CERIC’s Climate Change and Careers issue of Careering magazine aims to help professionals working in career development reflect on their role in preparing students and jobseekers to tackle this complex global issue. The issue comes as thousands of Canadians took to the streets last month as part of global protests demanding stronger responses to climate change, inspired by the leadership of 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.
You will find articles examining how climate change will affect specific sectors as well as the labour market more generally, and how education can prepare youth to respond, including these articles from the print edition:
Careering is Canada’s Magazine for Career Development Professionals and is the official publication of CERIC. It is published three times a year both in print and as an emagazine, including select content in French. Subscribe to receive your free copy. You can also access past issues for free online.
The next issue of Careering magazine (Winter 2020) will be on the theme of “Ethics and Professionalism.”
There is a pressing need for greater training of settlement counsellors – those on the front lines of welcoming newcomers to Canada – as their role changes in response to rising immigration levels and an increasingly complex settlement landscape, according to a new CERIC-funded project research report. The pan-Canadian research from two Toronto-based consultants identifies eight critical competencies that could form the basis of training to help settlement counsellors be successful as the job is redefined and the range of work is extended. While the focus is on the role of settlement counsellors, many of the insights, conclusions and recommendations can be applied to other categories of front-line settlement workers.
Canada is widely acknowledged to have one of the strongest settlement sectors in the world. At its core are 500 non-profit organizations that deliver programs and services to help newcomers adjust to life in Canada, including by improving their labour market outcomes. Front-line settlement counsellors are one of the initial points of contact for immigrants, helping them adapt and participate in Canadian society. But with the ongoing rise in immigration levels that will see more than one million newcomers welcomed between 2019 and 2021, the report highlights that settlement service agencies cannot address the challenges alone.
The report, The Competencies of Frontline Settlement Counsellors in Canada, from Iren Koltermann of eCaliber Group and Dan Scott of Calience Research and Consulting, found that the work of settlement counsellors needs to go beyond a traditional approach of providing direct services to immigrants to include building capacity in communities that welcome newcomers. The role of settlement counsellors now fundamentally has two parts, each based on capacity-building: empowering newcomers and empowering destination communities.
Direct services – historically the main purpose of the settlement sector – involve assessing the needs of newcomers and providing appropriate information, orientation, referrals and direct assistance such as helping them navigate legal services, housing, healthcare, education, employment and language training, and assisting them to appreciate Canadian society and Canadian culture.
The emerging aspect of the role of settlement counsellors is focused on building capacity in the existing community to be inclusive of newcomers. This involves advocating to overcome biases and systemic barriers that prevent immigrants from participating in society and in creating environments based on “unity in diversity.” The report makes the case that this aspect is becoming more urgent and requires greater attention.
The eight critical competencies to help settlement counsellors be successful include the ability to:
Discern the strengths and identify the needs of newcomers
Assist newcomers to navigate social and economic systems
Help newcomers gain understanding of Canadian society and culture, and nurture a sense of belonging
Advocate for the well-being of newcomers
Contribute to building environments of unity in diversity
Uphold integrity
Promote learning
Foster initiative
Research for the report involved conducting 40 in-depth interviews and five focus groups with settlement counsellors, managers and regional co-ordinators in Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia about how their work is evolving and their training needs.
The counsellors interviewed had diverse educational backgrounds, most including a university degree. Only about a quarter had studied for a diploma or certificate related to the settlement sector. In the interviews, several managers indicated they prefer to hire those who have themselves immigrated to Canada, the rationale being that it is possible to train people in the knowledge of Canada but not in the experience of leaving your homeland and resettling in another country. Maximum salary levels for settlement counsellors ranged from $46,000 to $52,000 per year. Retention was identified as an obstacle given low wages generally in the sector. Additionally, most settlement counsellors were satisfied to remain in the role and did not aspire to higher positions within the field. However, those interested in career progression found that accessing the training they need for leadership positions is a barrier.
This CERIC-funded project was conceived as a contribution toward a growing body of knowledge used by settlement agencies to:
Raise the profile of settlement workers;
Help identify potential candidates for the role;
Provide initial and ongoing training; and
Ensure talent is well nurtured.
A background report released in January explored the historic and current realities in Canada’s settlement sector. The ongoing research has had two interrelated aims:
The first is to gain insight into the work of settlement counsellors and map the career path of this position.
The authors of the report believe the complex challenges of settlement will require government funders, educational institutions and settlement providers themselves to support training that develops these competencies and carves out career paths in the sector. Given the critical role settlement counsellors play in improving integration for newcomers, increasing the capacity of welcoming communities and enhancing public support for immigration, the value of the services provided by these workers will only continue to rise as immigration levels grow.
Learn more about this project and access the reports at ceric.ca/settlement. Also watch for an announcement of a free webinar and roadshow that will share the report findings.
Brookfield Institute report raises questions about the implications of four environmental trends on the labour market
Yasmin Rajabi and Erin Warner
Yasmin Rajabi, left, and Erin Warner.
The floods and tornado that hit Ottawa this past spring have cost the city $5.6 million and counting in damages (Chianello, 2019). Similar instances of climate change have devastated communities across Canada and will continue to do so as the climate crisis accelerates. In fact, the Insurance Bureau of Canada reported that the cost of insured damage due to severe weather was $1.8-billion last year, with other recent years as high as $4.9 billion (Scoffield, 2019). There is an urgent need for Canadians to anticipate and prepare for the shocks and stresses of a future affected by the changing climate – and to consider what can be done to mitigate the current course.
To help Canadians prepare for this future, and more specifically their future employment, the Brookfield Institute’s report Turn and Face the Strange identifies 31 trends with the potential to affect the labour market in the next 10-15 years (Thornton, Russek & O’Neil, 2019). This report is part of the Institute’s ongoing initiative, Employment in 2030, a national research project to develop a holistic forecast of in-demand skills, and the distribution of these skills across geographies, industries and demographic groups.
While Turn and Face the Strange is not a prediction of the future or a deep analysis of any one trend, it aims to spark exploratory and imaginative thinking and push readers to ask themselves “what if?” What if Canada sees a rise in wildfires, floods and mudslides? What if cases of mental-health issues associated with technology use continue to multiply? What if artificial intelligence (AI) becomes capable of performing creative tasks?
