kEiThZ
Superstar
To be fair, the feds really could do more to incentivize common standards and practices. They really should deploy the power of the purse on a lot of this stuff.
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- Thread starter King of Kensington
- Start date
To be fair, the feds really could do more to incentivize common standards and practices. They really should deploy the power of the purse on a lot of this stuff.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
kEiThZ
Superstar
Campaigning on culture wars cause their economic policy is reaching its limits?
Let's be honest. Anything like what we see in the US would not be possible in Canada.
Let's be honest. Anything like what we see in the US would not be possible in Canada.
afransen
Senior Member
Sure. It's about tying the Conservatives in knots, much like going after 'wokism' is about tying up liberals in knots.
PP is not any better.
W. K. Lis
Superstar
kEiThZ
Superstar
Unsheltered homelessness up 100% in 5 years.
yrt+viva=1system
Senior Member
Is Canada taking the wrong approach to the labour shortage?
The original article is paywalled but here's the alternative:
https://archive.ph/qnaCO#selection-1155.0-1155.59
Northern Light
Superstar
The answer to the question in the headline is a definitive yes; however, their proposed solution (more TFWs) is absolutely wrong.
What we need is to exacerbate the labour shortage in low-wage professions to encourage investment in productivity and faster than inflation wage growth.
We do not need more labourers, we need wages and working conditions that induce higher labour force participation rates, and which result in greater automation and investment in plant, equipment and employee training.
More low-paid workers simply serves to have an exploited under-class and drive up housing costs, while moderating wage growth and diminishing productivity.
afransen
Senior Member
I think that's right. I can see TFWs being an answer for seasonal industries like agriculture. When you are bringing in TFWs to work at Tim Hortons or warehouses, we probably should be using different strategies. Minimum wage should be rising dramatically. This will bring some people back into the labour market who are not looking for work, and incent automation investment. A lot of my work is in deploying labour-saving investments (above min wage work) and we have a long pipeline of investments to make (over a decade) to step change the business to where it wants to be. The constraint is the capital budget. Raising interest rates and leaving wages low is actually slowing that investment.
Northern Light
Superstar
Minimum wage should be rising dramatically, but I want to add here, that a labour shortage should naturally see the private sector growing wages faster than the law mandates. We've seen this in large part of the U.S. where employers in the discount department store industry in particular have moved to national minimum wages of $14USD and average wages of $17.50USD per hour (which yes, still sucks) but is far in excess of the U.S. Federal minimum wage of $7.25USD and that of many U.S. states.
They are raising wages to attract and retain labour as they should.
That said, I will throw out a few U.S. peer (to Toronto) minimum wages:
San Francisco (as at July 1st 2023) $18.07USD/ $24.67CAD per hour
Seattle $18.69USD / $25.52 CAD per hour
New York City * $15USD / $20.48CAD per hour
* an increase to $17USD by 2026 has been negotiated as part of New York State's budget bill ($23.21 CAD)
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The other thing I would add is how we're slipping on paid vacation norms vs the world. Its not just Europe or even Australia where the bare minimum is 4 weeks by law and often more.
Mexico just increased its statutory minimum vacations to a number higher than any province except Sask. (where 3 weeks is the minimum.
from: https://www.gtlaw.com/en/insights/2...aprueba-el-incremento-de-los-dias-de-descanso
Quality of life matters. But lets add, two neat tricks of increasing paid vacation. In almost all cases (up to a reasonable number) such increases have been shown to actually increase productivity more than enough
to offset any additional labour costs. Well rested employees simply have higher per hour output! Second, assuming most employees didn't see a reduction in workload with additional vacation, you would automatically show a per hour productivity gain.
One additional week of paid vacation, all other things being equal is a 2% increase the cost of labour (though in reality, for a salaried employee there is not automatic increase in cost)
A 2% boost in productivity is not hard to achieve, in most jobs.
yrt+viva=1system
Senior Member
We are third last amongst OCED nations for paid vacations. And honestly it’s just going to stay that way as employers just take the public as weak and steam roll them over. We would never have a general strike and protest to the likes of France to change the outcomes. Canadians also do not take all their entitled vacation days as there’s a subliminal idea that we have to follow how American’s operate, quite frankly people are scared of missing out and further continue the cycle.
