Labour News Roundup
For those of you who may have missed the top stories here's the news we think you should know:
1. The Windsor Star: St. Clair offers R&D to local firms – Funding called 'best kept secret'
By Rebecca Wright, Posted: Jan. 11, 2012
"Local businesses could receive up to $30,000 toward research and development through a provincially funded program available at St. Clair College.
Scott O'Neil, director of the new research and development department at the college, said local industry can use the school as a resource for solving short-term R&D challenges."
2. StudyMagazine.com: University applications continue to rise
By Ryan Leclaire, Posted: Jan. 19, 2012
“This year, the January 11th deadline saw 90,373 first-year applicants, a 2.2 per cent increase from last year. The number of applications they made rose by 2.4 per cent to 392,742, according to statistics collected from the Ontario Universities’ Application Centre.
'They expect their degrees to prepare them for successful careers, and statistics show that students who complete their undergraduate programs at Ontario universities do, indeed, experience high employment and earning rates.'
The numbers also indicate a 3.2% increase in university applications from non-secondary school applicants."
3. Maclean's Magazine: The End of a Job – A world of freelancers and contract workers may be good for business, but bad for the economy
By Chris Sorensen, Posted: Jan. 20, 2012
"Today, as many as one in eight Canadians hold temporary jobs and, unlike in past downturns where laid-off workers were eventually rehired by firms, there’s no signs the trend is about to slow down.
For workers, the changing employment landscape requires major, life-altering adjustments. Those who are entrepreneurial with a stomach for risk will find opportunities. But many others risk being dragged under by a new corporate reality where they can be hired and fired at a moment’s notice."
4. Financial Post: Unemployed outnumber jobs more than 3 to 1: StatsCan
By Kim Covert, Posted: Jan. 24, 2012
"There were an average of 3.3 unemployed people for every available position in Canada in the three months ending in September, according to a new Statistics Canada job vacancies report."
5. Daily Commercial News and Construction Record: Outlook strong for Windsor, Ontario construction industry
By Patricia Williams, Posted: Jan. 24, 2012
"In the institutional, commercial and industrial sphere, the list of ongoing and upcoming projects is heavily skewered towards institutional, Lyons said.
Carry-over work includes construction of engineering and medical buildings at the University of Windsor, the South West Detention Centre and the Chrysler Distribution Centre.
Probably the largest project that will get underway this year is the $77 million aquatic complex, to be undertaken by the team of EllisDon and DeAngelis Construction. Windsor city council approved construction of the centre late last year.
The project is expected to act as a catalyst for downtown revitalization."
6. The Windsor Star: Windsor MD gets help to recruit doctors
By Chris Thompson, Posted: Jan. 24, 2012
"Ziter, who is also a professor with the University of Western Ontario Medical School, has been overseeing the local family residence program since its inception in 2003, when it had just one student. It now has 20.
'I'm asking for a little assistance to help recruit residents to our training program here,' said Ziter.
'I want to help get the city's idea for marketing and selling our city, telling residents that this is a very good place to live for two years, that we have a lot to offer in our city. I want to help entice them to come and train here for two years.' Ziter said he is taking the opportunity to ask for help as the city reviews its strategy for attracting medical professionals."
7. The Globe and Mail: More Canadians in low-paying jobs
By Tavia Grant, Posted: Jan. 25, 2012
"The bank's index incorporates three measures: full-time versus part-time work; the mix of paid and self-employment, and wages among full-time jobs.
The first component tells the brighter side of the story: full-time employment rose 1.5 per cent in 2011, accounting for all the jobs created in the year. The number of part-time positions fell 0.3 per cent.
The other two components weakened. Self-employment rose 2 per cent last year, double the pace of growth paid employment. The rise in self-employment is 'in many ways is now working to mask some of the softening in the Canadian labour market,' the report said, adding that, on average, a self-employed person earns 10-to-15 per cent less than a regular employee.
Meantime, the number of high-paying full-time jobs rose by just 0.4 per cent, a quarter of the pace of low-paying jobs such as those in accommodation services, restaurants and wood manufacturing. Some higher-paying sectors, like public administration and electronics manufacturing, saw a net job loss last year."
8. The Globe and Mail: Ravaged region gets B-school boost
Posted: Jan. 27, 2012
"After 21 years in temporary locations, the economic development agency for the Windsor, Ont. region recently decided to look for a permanent home. Ambitious to diversify a region once so dependent on the auto industry, the agency sifted through 33 possible proposals before selecting a site on the campus of the University of Windsor.
Last week, the Windsor Essex Economic Development Corporation moved into a wing of the university’s new Centre for Engineering Innovation as the only outside tenant in the 300,000 square foot facility that opens for classes this fall. As important, the agency and its small business centre now are kitty-corner from the university’s Odette School of Business."
9. The Windsor Star: High-tech where future lies: Expert
By Dave Hall, Posted: Jan. 27, 2012
"Communities, business incubators and post-secondary institutions all have a responsibility to support high-tech startups because that’s where future job growth will be generated, says an entrepreneur who sold his successful digital media business to Google five years ago.
Bob Huggins, who started PaperofRecord.com a decade ago, said that startups accounted for more than three million new jobs in the United States over a 13-year period, more than four times the number created by existing companies."
10. The Windsor Star: Safety gear firm goes bankrupt
By Dave Hall, Posted: Feb. 4, 2012
Tanya Antoniw, research and trends analyst with Workforce WindsorEssex, said that between 2008 and 2011 the number of manufacturing businesses in the Windsor area declined by nine per cent, taking hundreds of jobs with them.
'But between June 2010 and June 2011 there's been a three per cent increase in employment at small and medium sized manufacturing companies,' said Antoniw.
'There does seem to be a small increase, but you don't get all the jobs back overnight and, unfortunately, it may be too late for some companies which rely on those workers for their own businesses.'"
Have you checked out the Windsor-Essex Parkway YouTube Channel?
To see the latest videos of work taking place on the Windsor-Essex Parkway, check out the WEParkway YouTube Channel. New videos have been uploaded.
Do you have news we should know? Contact us and we'll review it for our Roundup.
Short URL: http://www.workforcewindsoressex.com/?p=4232
