Copyright Info/ Welcome Foreword Purpose 1. Introduction

Career is a
lifestyle concept that involves a sequence of
work or leisure activities
throughout a
lifetime.

The labour market is an arena where those who are in need of labour and those who can supply the labour come together. In a constant state of flux, the market responds to the ever-changing cries of employers for skilled workers and the flaunted demands of workers for positions to show their skills in exchange for some form of compensation. The products and services these sellers and buyers offer each other change as quickly as external influences make themselves known to the tenders of the market.

Making Career Sense of Labour Market Information is about change, change that is evident in a vital labour market, in a kaleidoscope of workers, in ever-growing data banks, in emerging occupations, in diversifying education and training programs and in restructuring business organizations. These changes are having wide-ranging effects on the labour force. For example:

• There is a new way of doing business, running governments and organizing work that will diminish secure, long-term employment for many workers.
• Canada's high-paying, resource-based jobs are being replaced by service sector jobs that pay highly skilled workers well and lower-skilled workers poorly.
• In nearly all cases, new ways of doing business and innovations in technology demand more education and training of workers.
• The rate of technological change is so rapid that it is difficult for anyone to predict with certainty, what work will remain and what new work will emerge.

While some of the above trends are cyclical, that is, related to recessions and/or weak economic growth, most economists believe deeper structural forces such as innovations in technology and the globalization of trade are also causing permanent shifts in the labour market. Without a doubt the changes described in this book and the inevitable feeling of uncertainty they produce can be overwhelming. Canadians are at a turning point in which the assumptions about living and working that they may have come to rely on are being challenged.

Counsellors, teachers and others providing career services are not exempt from the realities of the new economy. Take the need for higher skill levels as one example. Practitioners are now expected to use and understand labour market information (LMI) in the career planning process.Consider also that, as a resource for LMI, career practitioners have now joined the ranks of the messenger, often delivering information that challenges the world of work people have grown comfortable with. This may result in practitioners experiencing some misdirected anger and resentment from their clients.

The 1990s scarcely resemble the industrialized world of the 1950s and 1960s, yet as William Bridges points out, many of our thought patterns, values and attitudes were conceived during that period (1994, p. 51). Practitioners will come up against the brick wall of these values and attitudes in their work. Nevertheless, they need to acknowledge the stability that the old economy brought into people's lives and to appreciate the level of adjustment in expectations and behaviour that is now required. And of course, before practitioners can deal with the healthy reactions of denial, fear and anger from clients and students, they must first deal with their own reactions to change and uncertainty.  

Multi-skilling or the need for expanded skill sets, is one of the trends influencing practitioners to provide a more holistic, life-planning approach in career development. For instance: 

• With workers now changing job areas many times during their working lives, practitioners need to be more knowledgeable about career paths, including inter- and intra-occupational mobility. This is covered in Chapter 3. 
• Practitioners need to help clients build buffers and nets to keep multiple job changes from being destructive. Because unemployment and underemployment are becoming a way of life for more and more people, those providing career services need to advise clients and students in such areas as 
  • self-reliance (for example, pointing out the importance of financial planning); and 
  • expectations (for example, providing alternate views and information on how to pursue a fulfilling and meaningful life, despite the decline in traditional jobs and job security). 

The goal of this approach to career development is not just a job, but a successful and purposeful way of life.

Practitioners may feel bogged down by the thought of having to know it all. Suggestions in this book are aimed at demonstrating how to develop a resource system and discover particular sources of labour market information that will simplify answering clients' and students' questions. 

For example, Chapter 2 is a fairly detailed look at the major factors influencing the Canadian labour market. While the major themes are summarized in Chapter 7 and reiterated throughout the book, it is suggested that practitioners spend some time with Chapter 2. Its purpose is to sensitize those providing career services to the kinds of issues that have an impact on occupational growth and decline. The trends covered are the ones that practitioners, clients and students should follow in their daily reading of the business section of the newspaper.

The authors of this book hope to provide the necessary knowledge and skills to equip clients and students to operate successfully in this rapidly changing world. It is very difficult to predict with absolute certainty what jobs will remain and what new jobs will emerge. For this reason, perhaps one of the most useful things practitioners can do to help prepare clients and students for the future is to advise them on the skills and attitudes needed to operate successfully, no matter what jobs remain and what new work emerges. Chapter 4 is devoted to this subject. 

Each chapter in this book, if not each subheading, could be a book in itself, so it is emphasized that this serves only as an introduction. The hope is that those providing career services who have not had an orientation to labour market information will begin to incorporate an expanded approach to their career counselling and pass on this crucial skill to clients and students.