Minds on.

After meeting with the consultant, Jeff and his co-workers went looking for more information. One of them reported back that she had heard a news story about job stability in manufacturing. Job stability is the likelihood that you will still be in your job a few years after you start it.

This is from the news story:

The probability that manufacturing workers would remain in their jobs for four years was 48%.

Jeff didn’t know if that was good news or bad news.

This is the Think About It icon. Think About...

What do you think?

Is this a good sign or a bad sign for Jeff? Is this enough information by itself?

Write down your thoughts and ideas about these questions and save them for later.

Jeff’s sister works in the planning department of a large company. He knows that she works with data every day. He called her to tell her all that was happening and to ask her opinion about what he should do.

She told him that she had heard that the number of manufacturing jobs in Ontario was going down. She said that she didn’t know if a job stability rate of 48% was good or bad.

She told him that that number did not mean very much by itself and that she would look into the job stability rate of other types of jobs in order to compare.

This is the Think About It icon. Think About...

If 48% was higher than the job stability rate for other types of jobs, would that be a good sign or a bad sign for people in manufacturing jobs?

Write down your thoughts and ideas about these questions and save them for later.

Jeff’s sister went looking for more information. She found a lot of information, including the report that the newspaper article was based on the Statistics Canada website. In it, she found:

...the adjusted four-year retention rate in manufacturing was 48%... In contrast... the retention rate in non-manufacturing was 57%, which is significantly higher than the... manufacturing retention rate.

This is the did you know icon. Did You Know?

Retention rate is the percentage of employees who stay on the job. This retention rate means that 48 out of every 100 employees are still at the company after four years and 52 out of every 100 employees have left the company within four years. In other non-manufacturing companies, 57 out of every 100 employees was still at the job after four years.

She called her brother: "Jeff, I have quite a bit of information to share with you. We should talk. Are you free for lunch next Tuesday?" Jeff and his sister met for lunch the following Tuesday.

This is the discussion icon. Consider: Retention Rates

What do you think about the statistics that Jeff’s sister found about retention rates?

Is this good news for Jeff and his co-workers?

Action.

Lunch Talk

When Jeff met with his sister, they talked about a lot of things. She gave him a lot of information she had found.

"It isn’t good, Jeff," she said. "According to Service Canada, the annual growth rate for your type of job is -1.7%, while the rate for other types of jobs is 0.7%."

"OK, but what does that mean?"

"It means that there is no growth in the number of jobs available in your area of manufacturing. In fact, the number of jobs available is declining each year! That is not true for other kinds of jobs."

There was one page that she flagged as "most important."

"You really should read this, Jeff. It may help you decide what to do." She gave him an article about the forecast for jobs in his field.

A forecast is a prediction that is based on collecting and analysing data.

A larger version can be opened, or check out the full report .

Jeff read the report. He was not happy, but he was also not surprised. The company he had been working for had been reducing the number of employees at the company for some time. He knew people who had been laid off last year who had never been able to get a similar job at any other company.

"It doesn’t look good, does it?", Jeff said to his sister.

"No. It doesn’t."

"Why don’t you take this as a sign that it is time to go out on your own and set up that small business you have been talking about for the last 10 years? You've always wanted to try being your own boss. You have some money saved up, right?"

Jeff looked at his sister and smiled. She knew him really well. She had always given him good advice. It was true - Jeff had been thinking for a long time about leaving the company and starting his own business - not building appliances, but repairing them. He had always wanted to work for himself. Being laid off gave him the perfect opportunity to follow his dream. He had decided that his next steps would be to find out more about starting his own business.

This is the discussion icon. Consider: Using Statistics

Jeff got a lot of statistics from his sister, first on the phone and then during lunch.

Consider how Jeff would use the statistics to support his decision to look into starting his own business.

This is the discussion icon. Report and Discussion: Researching Job Prospects

In this assignment, you will be researching job prospects the way Jeff, his friends, his sister, and the consultant did.

Your goal is to get enough relevant information so that you could decide if this is a good occupation to try to get into: Has the number of jobs in this field been going up, or down? Is something happening now that could affect future job prospects? How does it compare to other occupations?

You may select one of the following suggested jobs, or, you may select a different job.

  • Carpenters
  • Customer service, information and related clerks
  • Hairstylists and barbers
  • Shippers and receivers

Specific requirements: You will research the job market to gather statistics about the job. Your research should include:

  • What is the employment prospect rating for this job?
  • How has employment in this occupation grown compared to other jobs?
  • How do job openings in this occupation compare to other occupations?
  • Where in Ontario are these occupations found?
  • Anything else you find out that you think would be interesting to someone who is looking for a job in this field.

Remember to record where you get your statistics from! Keep a list of "Sources" and record the sites you access.

Resources

Here are three websites that will assist your search for information:

  1. Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Ontario’s Labour Market
  2. Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, Job Profiles Search

Use the following checklist to guide your search for information and to ensure that you are collecting the right kind of information to inform your decision. Ensure that you have information (facts and/or figures) on the following search criteria:

  • How job openings for this occupation compare to other occupations;
  • Employment growth rate for this occupation;
  • How wages in this occupation compare to wages in other occupations;
  • Where in Ontario this occupation is found;
  • Where in Canada this occupation is found;
  • Licensing or special training for this occupation;
  • Typical hours of work;
  • Benefits, other than wages, of this occupation.

You can also use the rubric to guide your search for information.

When you are satisfied that you have collected enough information, write a one page report that shows the statistics but that also demonstrates that you are able to interpret the statistics to extract information. What information could help someone decide on their next steps if they are looking at changing jobs?

Your report should end with a recommendation: Are the prospects for this job good or not very good?

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