easy path to follow and I have often felt discouraged, with no idea of where to turn.

In the Client Side feature, workers and students reflect on successes and struggles in their career development. Read more Client Side articles from Careering:

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Surprisingly, the most unexpected gift of culture and connection opened up to me through my chosen career of professional fundraising. Let me explain!

In 2002, I was introduced to the world of fundraising, something that I had given little thought to in my life. I knew right away that it was the right fit for me as it spoke to my values. I appreciate being in a career that makes me feel like I am contributing, helping others and making a difference.

Through the years I worked for many different organizations and managed to gain experience in almost all facets of our profession. I moved up as I went along in my career until I was managing my own teams. I noticed that I was often brought into organizations in times of change to figure out what was going wrong and move things forward. I used to refer to getting the ship back on track, and at times, depending on the size of the ship, that could take years. When I look back on this time in my career, I realize that what I enjoyed most was contributing to the sustainability and strength of the organization and also mentoring and coaching fundraising staff to succeed.

“… there is no end to the learning, but also no end to the opportunity and joy and pride of having something that is yours.”

My passion to share my love for fundraising led to the opening of my virtual fundraising school, The New School of Fundraising, in the fall of 2021. The entire process from the niggling thought in the back of my mind to the day that the school opened its virtual doors was so much more work than I had expected! I have a newfound respect for any entrepreneur who follows their dream and opens a business. From learning about and drafting a business plan to developing a website and taking classes on digital marketing, there is no end to the learning, but also no end to the opportunity and joy and pride of having something that is yours.

I have often been asked why I opened a school. After almost 20 years as a frontline fundraiser, I was burned out, but when I asked myself what I loved most about the profession, it was changing the way that others saw fundraising and helping them to succeed. The process of starting a fundraising school has both surprised me and exceeded my expectations at the same time. I underestimated the amount of work that it would take to get the school off the ground, but since gaining some momentum, I have been overwhelmed with the good wishes and gratitude of those who come through our virtual doors.

I started wondering if I could somehow combine my fundraising knowledge with my interest in learning more about Indigenous culture – my own culture. Could the fundraising school help move reconciliation forward within the non-profit sector?  What would that even look like?

I created a workshop called Indigenous Protocols for Fundraisers with the intent to help the industry with its own reconciliation efforts. It has been our most popular workshop and our attendees have appreciated the safe place that we have created for conversation, learning and sharing. It is times like these that I am able to step into my own Indigenous space, which is so new to me.

Through this workshop, I have been connected to Indigenous fundraisers from across Turtle Island as well as an Elder in my own community who opens each workshop for us. What a gift it has been. Now this connection is driving a different path forward for both myself and the school. The New School of Fundraising will push on with how to support Indigenous fundraisers and Indigenous-led non-profit organizations. Along the way, I will get the gift of learning more about who I am, where I come from and where I belong.

It is interesting to me how our paths in life offer twists and turns. I would have never thought that my fundraising career and school would lead me right back to the path that I had been searching for all along.

A fundraiser, consultant, teacher and mentor, Rowena Veylan has been working within the non-profit industry since 2003 and is the current Founder and Lead Instructor of The New School of Fundraising. The school offers fundraising training to anyone who is interested in learning more about raising money. They run courses and workshops throughout the year, offer private training and host special events. 

Passive efforts such as booths and bulletin boards aren’t sufficient to engage students 

Gena Hamilton and Liana Thompson 

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the job market, hiring needs and job applicant responsiveness. Concurrently, Generation Z is becoming a larger presence in the workforce. Recruiting recent graduates with sought-after skills to fill job openings is competitive – yet many employers continue to use traditional methods to recruit post-secondary students.  

Employer expectations are that students are seeking to apply for jobs and that one-time interactions are sufficient to engage candidates. Examples of conventional recruitment practices are on-campus booths, bulletin boards, information sessions and student job boards. These strategies are passive and mostly transactional; neither employers nor students are getting what they want out of the process. 

Career practitioners are in a unique position to raise awareness of how outdated recruitment approaches are insufficient to position an organization as students’ employer of choice. For example, at a recent career fair, an employer was unhappy with the low traffic they had at their booth. Gena recognized that this employer had chosen all passive forms of engagement – expecting students to do the work to engage with them. Over a series of short coaching conversations, Gena assisted the employer to see the connection between passive recruiting efforts and low student engagement and encouraged them to engage potential candidates by taking a “helping before hiring” approach. 