Key trends
The trends highlighted in the report were identified using a strategic foresight methodology called horizon scanning – a technique for gathering broad, emerging information in order to identify possible changes affecting a topic of study. We scanned academic journals, popular media and fringe news sources, unearthing more than 600 signals of change, which we synthesized into 31 trends that have the potential to affect the future of employment.
While many of us are well aware that technological change will continue to affect labour markets, it is also important to consider how broader environmental, social and political developments play a role. Environmental sustainability, in particular, is an area that we can no longer afford to ignore. To this end, we were able to identify four trends related to the environment that may have an impact on the future of work in Canada. As you read through each below, consider how these trends may affect your future job prospects or those of your clients.
Resource scarcity
As the climate crisis worsens, natural resources like clean air, water and sand could become scarce and therefore extremely valuable. According to the World Wildlife Fund (n.d.), by 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population may face water shortages. Resource scarcity across Canada and globally will affect industries that rely heavily on natural resources, such as energy, forestry and mining. Water-reliant sectors such as agriculture, food processing and manufacturing could struggle to maintain access to these resources. How will these industries develop new practices to conserve resources like paper and water? How will our policies and infrastructure change to adapt to water scarcity and air pollution? Will new, energy-efficient industries grow or develop in response to resource scarcity? How will we alter our habits to consume less?
Illustration by Jesseca Buizon.
Wildfires, flooding and mudslides
In August 2018, British Columbia declared a state of emergency as a result of 559 forest fires that burned across the province (Johnston, 2018). All over Canada we are experiencing similar instances of wildfires, flooding and mudslides due to a rise in extreme weather conditions. The tourism industry may be affected should these natural disasters become more common. How will other industries that Canada is so well known for, such as forestry, mining and agriculture, be hurt? Will others benefit from these unfortunate incidents, such as infrastructure or goods and services that monitor or prevent floods and wildfires? What will the impact be on economic activity in regions more susceptible to climate disasters?
Illustration by Jesseca Buizon.
Climate refugees
As climate change continues to take a toll on the places we live, millions of people will be displaced globally. While the current legal definition of refugees in Canada does not include provisions for climate-related displacement, we need to start considering how we will respond to this global issue. How might people from regions that have been devastated by climate change use their first-hand experience to help respond to the international demand for solutions? Would a new source of talent reduce the cost of labour in certain sectors? How will the government and other bodies react to an increase in demand for settlement services?
Illustration by Jesseca Buizon.
Alternative energy
The demand for energy is only growing as technology permeates every aspect of our lives, from the trains we take to work to the smartphones that never seem to leave our hands. In 2016, Canadian companies spent $18.1 billion on in-house energy research and development (Statistics Canada, 2018). There has been a focus on generating energy that is clean, efficient, renewable and affordable. How will this affect the traditional, resource-based energy sector? If significant strides are made toward clean, inexpensive energy, more companies could invest in AI, tech systems and increased computational power. How might this affect demand for skilled workers to operate alongside these new technologies?
As author Roger L. Martin and professor Alison Kemper write, the climate crisis will no doubt require both restraint and innovation (Martin & Kemper, 2012). Restraint, as we adapt our behaviour to try to limit further damage. Innovation, as we work to develop new technology to fix what we have done and to help us find a new way forward. In this way, with the devastation of climate change also comes an opportunity for new advancements. When reflecting on what climate change will mean for the Canadian labour market, career practitioners should consider: What kinds of new companies will arise in its wake? What new solutions will be developed? Where are gaps likely to emerge in the near future and how can we take advantage of these opportunities? We urge you to explore how these four environmental sustainability trends will affect the future of work in Canada and consider what careers may change or emerge as a result.
Illustrations by Jesseca Buizon. Buizon is a Toronto-based illustrator and graduate of OCAD University’s illustration program. She creates her illustrations by merging traditional and digital mediums.
Yasmin Rajabi is a Project Officer at the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, where she experiments with novel research methods to advance actionable innovation policy in Canada. Rajabi has an Honours BA in Public Policy and City Studies from the University of Toronto.
Erin Warner is a Marketing and Communications Specialist at the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship who is dedicated to making ideas and information easily accessible to a wide audience. She holds an MBA in technology and innovation from Ryerson’s Ted Rogers School of Management and an Honours BA in anthropology from Western University.
With a goal of bringing greater clarity and consistency to our national conversations about career development, CERIC developed a set of “Guiding Principles of Career Development” that have been enthusiastically embraced across Canada. These eight Guiding Principles are intended as a starting point to inform discussions with clients, employers, funders, policymakers and families. Each issue of Careering features a Guiding Principle “in action,” exploring how a career professional is applying a Principle in practice.
Guiding Principle: Career development can be complex and complicated, so context is key – there may be both internal constraints (financial, cultural, health) and/or external constraints (labour market, technology).
As a career development professional working in primary and secondary schools, I realize that beginning career education and exploration in the early grades can be controversial. However, recent research including the CERIC-published book The Early Years, Career Development for Young Children by Mildred Cahill and Edith Furey (2017) and the Career-related learning in primary. What works? report by the Career and Enterprise Company (Kashefpakdel et al., 2018) provide support for this approach. Like these authors, I believe that “children create their own stories, but not in isolation” (Cahill & Furey, 2017, p. 64). Students have many co-authors, including teachers, who provide important context as they develop a vision of their possible future selves alongside their families.
A model for context in career development
The school district in which I work, located in El Cajon, CA, has 27 schools and 17,500 students. It is one of the most wonderfully diverse districts in the region, with some of the highest numbers of refugee families regionally as well as students from a mix of socio-economic backgrounds.
As Wehrle, Kira and Klehe’s (2018) and Eismann’s (2016) research highlights, first-generation students and refugees experience unique barriers that limit their engagement and advancement into available career paths, diminishing their career choice privilege. Understanding the internal and external constraints students may experience has been core to our mission of providing contextualized career development in our classrooms.
My school district uses a process called “World of Work” to provide every child with career development that is integrated within their classroom curriculum and deployed by teachers.
