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Libraries and Changing Workforce Trends

How do changing labour force trends affect library strategies?

For example:

5 ways Canada’s workforce will change in 20 years

“If current trends continue, Canada’s labour force is going to change drastically over the next 20 years, Statistics Canada said in a report Wednesday.

Here’s the outlook:
1. After expanding by about four per cent a year in the past, the labour force growth rate will slow to less than one per cent a year by 2031.
2. The workforce is going to get a lot older. In 2001, when the first batch of baby boomers turned 55, only one in 10 Canadian workers was at least that age. By 2031, Statistics Canada expects that ratio to jump to almost one in four.
3. In 1981, there were roughly six people in the labour force for each retiree. By 2031, 50 years later, that ratio will have declined to fewer than three to one.
4. Twenty years ago, fewer than one in five Canadian workers were born in a different country. By 2031, that ratio is expected to rise to one in three.
5. In 1996, one in 10 Canadian workers was a member of a so-called visible minority. By 2031, that’s expected to be more like one in three. And even if immigration stopped completely from this point on, the percentage of Canadian workers who are a member of a visible minority would still be more than one in five by 2031.”

Add to this the oft-quoted idea that people will hav more careers over a lifetimes than they did in the past, may have to assemble 2-4 jobs to mainain a decent income, may work from multiple sites and/or home, will need to learn new skills quickly (possibly through distance education and self-directed learning), and that they will need to be more tech-savvy, flexible and mobile.

Sounds like there are plenty of roles for library programs and collections.

Stephen

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Posted on: August 25, 2011, 7:02 am Category: Uncategorized

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