Part-time work on the rise,
As labour force moves away from full-time, composition is shifting to women, seniors, immigrants
OTTAWA— More women and seniors are working than ever before as Canada’s labour market sees a rise in part-time employment over full-time jobs, Statistics Canada says.
And immigrants are making up more and more of the workers, accounting for nearly one-quarter of Canada’s labour force in 2016, helping offset the impact of an aging population.
That trend is most obvious in Toronto, where half the workforce in 2016 was immigrants, the highest proportion in Canada.
“In response to a series of social and economic changes, the labour force itself is changing,” said Vincent Dale, assistant director of the labour statistics division at Statistics Canada.
The latest census data released Wednesday reveals that between 2005 and 2015, there’s been a shift from fulltime, year-round employment to parttime or part-year work.
Statistics Canada cites several factors for the change, including the 2008 recession, automation as well as personal preference for more flexible work schedules.
“More people are working part-year rather than part-time,” Dale said of the change.
In 2015, 56.2 per cent of working age men — 25 to 54 — worked full-time yearround, down from 63.3 per cent a decade earlier and the lowest rate since 1980 when such data was collected for the first time.
The proportion of working-age women who worked full-time also dropped but to a lesser extent.
“There’s a series of changes going on in the economy that might explain that shift to part-year, part-time work,” Dale said in an interview.
“Then there are social factors, increased participation of women in the labour market, redefinition of the role of men versus women in the labour market and the home,” he said.
In May 2016 — the date of the census — 17.2 million people were employed in Canada. The employment rate — the number of workers as a proportion of the population aged 15 and older — was
“In response to a series of social and economic changes, the labour force itself is changing.” VINCENT DALE LABOUR STATISTICS DIVISION STATISTICS CANADA
60.2 per cent, down from 62.6 per cent a decade earlier.
With the wave of older workers able to leave the workforce now larger than those poised to enter it, “the question is what impact is that having,” Dale said.
The evolution of the labour market means more job opportunities for immigrants and seniors who want to stay employed.
One in five Canadians aged 65 or older — nearly 1.1 million seniors — reported working in 2015, the highest proportion recorded since the 1981 census. The percentage of seniors who reported working nearly doubled between 1995 and 2015, with most coming in part-year or parttime work. But 30 per cent worked fulltime — most of them men — typically in agriculture, retail sales and office work.
At age 65, more than half of men and nearly 40 per cent of women worked in 2015. By age 70, nearly 30 per cent of men and 17.1 per cent of women reported working in 2015, doubling in the last decade.
Dale said it is difficult to know whether seniors are working by choice or by necessity.
Seniors with a bachelor’s degree or higher are more likely to work, a sign that the workforce is retaining its “intellectual capital,” Dale said.
“The knowledge and experience that those workers have gained over the years is staying in the labour market,” he said.
Those without private retirement income are also more likely to work. The census found that employment income was the main source of income for 43.8 per cent of seniors who worked in 2015.
Statistics Canada cites several factors for the trend — improved life expectancy, a decline in pension coverage and the recent recession, which eroded retirement savings for some seniors.
It comes too as seniors make up a greater share of the population — between 2006 and 2016, the number of Canadians aged 65 and older rose by 36.6 per cent.
At the other end of the age spectrum, youth aged 15 to 24 were less likely to work in 2016 compared to 2006. But Dale said more youth are choosing to stay in school.
“The decrease in youth employment rates is consistent with higher educational enrolment . . . as individuals and as a group they are preparing themselves for the future,” he said.
Employment growth was strongest in service industries over the last decade, notably in health care, social services and retail, continuing a trend that Statistics Canada noticed more than 50 years ago.
Retail salesperson was the most common occupation in 2016, with 626,775 Canadians working in the job. This was also the most common job for women. For men, the most common occupation was transport truck driver. There are more women in the workforce — 48 per cent of workers were women in 2016, compared with 45 per cent in1991. Women are found in increasing numbers in a variety of occupations including funeral directors (42 per cent, up from 14 per cent), architects (32 per cent, up from 18 per cent) and judges (37 per cent, up from 15 per cent). Women outnumbered men four to one among health occupations while men outnumbered women three to one in high-tech jobs.
The latest data also reveal gender imbalances with men dominating managerial positions, making up 62 per cent of these occupations. Yet in finance, advertising, marketing and public relations, health and education, women outnumbered men in managerial jobs.
The median age of workers in 2016 was 42.6. Occupations with low median age were mathematicians, statisticians, actuaries, plumbers, web designers and developers. At the higher end were judges, transit operators and education administrators.
“The decrease in youth employment rates is consistent with higher educational enrolment . . . as a group they are preparing themselves for the future.” VINCENT DALE LABOUR STATISTICS DIVISION STATISTICS CANADA