A framework within this called “Mission of Me” guides students through:
Learning about their strengths, interests and values
Exploring the labour market and learning about jobs and academic opportunities in their community
Forming their stories based on their increasing self-awareness and exposure to opportunities available to them
The Mission of Me is integrated through four levels of exposure: 1) explore a job, 2) participate in an “as if” experience or simulation, 3) meet a professional who does the job, and 4) participate in a demonstration of learning or practice. Through this process, teachers integrate technology, reading, math and science, and equally important, provide an opportunity to apply knowledge to real-world problems. We encourage students to reflect on their learning and how their Mission of Me connects to the people in the job they explored.
As we work with students to integrate careers education in the early grades, it’s important to communicate that this work is not about encouraging students to select a pathway or make decisions, but rather to create opportunities to explore, meet professionals, and develop context and application for what they are learning. The goal is to expose young people to all types of work environments and career skills and keep them from foreclosing prematurely on possibilities as they work to develop their identity. While career development is complex and complicated, it can also become more accessible to young people when they have a supported space in which they can explore the world of work.
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Creating a common language
We believe that context is key – as the Guiding Principle states – to understand both our students’ needs and how to develop programming to support their career development. This is why we actively engage parents in our programs and why we use the RIASEC as the guiding framework for building a common language of career interests across the school and family.
The RIASEC vocational interest typology developed by Holland (1959, 1997) is “the most widely adopted theoretical framework for interest measurement” (Briley et al., 2017, p. 6). Holland’s typology describes people according to their resemblance to six vocational personalities and environments known as the RIASEC.
Parents are invited to work with World of Work coaches in training aimed at improving student and adult learning related to the world of work. During this three-course experience, families can explore their own strengths, interests and work values, learn the language of the RIASEC, hear about career opportunities and begin to create a common language of careers they can use with their children.
More than 900 families have joined us for some form of career development learning over the past school year. Breaking down institutional and cultural barriers is critical to serving our families and leveraging the power of schools, which are trusted entities in the eyes of parents and a tremendous way to support career development across students’ life span.
Don’t miss our previous Principles in Action articles
Like many students in our district, Sammy began his schooling as an English-language learner and first-generation citizen. When Sammy was in Grade 4, his teacher became an early adopter of integrating career development in her class. Over the school year, Sammy participated in career exposure activities, simulations and meet-a-pro opportunities.
It was during one meet-a-pro experience that his idea about his possible future career options changed. He was introduced to the district superintendent during a school visit. During their conversation, Sammy realized they both identified with the same RIASEC themes. As he learned more about the work of a superintendent, his interest piqued and he even envisioned himself in the role. The superintendent offered Sammy the opportunity for a job shadow. Now in Grade 5, Sammy continues to be interested in the path of superintendent. And, importantly, as he heads into middle school, he’s even more motivated to do well and achieve his goals.
Access for all
Providing career development in the early grades affords educators the opportunity to proactively moderate contextual barriers that can impede students’ success, such as gender, race, learning differences and socio-economic status. Integrating career development with classroom learning ensures access for all students, which in turn benefits the communities where they live by putting them on a path to gainful employment.
Ed Hidalgo is the Chief Innovation and Engagement Officer for the Cajon Valley Union School District in San Diego, CA. Prior to his current role, he was the Director of the World of Work Initiative at the University of San Diego Jacobs Institute for Entrepreneurship in Education. His experience in career development and training comes from nearly 20 years in human resources, staffing and government affairs, most recently at Qualcomm. RIASEC: SEA; MBTI: ESFJ. Follow him on Twitter @EDhidalgoSD.
References
Briley, D., Rounds, J., & Hoff, D., & Wee, C. (2018). Normative changes in interests from adolescence to adulthood: A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 144(4).
Cahill, M., & Furey, E. (2017). The Early Years: Career Development for Young Children: A Guide for Educators. Toronto, ON: CERIC.
Holland, J. L. (1959). A theory of vocational choice. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 6, 35– 45.
Holland, J. L. (1997). Making vocational choices: A theory of vocational personalities and work environments (3rd ed.). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Wehrle, K., Kira, M., & Klehe, U.-C. (2018). Putting career construction into context: Career adaptability among refugees. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 111, 107–124.
When Amanda Felske decided to leave full-time work to return to school as a mature student, she had to navigate financial and time-management challenges
In this Careering feature, jobseekers reflect on successes and struggles in their career development
When I was considering my career path at the end of high school, the trajectory seemed pretty straightforward: choose a college/university program, complete it and get a job. I had never considered what lay ahead after getting that job and was naive to the fact that there could (and would) be challenges and changes, and that my path wouldn’t always go in a straight line. I didn’t anticipate that I would be at a crossroads in my mid-30s, with big and scary decisions to make.
I chose a three-year chemical engineering technology program, completed it with dean’s list honours and landed an amazing job as a chemical lab technologist at a local biopharmaceutical company. Prophecy fulfilled, right? I loved that job and worked there for 10 years before the company was sold and operations moved to another province; they were generous and offered re-location for all employees, but due to family matters, I was not able to move with them. This was the first time I realized that the path ahead wasn’t as clear as I thought it would be.
Time to pivot
I moved on to an R&D lab at a plastics manufacturer, where I spent two years doing work I found boring in a hostile environment. I was frustrated and unfulfilled, and knew I had to switch directions. I had been interested in upgrading my education for a few years and began investigating programs at local colleges, which is where I stumbled across the one-year, post-grad Cannabis Applied Science program at Loyalist College in Belleville, ON, where I live.
It was all over the news that large cannabis companies were staking out our area, so this seemed like an ideal time to make a move; the program would complement my previous education and experience, and hopefully give me an edge to advance my career at one of these companies. It all sounded pretty perfect discussing it over a campfire with my husband (who ultimately gave me the final push to go through with it), but we also had many challenges to consider: Would we be able to manage the loss of income while I studied? How would we handle appointments and childcare for our eight-year-old son if I had less flexibility in my schedule? It had been a long time since I was a full-time student; could I handle this alongside household responsibilities? What if this was all for naught, and the companies didn’t actually come to the area or I was unable to get a job in the field? It took digging deep to build up the courage to make this a reality, but I was accepted to the program and quit my job. It was happening.
Financially, we crunched some numbers and realized we could make it work. My husband’s salary, along with a chunk of our savings, could pay for the course and sustain us while I was unemployed. I did look into some forms of financial aid, but we decided to leave that as a last resort and try to do this without incurring more debt. We managed, which was a huge relief. Not financially contributing to the household was the largest mental hurdle I had to overcome during this process; as a mom you are so busy putting everyone else first that it can be hard to accept the support of others and focus on yourself.