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Student expectations have changed 

Student attitudes toward their future employers have changed. Liana recently surveyed University of the Fraser Valley students on the question: “What could employers do to make you more likely to apply to a position?” Some of the expected answers included employers who offer benefits, remote work options and reasonable wages. However, new themes emerged about students’ attitudes toward and expectations of their future employers.  

Students think employers should lower their job qualifications, recognize transferable skills and offer a willingness to train the right candidate. Comments included: 

• “Stop expecting 27 years of experience, with an MBA for $17 an hour” and “I think it is important to not solely require a certain number of years [of] experience, but to take transferable skills and life experience into consideration or whether or not the applicant is enthusiastic about learning!” 
• “Temporary workers are more flexible and have a wider range of skills. This makes them more adaptable to fall into roles that they might not originally be considered for.” 
• “Employers should offer proper training and not expect someone to come in and know how they want things done without showing them.” 

 Post-secondary career services can support employers to proactively meet students’ needs. During coaching conversations, career practitioners can encourage employers to foster a growth culture and adjust their expectations by broadening job qualifications, recognizing transferable skills and training the right candidate. 

Additionally, potential candidates are expecting transparency to feel certain that they qualify for the position and that it is a good fit for them. Career practitioners can ask recruiters:  

• Have you considered how students experience your job search and recruitment process?
• Do students perceive that they are treated well?  
• How did you show authentic interest in students’ career development?  
• Do students leave the encounter perceiving that your organization will take care of them as an employee? Shares their values? Will be a place for growth? 

Employers need to ask if their recruiting practices resonate with students’ people-centred expectations and leverage their company culture, values and societal impact to engage with recruits.

Establishing intentional connections early and often   

How can career practitioners help employers to change their mindset and think differently about their recruiting practices?  

First, we can aid employers to recognize that not every student is ready to apply for a job. Therefore, it is important for recruiters to use approaches that build early connections and relationships with their future workers. Students progress through career readiness stages at different rates. They have different expectations with each stage of awareness, consideration and interest before being ready to apply for a job. Repeated exposure to an employer’s brand over time, with intentional interactions that position them as a resource to the student body, aligns recruiting approaches with student needs for every career readiness stage.  

Second, good relationship-management approaches, instead of selling tactics, build connections with recruits. Through mentorship and support, students can envision themselves growing and succeeding with an employer. The technology sector is a good example of using student-first approaches by engaging student clubs and associations through coding challenges, hackathons, meetups and makerspaces to support students to learn from professionals and participate in a community of practice. These recruiting approaches demonstrate that an organization is invested in students, supports their causes and shares their values. Students remember employers who provide motivating opportunities.  

Third, career practitioners can invite employers to participate in delivering student-relevant career education programming. This co-operation builds an early relationship between students and employers while students develop career readiness and confidence to apply for positions.  

Delivering student-centred career education programming  

Employers need to offer their mentorship before they showcase their organization. High-impact methods to be a resource to students should take priority for recruiters, including informational interviews, career talks, speed networking events, on-site organizational tours, employer panels, and supporting student clubs and associations.  

Instead of hosting traditional information sessions about their organization, employers can create content and offer engaging activities to provide career advice in areas of high interest to students, such as strategies for: 

• overcoming the entry-level catch-22;  
• requesting, conducting and following up an informational interview;  
• answering behavioural interview questions; and 
• negotiating salary.   

Employers can also provide first-hand experiences to showcase their organization’s culture through job-shadowing programs and paid co-operative education, internship and practicum opportunities. Students gain skills and experiences and employers get fresh insights from students. Additionally, through student workers, employers may gain an informal on-campus ambassador to promote their organizational brand with peers who share common values. Employers can offer examples of career transitions through interesting social media content, such as featuring employees who are alumni or student workers providing career advice.  

The feedback from the student survey offers insights about how the attitudes and expectations of new jobseekers are changing. To better attract talent, employers may need to adjust job requirements, expand their search scope and adapt their recruiting approaches. Career practitioners can help employers shift their mindset from hiring to helping: to engage in recruiting activities that are intentional and relationship-centric by putting students first. These “helping” approaches will yield greater candidate engagement and recruiting success for employers.  

Gena Hamilton is a Career Education Co-ordinator at the University of the Fraser Valley with a passion for learning design and innovation in career education. 

Liana Thompson is the Director of UFV’s Centre for Experiential and Career Education. She is an educational leader, strategist and skills trainer with an interest in values-based community and organizational leadership. 

Immediate changes are needed to dismantle anti-Black systemic structures in the workforce

Ingrid Wilson 

As we emerge from the pandemic and move toward the future of work, we cannot forget the systemic issues that were finally highlighted during the pandemic. The systemic issues affecting Black people in Canada are centred around the lack of access and sustainability in education, employment and health care for this community.

