This article I have chosen discusses the effects of a rise in temporary workers within the Canadian workforce. In the past 20 years, the number of non-permanent employees numbers have increased by 50% which is faster than the rate at which permanent workers are growing at 33%. This blog post will be speaking of the facts and opinions presented in the article and further discuss the issues in the present situation.
Temporary jobs are defined as contracted positions which have a predetermined end date for the employee, or casual and seasonal jobs, in which employees are not working full time. As such, the 2.1 million people working temporary jobs in the present has made an impact on the Canadian economy as a whole. These results come from one of the most significant social drivers of change in the work force, “the dramatic increase in women’s participation in the labour force (…) and proportion of women who engaged in the paid labour market” (Module 1.3). This social driver has allowed the economy to continuously expand through the years and as the article states, “Overall, women were more likely than men to have a casual, term or contract job in Canada at 85 per cent, compared to 73 per cent for men.” The job opportunities that were created since then has grown and contributed to the rise and improvement of the workforce.
However, as Krishen Rangasamy, a senior economist at National Bank, says, the temporary jobs are rising faster than total employment in Canada. Although this has caused the wage gap between temporary and permanent workers to decrease, there are still issues with this. One such problem is that for people without a permanent job, there may be an increase in job insecurity and growing incidents of contingent work (Module 1.2). Although they may be working similar jobs, continuously switching companies and organizations only slows down the efficiency of economic growth. As the article puts it, “because temp workers are still paid less on average and are a rising share of total employment in Canada, it means average hourly wages in the country are growing at a slower pace.”
As a result, although the rise in temporary workers have provided some benefits to the economy, in general, it would be ideal for the number of temporary workers in the economy to decrease, to allow for growth in permanent job workers as they are in the end being paid more than temporary jobs. These all depend on other social drivers as well though. As Josh Nye, a senior economist at RBC is quoted at the end of the article, “”If younger people are working temporary jobs that allow them to pursue further education, their lifetime incomes might be higher,” Nye said. “And, if older people are choosing to stay in the labour force for longer by working a temporary job rather than retiring, that would be positive for their incomes.”
Article: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/temporary-workers-employment-1.5135310
17akhy EMPR 200 Blog 
Hi Adrian, the rise in temporary workers and employment indeed is very concerning. Many large companies, such as grocery stores, use this tactic of employing many part time temporary workers to avoid the requirement of benefits and larger wages. On the one hand you could argue that it keeps the cost of food or other products down, and we could be tricked into believing this if it weren’t for the fact that we know that Canadian CEO’s are making increasingly higher wages each year. But as your blog post states, these temporary workers are paid less than permanent and this kind of employment slows down the economy.
Do you believe the senior economist from RBC who says that the rise of temporary employment is largely due to younger people pursuing higher education and seniors who wish to stay in the workforce after retirement? Once again, I think he is over confident, it could be that the students and seniors would actually like full time, permanent employment but are unable to find any so they’re doing what they can to survive.
Melissa Millin
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Hi Adrian,
I enjoyed reading your blog post about temporary workers! It is a troubling topic because while at its surface temporary employment seems unideal, most notably due to job security, there are indubitable benefits as well. As you mentioned near the end of your post, it allows young people to explore different career options or even further their education. I have a friend who began working at a company after graduating Queen’s with a degree in commerce who signed a temporary employment contract. Though she did not receive a permanent contract, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as she ended up disliking it, and elected to pursue a position at a different company instead.
That being said, there are plenty of young people who are seeking long-term/permanent contract who are unable to attain such, largely in part to the baby boomer population. Job security can be one of the most stressful aspects of one’s life, especially at a young age. Indeed, is it concerning to see the rise in temporary employment. I believe the amount of those seeking temporary employment is exaggerated in CBC article.
Best,
James
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