Child care worked out, partly due to my husband’s flexible schedule, but also pure luck that we had no major conflicts or issues to deal with (no broken bones!). After being in school for a bit, I could gauge when I could and couldn’t miss class in order to spread the responsibility of appointments and was open with my professors any time I was away.
As for being a full-time student again, that was a difficult transition but an incredibly rewarding experience. This was tough for me because my “jobs” around the house had to be spread out and deprioritized if I had a heavy work load. Sometimes the floors didn’t get vacuumed or the dog didn’t get walked, but we found a balance that worked. My son thought it was both funny and annoying that I had homework because I wasn’t as available to him as he was used to, but he was proud of me and sometimes helped out more around the house. I had always been a good student and those practices came back easily, so the bulk of the challenge ended up being in juggling homework and housework, while getting in some family time here and there, too.
Studying cannabis
While local employment opportunities were a big draw, I was also excited to dive into the science of cannabis, which turned out to be so much more engaging and intriguing than I had anticipated. We covered everything from regulations to extraction, but I was, not surprisingly, drawn to the chemistry and analytics. It was amazing to learn about so many aspects of the industry while finding out where my passion lay, which helped me to visualize where I saw myself once the course was done.
I was very lucky to get a student research position while I was in school, which was a collaboration between a local cannabis company and the college. After school ended, I continued to work part-time on this project, hoping to transition to full-time. I saw a job posting on LinkedIn for cannabis drinks producer Truss Beverages, a start-up company coming to the area, and I had a huge gut instinct that this was the job I had been waiting for. I applied and my gut led me in the right direction; I started with Truss as a senior chemist at the end of August.
We knew there would be difficulties to navigate and did our best to anticipate them and have a plan in place, which served us well; open communication was an integral part of this transition for all of us. Despite the challenges we faced as a family to make it happen, the decision to return to school was one of the best I have ever made.
Amanda Felske lives in Belleville, ON, with her husband and son. When she’s not in the lab, you can find her walking their dog, Bailey, playing ultimate Frisbee or enjoying all things outdoors at her cottage.
Helping young people think critically about how employment and the environment intersect can shift their sense of fear to a feeling of empowerment
Stefania Maggi
Our coastlines are being redefined, forests and grasslands destroyed, homes, schools and critical infrastructure damaged. Livelihoods are endangered, our way of life is challenged and our traditions threatened. This is climate change transforming the world as we know it.
At the same time, children suffer from a wide range of mental-health problems. Young people are struggling to find their place in a world with such an uncertain future. They feel powerless in the face of the climate change giant, which they know they must fight, but feel is too big to be defeated. They feel vulnerable, ill-equipped and under pressure. This is not the doing of climate change. This is our own doing.
Our greatest resource in battling climate change
We do this to our children because we fail to see their resilience and their limitless potential. We marginalize them to the fringes of decision-making by stripping them of their greatest assets: their propensity for big dreams, their innate ability to think outside of the box and their calling to take on any challenge, the bigger the better.
We don’t honour and nurture young people for what they have to offer to the collective well-being, to the future of our planet. Our children are the greatest resource we have to make things right for the health of this planet and all of its inhabitants. Now is the time to enable and empower them to take charge of their own futures for the good of all living beings.
Career and leadership development could be the answer in preparing the workforce of tomorrow to take on and beat this tremendous challenge by shifting the sense of fear and hopelessness to one of empowerment and purpose. Enough with messages of despair that paralyze us. Let’s do what we do best as educators and career coaches. Let’s equip young people to find their purpose and help make this planet healthier through career and leadership guidance and education.
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Thinking critically about jobs and the environment
This is the spirit that motivated me to create the 100 Jobs Challenge! a program designed to promote early career and leadership development and climate change awareness.
The program challenges participants (a group of 15-20 young people between the ages of 12 and 18) to identify 100 present and future jobs they believe can help us mitigate and adapt to climate change. Then, they work backward to determine the skills/education required to secure these roles. Facilitators provide youth participants with context and guidance, encouraging youth to reflect more deeply on the contribution of their career of choice to the collective well-being. However, youth take the lead in the process of seeking information, thinking critically and identifying relevant results throughout the five-day workshop.
The purpose of the 100 Jobs Challenge! is to prepare the workforce of tomorrow to think more deeply and critically about jobs and the environment. It aims to increase knowledge, awareness and competence about how each career choice one makes can play a direct or indirect role in restoring the health of this planet. The program also aims to promote the development of socio-emotional skills, resilience and social responsibility in youth in the early stages of their career and leadership development.
The 100 Jobs Challenge
Who: Young people 12 years of age and older. Groups can be of mixed ages to facilitate mutual socio-emotional learning and leadership skills.
When: Originally developed to fit the format of summer camps and winter breaks, the 100JC can be adapted into after-school programs, weekend retreats and other kinds of events.
Where: Anywhere participants can both collaborate and spend time by themselves to complete individual activities. Participants should have access to internet and be able to conduct research online individually or in small groups.
How: The 100JC is co-ordinated by three certified trainers: a lead facilitator and two youth facilitators.
A unique approach
This approach stands out from mainstream approaches to career and leadership development in several ways.
It is timely, relevant and interdisciplinary. Because the program is embedded in the context of a real-life problem, participants feel that what they are learning is relevant to their lives. Also, rather than focusing on specific disciplines that may not be of interest to all participants, the activity challenges students to identify present and future jobs related to the theme and then work backward to determine the skills/education required.
It promotes self-directed learning and problem-solving. Facilitators provide youth participants with context and guidance, but youth take the lead in seeking information, thinking critically and identifying relevant results. The target of identifying 100 jobs, 20 of which have to be “invented” for the future, motivates participants to engage in problem-solving without the fear of being “wrong.” Youth can follow their curiosity and identify careers that interest them personally. This encourages entrepreneurial skills-building and out-of-the-box approaches to career and leadership development.
It fosters a culture of collaboration. The format of the program is highly interactive, with many opportunities for youth to work together and discuss in groups. The facilitators act as partners in learning rather than traditional teachers and create an environment of collaboration and mutual respect where diverse perspectives are valued. This format allows for practising key foundational pre-employment and employment skills such as the ability to work in teams and respect for diversity and inclusion.