Regarding the labour shortage. There’s a labour shortage in low-pay industries because people are refusing to work for such low pay. I don’t think the Federal Government or politicians care about the situtation and just kow-tow to businesses demands as usual.
I would like to add regarding the shortage of skilled labour. Not sure if there’s been any research on the situation but there are rumblings that people who want to get into skilled trades are having a difficult time in doing so due to employers wanting licensed workers and people trying to get apprenticeships are facing barriers due to the requirement of being licensed and employed. Thus a catch-22 scenario.
Regarding the labour shortage. There’s a labour shortage in low-pay industries because people are refusing to work for such low pay. I don’t think the Federal Government or politicians care about the situtation and just kow-tow to businesses demands as usual.
I would like to add regarding the shortage of skilled labour. Not sure if there’s been any research on the situation but there are rumblings that people who want to get into skilled trades are having a difficult time in doing so due to employers wanting licensed workers and people trying to get apprenticeships are facing barriers due to the requirement of being licensed and employed. Thus a catch-22 scenario.
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Northern Light
Superstar
I broadly agree with you; BUT....
I think you have too much of a can't-do take.
As someone who has lobbied on a number of fronts, I've watched a lot of 'this will never happen', happen.
Saskatchewan does have 3 weeks of paid vacation, by law from year one, and Quebec moved to make it 3 weeks after 3 years of service, as opposed to Ontario's 5 during the current, right-leaning CAQ gov't.
BC just adopted 5 paid sick days by law.
You will never make change by saying it can't happen. And I would note, none of the above required a general strike. It required a sense of political opportunity, mixed with genuine desire to do things better. Political opportunity means emailing/phoning your local pol (MPP/MP) and saying "I will vote for the person who promises and delivers 'this'" and by asking others (friends, family, co-workers) to do likewise)
kEiThZ
Superstar
We're also substantially over-retailed in North America. Nobody ever talks about that. We have the second highest amount of retail square footage per capita in the world. And it's not even close. Australians are number three and they have a third less space. Must of Europe is a quarter of what we have. This is an insane statistic in a place where all that retail has to be heated for 6 months of the year.
Retail space per person globally 2018 | Statista
In 2018, the United States had the highest square footage of retail space per capita worldwide at 23.5 square feet per person.
www.statista.com
DirectionNorth
Active Member
Uh, yes, we probably are.
I blame the Americans.
Seriously, I think the cause is American-style culture leeching north of the border. People pride themselves on working 6 days a week for years on end (see: SSP) but that's not healthy and doesn't result in higher productivity.
That said, it will take serious lobbying to get this through. Seeing as Ford rescinded the sick paid leave as soon as he could, we might need another government for it to happen.
I am hearing that the trades unions don't want more people either. Not sure about the veracity of those claims.
I wonder if the proliferation of big box stores in the suburbs hasn't caused this. 90% of people on 90% of shopping trips don't need 100,000+ square feet of Loblaws/Walmart/Costco for their usual shopping needs, but we build these wasteful spaces anyways.We're also substantially over-retailed in North America. Nobody ever talks about that. We have the second highest amount of retail square footage per capita in the world. And it's not even close. Australians are number three and they have a third less space. Must of Europe is a quarter of what we have. This is an insane statistic in a place where all that retail has to be heated for 6 months of the year.
Retail space per person globally 2018 | Statista
In 2018, the United States had the highest square footage of retail space per capita worldwide at 23.5 square feet per person.
kEiThZ
Superstar
It's way worse than that. They are actively making it worse by bringing in so many people that wages are suppressed while housing costs go up.
And worse we dupe all these educated migrants into coming here and then insist that they waste their talent working these jobs instead of just bringing in people who actually just to want to work those jobs. I've always thought it borderline snobbery and imperialist to import brown people with university education to work as cleaners and fast food workers just so we can get better second generation Canadians.