Looking for work? You're not alone.

[alohasand]

People need more than survival money to cover essentials and feel human. It's not fun when running out of cash before a paycheque or spending on classes or new clothes for work and seeing that meals are going to be very basic or short for the remaining days.

Employers keep wanting to push the cost of living on the living. But if the wages and benefits are not enough, society gets the rowdies, the thieves, the angry voices bringing attention to social issues. No car-take transit unless it does not run in your area to work or there is no transit whatsoever.

[CielOnTap]

People who are able to balance responsibilities with bringing in a good bottom line are valuable in companies. Must have some soft people skills or risk being seen as bad bosses or workers. Basically corporations exist to make a profit. If that does not happen, cost-cutting starts.

Many people feel stuck in jobs with no opportunities to move up, to train or initiate own projects. Do your own side gig (non-competitive) to explore your hobbies, interests or promising new market if you have the means and time to support them.

Self-employed artists/businesspeople/tradespeople see cyclical demands for their talents-how to best make the high earning months level more evenly in the leaner months? Budgeting and saving.

Access to the Internet for e-mail, research and social media all are vital for engaging with people and company representatives. Also important for accessing fundraising platforms, research grants and financing. The 21st century needs that flexibility.

[CielOnTap]

Precarious workers in Canada in the 21st century:
The need for cellphones for on-call shifts or jobs-
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/20/precarious-jobs-scar-employees-mental-health-survey.html

The 2017 Federal Budget will offer precarious workers including interns some help in the coming year by tackling wage theft:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/03/22/budget-provides-some-relief-for-precarious-workers.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some jobseekers in the Greater Toronto Area are being told of opportunities in smaller communities outside of the GTA. For newcomers
with skills and education, those opportunities offer chances to join the workforce in different settings.

That’s the mindset the Peel newcomer service agency is hoping to change with an innovative program, called the Rural Employment Initiative, which aims to connect newcomers with job openings in smaller Ontario communities.

Currently, the program serves any employer outsode the GTA, but ultimately it hopes to focus on communities with populations under 10,000.

“Youth from these communities are leaving for the big cities to study and when they finish school, they don’t go back,” said Oliver Pryce, the project’s co-ordinator.

“These communities have all these unmet labour market needs. We are hoping to fill these gaps with newcomers who are willing to relocate and work outside of Greater Toronto.”

The project is the brainchild of the Peel Newcomer Centre and the Ontario Association of Community Futures Development Corporation, a federally-funded group representing 61 rural communities. The employment initiative itself is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

https://www.thestar.com/news/immigration/2017/03/26/job-program-for-immigrants-aims-to-fill-labour-gaps-outside-gta.html

[CielOnTap]

Tourism operators in the Niagara Region of Ontario are thinking of hiring foreign workers to staff jobs that remain open. There is concern by businesses of not being able to fill the jobs.

http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2017/07/10/unemployment-rate-increases-in-niagara?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

One thing that must be considered is that many operators may not be anywhere near public transit routes or sufficient transit service hours to cover their businesses' extended hours. That means staff need personal transportation or residential proximity to locations in order to get to work. And given the seasonality of some businesses, for part of the year, there may not be enough hours to keep all staff on the payroll.

Not to mention the issue of pay and benefits-they may not be enough to attract workers who have to cover transportation costs and other costs like childcare or housing. So how would foreign workers be expected to overcome the hurdles that exist for citizens and residents?

[fishandchips]

Is a job ad online real or a ghost ad? Ghost recruiting is a real term used to refer listings posted on social media with indications for candidates to make contact BUT no one from the company makes any replies to candidates who do send messages as requested. How do job seekers overcome that impression that the company is not as interested in filling openings as indicated in the ads? Here's advice from a career coach:

Some believe the business world moves at unimaginable speeds, and that recruiters manage hundreds of relationships. Or, that human resource professionals are overwhelmed, and can’t get back to every job applicant. These statements could well be true. But, I believe that your career and future career success are squarely in your hands, and that means that you must be 100 per cent proactive. You need to make it happen, and you can’t afford to wait for people to get back to you at their convenience.

Text, email, call and assiduously follow up on all the jobs you truly want. Ask if more information is needed, including telephone references. Ask when interviews will take place and what number on the list you are. Go, Pamela, go!

http://www.torontosun.com/2017/08/17/the-key-to-career-success-is-in-your-own-hands

In other words, look for a second source confirming the ad and also do follow-up connections to convey your interest in the positions.

[CielOnTap]

Ontario Canada supposedly has reached the lowest unemployment rate since 2001. Apparently the economy is growing--if you overlook the fact that most job growth was in part-time jobs and there were losses in full-time jobs.

However, nationally, as in Ontario, most of the growth was in part-time work, with 110,400 additional part-time jobs but 88,100 fewer full-time ones.

In Ontario, full-time positions were down 26,000, and part-time up 57,000, but Duguid called that an anomaly.

https://www.thestar.com/business/economy/2017/09/08/canadas-jobless-rate-hits-nine-year-low.html

Yet, temporary work remains high in the province and there are issues that put temporary workers at risk. The Ontario government is planning on making changes to employment law but not all risks are being met with solutions.

One area left unaddressed by the proposed legislation is the fact that if a temp worker is injured on the job, their agency, not the workplace where they were actually injured, is liable to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. This, critics argue, is one of the biggest incentives for companies to use temporary help agencies in the first place.

https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/09/11/temp-work-growth-is-alarming-and-changes-are-coming-says-ontario-labour-minister.html

[CielOnTap]

Employers want employees with digital literacy skills. Here's a summation of a report on the topic:

http://www.educationdive.com/news/digital-literacy-a-key-factor-for-employers-report-finds/504321/

Note that the University of Pennsylvania is mentioned in the article. It's the university that the current US president had graduated from. I'd believe that any curriculum on using social media is going to contain some guidelines on how not to intentionally anger anyone or any corporate entity while still expressing one's own or employer's position online.

[CielOnTap]

Ontario has started its basic income trial this summer and is trying to reach eligible candidates in three cities.
https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2017/09/17/handing-out-money-for-free-harder-than-it-looks.html

How some individuals in hard circumstances are making money-finding scrap metal or recyclables that provide them with cash.
https://www.thespec.com/news-story/7557906-they-dig-through-hamilton-s-dumpsters-and-recycling-bins-searching-for-value-where-most-of-us-see-junk/

[CielOnTap]

A job fair in downtown Hamilton, Ontario is set this week to welcome job seekers on Thursday:
https://www.connecttocareersjobfair.com/

A column on the importance of seasonal agricultural workers from countries outside of Canada-without their labour, many stores would not get local produce.
https://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/8098237-clearing-the-air-over-seasonal-farm-workers/