It is reflective. Throughout the program, there are opportunities for young people to pause and reflect deeply on their interests, inclinations, strengths, aspirations and goals. These deliberate moments are designed to give participants a chance to practice and consolidate important pre-employment and employment socio-emotional skills such as self-efficacy, self-awareness, independence and self-reflection.
It is evergreen. Unlike many career resources that are in constant need of updating, the 100 Jobs Challenge! provides a guided process for youth to identify current jobs and skills requirements. Furthermore, it challenges youth to be forward-looking and imagine certain jobs/careers that may emerge in the future, helping them to realize the importance of life-long learning for the changing world of work.
It integrates technology and multimedia approaches. During the workshops, youth learn research skills using the internet and other available sources of information. They can also stay connected with facilitators and their program peers via social media during and after the program. The use of technology and multimedia strategies to facilitate learning enhances best practices in pedagogical science while keeping the learner engaged.
Read more about children and youth’s career development on CERIC’s CareerWise website
In my experience working with youth, I have come to understand how fundamental it is for an impactful career-coaching program to address developmental needs first and foremost. Career professionals working with youth need to have space and time built into their services to support the development of pre-employment skills that are so critical to a successful life-long career trajectory. A career professional is successful when they know that their young clients have learned to search within themselves, as opposed to in a list of job descriptions and salary scales, to discover their career aspirations.
In other words, the focus of career services for young people should be less on matching interests to specific job titles and more on the acquisition and consolidation of pre-employability skills – that is, socio-emotional skills – which young people can carry with them from one job to the next and use to adapt to the rapid changes of today’s world of work. It is up to the career professional to adjust their programs and services to meet the socio-emotional needs of their clients and to offer opportunity for growth and positive development.
The Organization for Economic and Co-operation Development report on socio-emotional skills and career development (Chernyshenko, Kankaraš & Drasgow, 2018) is an excellent resource providing the knowledge base for career guidance and coaches working with youth who want to integrate key socio-emotional learning in their programs.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what careers our students choose. What matters is what they know about the impact that their careers can have, one way or another, on the health of our planet. What matters is how that knowledge will influence their actions in their personal and professional lives. The choice remains theirs to make, and it should not be any other way.
Stefania Maggi is the Founder & CEO of Be Your Best Self, Inc. (BYBS), a social enterprise created to empower young people to build their future with purpose, self-awareness, resilience and social responsibility. Maggi is also a university professor, researcher, child rights advocate and sci-fi author.
References
Chernyshenko, O.S., Kankaraš, M., & Drasgow, F. (2018) Social and emotional skills for student success and wellbeing: conceptual framework for the OECD study on social and emotional skills. OECD Education Working Paper No. 173.
Career counsellor Connie Covey guides an overwhelmed liberal arts graduate through identifying her transferable skills, interests and potential pathways
In this recurring Careering feature, career professionals share their real-life solutions to common problems in the field.
I recently had the opportunity to meet with an intelligent young woman who had just completed university. Laura felt disillusioned and overwhelmed. She had completed a Bachelor of Arts in human services and public relations, but now felt that was the wrong direction for her future. She wanted to speak to a career counsellor before deciding about further education.
Laura’s story
Laura felt strongly about contributing to society and promoting equality and justice; that was her motivation for completing a university degree in human services and public relations. During the counselling process, Laura reflected upon the communications-related role she held during university. That reflection resulted in an important self-discovery: she realized that she worked best when given a clear mandate, autonomy and empowerment to produce tangible results. As an introvert, she felt dissatisfied in a highly social, interactive support role where she could not see tangible results from her work.
Exploring possibilities
Together, Laura and I explored her career possibilities by identifying the intersection of four important elements: a) what she loves, b) what she is good at, c) where there is a need, and d) where she can earn a living by applying her passion and skills to solve real-world problems. We worked through the following steps:
First, using a values assessment, we identified what she loves and the impact she wants to have in the world. By exploring her values, it became clear that she was passionate about social justice, human rights and humanitarian relief work.
Next, we researched the local labour market to identify growing and emerging occupations. We accessed information about in-demand careers in Alberta and searched for emerging occupations on the government of Alberta’s ALIS website.
Then, Laura completed a skills assessment to identify her preferred and transferable skills. She naturally plans out the details of her life and enjoys the challenge of a project with a start, an end and a tangible outcome. Through that assessment, it became clear that she had project-management skills she could build on. We discussed ways she could strengthen these skills without having to earn another university degree. Instead, she could take a course in project management. We also discussed the option of certification as a Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® from the Project Management Institute.
Lastly, we looked at where she could build a career and make a living at the intersection of what she loves, her transferable skills and where there is a need. Laura identified that she would like to pursue a career in project management working on humanitarian relief projects at an international relief organization.
Laura felt that she graduated with a “useless” degree, but no education is a waste. The BBC recently ran an article titled, “Why ‘worthless’ humanities degrees may set you up for life,” which emphasized the employability of and need for liberal arts graduates (Ruggeri, 2019). Because the cost of education is high, it is important to choose educational programs and work experience that develop and build knowledge and transferrable skills. However, as it is difficult to know what the future holds, it is also important to learn how to learn. A degree some may perceive as useless teaches valuable skills such as critical thinking, communication and interpersonal skills.
What you want to be when you grow up does not necessarily need to be planned, because unplanned events are a normal part of career development (Krumboltz, 2009). In a world that continues to evolve due to globalization, technological advancements and automation, it is important to equip clients with knowledge and access to resources that can help them navigate unexpected events or life changes. When clients feel anxious about the changing nature of work, career practitioners can help them view the future with curiosity and build skills of resilience. For instance, clients will benefit from skills of persistence when encountering setbacks as well as flexibility and optimism about the changing nature of work (Mitchell, et al., 1999). Career practitioners can help clients discover that taking risks to build new skills and knowledge can be rewarding.
Next steps
As we concluded our time working together, Laura signed a personal commitment contract outlining several activities she was aiming to complete in the next 12 months. She planned to take a project management course, prepare for and take the CAPM® exam, and continue to modify her resume to reflect her project-management skills and experience. She also identified a humanitarian relief organization that she planned to learn more about. Lastly, I connected Laura with an individual working in the sector for an information interview. Laura was on the right path for creating a promising career.