However, it is not enough to be aware that there is an issue. We cannot to take action to dismantle these systemic issues unless we truly understand what creates these barriers and the impact on the Black community. Without sustainability and access to the necessities of life that many take for granted, how does the Black community show up in the workforce? What is the future of work for the Black community?

Understanding the impact of anti-Black systemic structures

In February 2021, Statistics Canada looked at the impact of the economic disruption of the pandemic on one million Black Canadians in the Canadian labour market. According to the report, A labour market snapshot of Black Canadians during the pandemic, “Black Canadians experienced a higher unemployment rate than non-visible minority Canadians in the recent past.”

While we understand that many Canadians experienced significant economic and financial hardship during the pandemic, Black communities in Canada were already at a disadvantage prior to the pandemic due to systemic issues that created and continue to create barriers for the Black community.

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The systemic racism we are now beginning to understand is not new. It has existed for hundreds of years – built on the foundation of chattel slavery which officially ended in Canada almost 200 years ago, creating a continuing racial wealth gap for Black communities in Canada.

Whether enslaved or free peoples, there have been restrictions on where Black communities could live, own and develop land, limiting economic security and sustainability in Black communities. Multigenerational wealth is still a struggle for Black communities, affecting their ability to consistently and equitably access higher-level education, food security and housing.

Is the workforce of the future widening systemic gaps?

On top of this landscape is the impending impact of automation and technology in the workplace, which the pandemic has escalated. According to estimates from the McKinsey Global Institute, companies have already invested between $26 billion and $39 billion in artificial intelligence technologies and applications. Businesses are aiming to significantly increase their productivity and capacity for innovation through the use of such technologies.

According to the previously referenced Statistics Canada report, in 2020, Black communities and other racialized groups were overrepresented in occupations likely to be most affected by automation and technology changes, such as food and health services and other previously people-driven services including manufacturing and production-line services. These communities are also underrepresented in fields such as education, health, and law and in leadership roles. Continuing automation could lead the Black community to have higher rates of potential job displacement when compared with other communities.

As indicated previously, Black communities have started from a position of inequity within the workforce. If this pattern is not addressed through the strengthening of local economies and developing reskilling and transition programs, in tandem with automation and technology, the racial wealth gap will continue to grow. This could have a significant and negative effect on the growth of intergenerational wealth and the stability of the Black community.

“Continuing automation could lead the Black community to have higher rates of potential job displacement when compared with other communities.”

A point of significant concern is the impact of automation and technology on youth within the Black community, who are currently transitioning from education to employment in a rapidly changing workforce environment. The lack of intergenerational wealth creates a societal and financial impact on this community, often interrupting the pathway to higher-level education and opportunities for development to prepare for the changing workforce landscape. Are education and opportunities for development more important than food security and housing? These are the societal and financial decisions that affect Black communities.

To create a foundation and build sustainability in the Black community, it is critical to focus on youth, providing programs now that will provide access to financial stability and subsequently to development opportunities and sustainable employment.

Strengthening equity and inclusion in workforce development

So, how do these communities prepare for the future? There are many challenges and barriers to addressing these inequities. However, organizations and industries can focus resources on efforts that actually build sustainability for Black communities by:

• Investing in long-term programs to develop and retain talent that are targeted to Black communities.
• Offering development programs that include mentorship and sponsorship.
• Offering access to learning development, reskilling and educational opportunities.
• Creating pathways to occupations that are at lower risk of disruption from automation and technology.
• Investing in new innovation and technology programs for Black communities.
• Providing education, skills development and support for extended periods, to help Black students and jobseekers with career transition opportunities.
• Understanding the societal and financial needs of the Black community and building flexible and adaptable learning opportunities that allow participants to continue to support themselves and their families. Educational scholarships and supports focused on Black communities can help decrease the educational attainment gap caused by financial and societal issues – potentially covering gaps in entrance and tuition fees.
• Sponsoring research programs to understand and improve post-secondary retention and completion rates for Black communities. Colleges and universities can better retain and graduate Black students through targeted programs that increase preparation and provide financial support.

If organizations and industries implement even one of these initiatives, the workforce landscape will begin to more positively affect the Black community.

​Ingrid Wilson, CHRL, CMS, is Senior Director, Culture, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at Walmart Canada. Wilson has almost 30 years of experience in corporate human resources, board, inclusivity and business strategy. She also holds several certifications in diversity, equity and inclusion, and has pursued excellence in strategic human resources and leadership through the CHRL designation, and through programs at Queen’s University and the University of Toronto.