A looming time crunch threatens to impact work-life balance for millions of Canadians in the years ahead and how we address it will be a key factor in determining the general quality of work in this country, economist Armine Yalnizyan told the audience at Elevating the Quality of Work for Everyone, a recent webinar from the Future Skills Centre and the Conference Board of Canada.

“We actually do know what is required to change the attractiveness of a job, and some control over your working hours is part of that ticket,” Yalnizyan said at the Feb. 28 event. “It isn’t just wages. It’s time.”

Canadians aged 65 and older represent the fastest-growing segment of our population, so much so that one-quarter of the country will be 65 or older within the next 10 years. A similar situation exists in other countries that also experienced post-war baby booms.

Behind that huge group aging into retirement, Yalnizyan noted, is the smallest working-age cohort Canada has seen in 50 years.

“We’ve never seen anything like this where that working-age population is being asked to do both paid and unpaid work to support this aging population, and not being given the time to take care of themselves and the next generation,” Yalnizyan said.

“The time quotient is going to be a huge lever that individual businesses, but also public policy, can deal with. We could be creating time banks where people could clock up time so they could take time away to learn new skills, do mental health recuperation, or take care of loved ones who are sick or dying. We haven’t had a major overhaul in working time policy in this country since 1948. Something’s got to give in this moment.”

 

Fellow panelist Anton Solomon, Director of Labour Market Development for Yukon Economic Development, said tight labour market conditions are forcing employers to evaluate job seekers differently, necessitating a willingness to train eager workers who might not have any or all of the desired skills or education.

“We have to get employers to start thinking about ‘What can you work with as a developer of employees?,’” Solomon said. “You have to start thinking about that now because you don’t have people who come with the credentials anymore. Either they have the credentials and don’t want to work for you, or they don’t have the credentials and there’s nobody else.”

With demand for workers expected to continue to exceed supply for some time, Solomon borrowed from computer terminology to propose the idea of employers establishing ‘minimum system requirements’ for a posted vacancy, rather than traditional credentials.

“We have to get out of the ‘You must be this tall to ride this ride’ thinking’” Solomon said. “What can I do for you and what can we do together has to be the conversation. Right now the employee says ‘I want to do this.’ The employers who survive will be the ones who say ‘OK, I can help you do that.’”

Click here to watch a recording of the webinar.