For recent graduates who realize they need to change direction, career counselling can help clients discover their passion, their transferable skills and labour market information in order to retool when necessary and build on their formal and informal learning experiences.
Connie Covey is a career counsellor at CareerPlan.ca and an adult educator at Athabasca University supporting 100 online learners in career development and adult learning. Covey is pursuing an EdD in workplace and adult learning from the University of Calgary, researching career purpose and meaning.
References
Krumboltz, J. D. (2009). The happenstance learning theory. Journal of Career Assessment, 17(2), 135-154.
Mitchell, K. E., Al Levin, S., & Krumboltz, J. D. (1999). Planned happenstance: Constructing unexpected career opportunities. Journal of counseling & Development, 77(2), 115-124.
Senator Murray Sinclair served the justice system in Manitoba for over 25 years. He was the first Aboriginal judge appointed in Manitoba and Canada’s second. He served as Co-Chair of the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry in Manitoba and as Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). As head of the TRC, he participated in hundreds of hearings across Canada, culminating in the issuance of the TRC’s report in 2015.
Senator Sinclair was appointed to the Senate on April 2, 2016. He is currently a member of the Senate Ethics and Conflict of Interest for Senator’s Committee as well as Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and Rights of Parliament.
In a sentence or two, describe why career development matters.
A career is a life path. Career development helps us achieve our individual sense of self and it allows us to contribute to society’s collective sense of self. A society and a people are strengthened when its members feel fulfilled in their life’s journeys.
What do you do to relax and how does it help you?
I have learned the importance of relaxing spiritually, mentally and physically through Indigenous traditions and ceremony. I attend sweatlodges, teach youth, dance when I can to the Drum and share stories with other Elders, learning from their wisdom and hopefully contributing some of mine.
What is the one thing you wouldn’t be able to work without? Why?
I would never be able to do what I do without the support and assistance of others such as my friends, my family and especially my staff.
What is the most unusual interview question you’ve ever been asked and how did you respond?
I was asked once if there was one thing in my life that I could change, what would it be. I thought of the many thousands of things that needed changing, including the early loss of my mother and brothers, all of which affected me severely. But having thought it through, I said “Nothing!”, because if I changed one thing in my life I could not change the others and that was an impossible choice. But more importantly, if I changed the most important, life-changing one, I would probably not have become who I am … and I like who I am.
What’s something you want to do in the next year that you’ve never done before?
I want to take better care of myself and my wife. With her consent, I put aside her needs over the years, but the time has come to stop doing that. Love is a gift and a responsibility. I dedicate myself each day to getting her to fall in love with me.
Which book are you reading right now and why did you choose it?
I love Stephen King’s books but sometimes he scares me. Right now I’m reading Sleeping Beauties but when it scares me too much I read books about health. I recently started reading Liver Rescue because I have been diagnosed with a liver problem.
What was your first-ever job and what did you learn from it?
I was a delivery boy on a milk truck and it taught me the importance of completing what you started and treating people with kindness and respect.
Who would you like to work with most and why?
I’d sure like to work with my grandchildren so they could achieve more than I ever could.
Which talent or superpower would you like to have and how would you use it?
I wish I had the power of insight to help people see their own goodness and how to use it, and how even running in sand will eventually get you where you want to go.
What do you consider your greatest achievement and why?
Changing practices and consumer preferences are expected to have a disruptive effect on employment
Laxmi Prasad Pant
Canada has joined a bid among developed countries to become a leader in fighting climate change while protecting jobs. The government adopted the Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration in 2018, which emphasizes the importance of decent work in the shift toward climate-resilient economies. The Canadian House of Commons declared a national climate emergency on June 17, 2019.
Translating these commitments into economic prosperity and decent jobs within food and agriculture is a challenging process. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a Special Report on Climate Change and Land, to which this author has also contributed, with a new estimate that livestock, crop, fertilizer and fossil fuel use in agriculture account for about 21-37% of global GHG emissions (IPCC, 2019).
In Canada, the food and agriculture sector produces over 10% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and is responsible for one in eight jobs, employing over 2.3 million people (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2016, 2019). This sector is also the largest employer in the world, and it will grow further to feed the 10 billion people expected to inhabit the planet by 2050 (United Nations, 2017). This growth will have to be low-carbon in order to meet GHG emission-reduction targets.
Climate change exacerbates labour market challenges
The effects of climate change on food and agricultural jobs should be considered within the context of the already deteriorating labour market. Canadian rural communities are on the decline, and the food and agriculture sector has already faced labour market shortages. The most notable changes are youth out-migration, aging population, population decline and closing down of social services.
According to the 2016 Census of Agriculture (Statistics Canada, 2017), the number of farms has been decreasing in Canada; the family farm is declining at a faster rate. Canada has the second-lowest proportion of family farmers after New Zealand (Graeub et al., 2016).
“Canadian rural communities are on the decline, and the food and agriculture sector has already faced labour market shortages.”
The Conference Board of Canada, in its 2016 report, estimated that labour shortages within the agriculture sector have doubled over the past decade (Meyer-Robinson & Burt, 2016). Shortages are expected to increase two-fold again in the next 10 years, reaching 113,800 people. In a positive framing of the labour shortages, Ontario Agricultural College’s Planning for Tomorrow 2.0 report estimates that four jobs are available for each graduate in food and agriculture (Synthesis Agri-Food Network, 2017).
Quality of the available jobs is equally important regarding social stigma, occupational health and workplace safety. Food and agricultural careers in Ontario’s Perth County suffer from social stigma, particularly those jobs that do not necessarily require post-secondary education (DEEP Centre, 2015).
According to a recent International Labour Organization report (Montt et al., 2018), climate change affects the quality of jobs that rely on ecosystem services, including employment in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and tourism. The risks and hazards associated with climate change affect vulnerable farm workers the most, including women, migrant workers, people in poverty, Indigenous people and persons with disabilities.
A transition to agroecological farming would help develop agricultural systems that are low-carbon, climate-resistant and less wasteful. (iStock)
Climate change not always bad for the local economy and jobs
Climate change may also have some positive implications for agricultural workers. In temperate countries like Canada, global warming can open up more areas for farming (Cui, Hao David et al., 2018). For instance, the West Kootenay region in British Columbia will experience a longer growing season, hotter summers and more frost-free days (Roussin et al., 2015). This should increase the region’s capacity to grow food. However, scorching summers can cause drought, which might require additional water for irrigation, food processing and municipal use.
Career planners in food and agriculture should recognize that agriculture is both a source of GHGs as well as a sink where crops and soils can capture and store carbon. One way to make food and agricultural systems low-carbon and climate-resilient is to promote agroecology, which is using science, practice and social movements to bring incremental and transformational changes in industrial agriculture (Gliessman, 2018). For instance, such changes include minimum or zero tillage that has increased carbon capture and storage in soils, most notably in canola, soybean, field pea and wheat in the Canadian Prairies.
While incremental changes are compatible with the incumbent practices, transformational changes can be essentially disruptive. The largest share of GHG in Canadian agriculture comes from livestock (5%) followed by crops (3%) and fossil fuel use (2%). Hence, Canada’s Food Guide recommends eating more plant-based protein sources, which has been applauded as a step forward to reduce our carbon footprint (Health Canada, 2019). A recent IPCC report (2019) also recommends eating less meat, which requires transformational changes in our habits and practices. This transition could disrupt the incumbent labour market, particularly for those working in the carbon-intensive beef cattle, dairy cattle and eggs industries.
The Food Policy for Canada aims to address these challenges by supporting agricultural systems that are low-carbon, climate-resilient, less wasteful, and supportive of the local economies and jobs (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 2019). A transition to agroecological farming would help fulfill this mandate. This would eliminate carbon-intensive jobs in the industrial farming sector while creating carbon-friendly jobs that require a new set of skills, such as intercropping, crop rotation, cover crops, integrating trees and small animals back into farming. Agroecological farming could also improve occupational health and safety and provide opportunity to learn new skills, experience self-fulfillment and exercise human ingenuity (Timmermann & Félix, 2015).
In agroecological systems, incumbent workers and aspiring jobseekers will have to unlearn old skills and learn new skills, such as how to control weeds, insect pests and diseases without using harmful chemicals. We are heading to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and advanced technologies – physical, digital and biological technologies – are prominent in food and agriculture as well (Pant, 2019). These technologies can reduce the food and agriculture sector’s carbon footprint through input use efficiency, but policymakers should also recognize anxieties, including unprecedented job losses to automation and robotics (Rotz et al., 2019).
A call for action
How climate change, and subsequent mitigation and adaptation, will affect local economies and employment in food and agriculture is poorly understood. This ambiguity is only expected to grow in the future. For instance, the declaration of a climate emergency could lead to resource mobilization; it could also create a sense of insecurity and fear among children, vulnerable workers, family farmers and aspiring jobseekers. Career counsellors, educators, leaders and policymakers should consider this reality while preparing the next generation of the workforce in this sector.
We need to make the food and agriculture profession more respected in a changing climate, regardless of whether or not a job requires post-secondary education. Advancements in physical, digital and biological technologies can make us climate-smart while advancing the profile of the industry. However, lack of access to advanced technologies as a result of the digital divide across social classes and geographic regions can create inequalities among already vulnerable agricultural workers (Rotz et al., 2019; Pant & Hambly-Odame, 2017). Career counsellors should be aware that new opportunities from technological advancements come with challenges to train younger farmers and aspiring jobseekers in advanced and highly technical skills as well as social and interpersonal skills.
Dr Laxmi Prasad Pant is an Adjunct Professor and Associated Graduate Faculty at the University of Guelph. He conducts research on regional and rural innovation, agroecology, citizen science, sustainability transitions, ethics of new and emerging technologies, pedagogy and the practice of teaching controversial topics. His research has appeared in Agriculture and Human Values, Journal of Rural Studies, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Regional Environmental Change, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, and The Conversation, among other publications.
Cui, Hao David et al. (2018). Climate change and global market integration: Implications for global economic activities, agricultural commodities and food security. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Retrieved from fao.org/3/CA2332EN/ca2332en.pdf.
Meyer-Robinson, R., & Burt, M. (2016). Sowing the Seeds of Growth. Temporary Foreign Workers in Agriculture. The Conference Board of Canada. Retrieved from conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=8363
Pant, L. P., & Hambly-Odame, H. (2017). Broadband for a sustainable digital future of rural communities: A reflexive interactive assessment. Journal of Rural Studies, 54, 435-450.
Rotz, S., et al. (2019). Automated pastures and the digital divide: How agricultural technologies are shaping labour and rural communities. Journal of Rural Studies, 68, 112-122.
Roussin, R., Wilson, J. E., Utzig, G. & Lavkulich, L. M. (2015). Assessing the potential for pocket agriculture in mountainous regions: A case study in West Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 6(1), 175-188.
The consequences of a warming planet will create opportunities in ‘green’ jobs while also putting new demands on environmental protection workers
Melissa Drury and Paul Richard
Climate change will have important impacts on society, including the workplace. Environmental professions will be both negatively and positively affected in ways that are unique to this field, as well as by trends that will affect the workplace in general.
That the labour market will change is clear. According to a recent International Labour Organization report (2019), climate change will put up to 80 million jobs at risk by 2030, particularly in agriculture and construction, but also in the transportation, tourism, sports and industrial sectors. Despite being a northern country, Canada is not immune; the ILO report estimates the equivalent of a loss of 800 full-time jobs from heat stress alone. Temperature extremes will make outdoor work difficult or impossible, while consequences of climate change such as more frequent flooding or fires will also indirectly affect employment.
“According to a recent International Labour Organization report, climate change will put up to 80 million jobs at risk by 2030.”
Conversely, the authors of an International Labour Review article about mitigation of climate impacts argue that “climate action is an opportunity to create over 24 million jobs across the world. To maximize the employment opportunities, governments need to complement climate action with a conducive legal framework, consultation process of society, social protection, skills and industrial policy to enable a just transition” (Montt et al., 2018).
Not all these future jobs are expected to be of an environmental nature, of course, but the environmental profession – the “green” jobs – will be well represented.
Present and future opportunities in green jobs
Climate change is tackled by decarbonizing the economy and by sequestering carbon. Green jobs act directly on these objectives: installers of solar panels, windmills, efficient windows or electric charging stations; designers of efficient vehicles, public transit, industrial processes; energy auditors and sustainability planners are examples among the many trades and professions that contribute to reducing emissions. Land-use managers and conservation professionals may create programs that build biomass and sequester carbon, such as planting and caring for tree and kelp forests; engineers who design high-tech systems for atmospheric carbon dioxide removal are also working toward the same objective: reducing atmospheric carbon.
Sharan Burrow (2015), General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, says that jobs are already being created from investments in climate action: “In renewable energy, the US solar industry is creating jobs 20 times faster than the overall economy, while the world’s largest renewable energy job market is in China, with 3.4 million working in the industry. In Germany, 370,000 people are employed in renewable energy, the largest number in Europe.”
Installing electric charging stations is considered a green job. (iStock)
In Canada, employment opportunities in green jobs have been steady (ECO Canada, 2012) or, more recently, growing (ECO Canada, 2018, 2019). In its latest reports, ECO Canada identified the sectors with the highest demand as natural resources management, environmental health and safety, and waste management. Their 2012 report used a different but overlapping classification that listed environmental protection, resource conservation and green energy as the sectors most in demand.
Our own experience shows that a large number of environmental protection positions (a subset of green jobs) are not advertised in the media surveyed by ECO Canada. This suggests such surveys may underestimate the actual number of green jobs in the Canadian economy.
Likewise, TopResume (n.d.), a career agency, has similar findings based on US data about the most in-demand green jobs:
environmental scientists;
green building professionals;
solar, water and environmental engineers;
environmental protection scientists and technicians;
corporate sustainability professionals
Environmental awareness led to the creation of these jobs and industries. Will climate change affect this distribution or the nature of these jobs?
Influences on employment in environmental careers
Government policy
The answer to this question depends largely on the evolution of policy. Renewable energy jobs in Germany were created by a 1990 policy decision, then the unexpected number of solar panel installers, wind mechanics and smart grids experts became large enough to insulate the profession from changing political winds. A similar set of policies across Canada would likewise create many green energy and energy-efficiency jobs, tilting the balance away from the more traditional environmental protection sector.
Severe weather
The environmental protection sector is also likely to grow as a result of climate change and the resulting severe weather. Significant droughts, for instance, adversely affect biosystems, from fisheries to natural parks, and measures to alleviate impacts will rely on data provided by environmental protection scientists and technicians.
Storms, expected to be more frequent and more severe, will also affect environmental protection practitioners. Erosion-control professionals implement measures to prevent sediment from construction sites from entering fish-bearing streams; frequent severe cloudbursts may require the development of new regulations and best practices. Large-scale flooding, as has happened this decade in Calgary, Toronto and Montreal (twice), increases the risk of contamination from mold and sewage, and exacerbates problems of contaminated sites remediation (in our observation, still a leading employment sector for environmental protection practitioners). Municipal flood-prevention programs – including those using green infrastructure – will result in increased employment opportunities, from construction monitoring to land-use planning.
Large-scale wildfires such as those recently experienced in British Columbia, Alberta and California not only produce very poor air quality, but also contaminate water resources. Once fires are under control, a huge task of environmental monitoring remains, and this will become more frequent as the climate changes.
Finally, it must be mentioned that weather extremes will put new demands on environmental protection practitioners. Field work, a large component of the job, is more physically demanding during heat waves or storms, adding to the dangers of gathering samples in tinder-dry environments or stormy lakes. Further, these environmental stressors also add to the risk of workplace mistakes. Accidental spills, for instance, require rapid action from first responders, including those trained in containing spills, reclaiming affected lands and monitoring for toxic substances.
A collective response
Climate change will likely create many opportunities for environmental practitioners, both in traditional fields such as environmental monitoring and in newer fields such as energy auditing. While this may seem to be good news at first glance, the prospect of increased employment in this sector is contingent on a well-functioning economy and governance system that can respond effectively to the challenge of climate change. This challenge is immense and requires a response from environmental professionals of all kinds.
Melissa Drury is the Co-operative Education Co-ordinator and Paul Richard is the Chair of the Environmental Protection Technology Program, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, in Greater Vancouver.
Montt, G., Wiebe, K. S., Harsdorff, M., Simas, M., Bonnet, A., & Wood, R. (2018). Does climate action destroy jobs? An assessment of the employment implications of the 2-degree goal. International Labour Review, 157(4), 519–556.
As a career development professional working in primary and secondary schools, I realize that beginning career education and exploration in the early grades can be controversial. However, recent research including the CERIC-published book The Early Years, Career Development for Young Children by Mildred Cahill and Edith Furey (2017) and the Career-related learning in primary. What works? report by the Career and Enterprise Company (Kashefpakdel et al., 2018) provide support for this approach. Like these authors, I believe that “children create their own stories, but not in isolation” (Cahill & Furey, 2017, p. 64). Students have many co-authors, including teachers, who provide important context as they develop a vision of their possible future selves alongside their families.
A framework within this called “Mission of Me” guides students through:
When I was considering my career path at the end of high school, the trajectory seemed pretty straightforward: choose a college/university program, complete it and get a job. I had never considered what lay ahead after getting that job and was naive to the fact that there could (and would) be challenges and changes, and that my path wouldn’t always go in a straight line. I didn’t anticipate that I would be at a crossroads in my mid-30s, with big and scary decisions to make.
Our coastlines are being redefined, forests and grasslands destroyed, homes, schools and critical infrastructure damaged. Livelihoods are endangered, our way of life is challenged and our traditions threatened. This is climate change transforming the world as we know it.
A career is a life path. Career development helps us achieve our individual sense of self and it allows us to contribute to society’s collective sense of self. A society and a people are strengthened when its members feel fulfilled in their life’s journeys.
Canada has joined a bid among developed countries to become a leader in fighting climate change while protecting jobs. The government adopted the Solidarity and Just Transition Silesia Declaration in 2018, which emphasizes the importance of decent work in the shift toward climate-resilient economies. The Canadian House of Commons declared a national climate emergency on June 17, 2019.
Climate change will have important impacts on society, including the workplace. Environmental professions will be both negatively and positively affected in ways that are unique to this field, as well as by trends that will affect the workplace in general.