Have You Realized Just How Much the Labour Market Has Changed?

20 years ago, Smith was the most common surname in Metro Vancouver. These days it's fourth on the list, behind Lee, Wong and Chan. Prevalent changes in the composition of our communities suggest significant shifts in taste cultures and consumer preferences that businesses need to be aware of.

Evidently, these changes have also reshaped BC's labour market. In web terminology, it's Labour Market 2.0, with an upgraded talent pool that includes a group of highly skilled internationally trained immigrants. Just as SMEs are prompted to adapt in order to successfully integrate game-changing advancements in technology, employers have to develop a sense of urgency that is inherently driven by a need to adjust to shifts in our labour market, but many have not realized just how much things have changed.

A recent Metropolis BC study, discovered that resumes with English sounding names are 35% more likely to receive call-backs than resumes with Indian or Chinese names. This is a disparaging statistic, given that the unemployment rate for recently landed immigrants who hold bachelor's degrees is more than double the rate for BC-born degree holders (3.8% and 9.3% respectively).

Immigrant Employment Council of BC's Executive Director Kelly Pollack is challenging employer complacency, posing questions to organizations that have yet to react to the changes in BC's labour market. "Ultimately, it isn't about whether to hire immigrants or native-born Canadians, if that's what your customer base is and if that's who's living in your communities," says Pollack. "Our communities have changed and this is now the pool you'll have to hire from, these are the people you'll be working with, these are the people who'll be your customers. It's no longer about us and them – it's just us."

46% of Vancouver's population speaks English as a Second Language. In Burnaby, it's even higher, with nearly 56% of residents speaking a mother tongue other than English. "It's not even what's coming, it's have you realized just how much things have changed. Does your organization reflect that? Should it? Maybe it's time to pose some questions back, " says Pollack. In 2010, BC welcomed 44,176 immigrants. In that same year, Canada recorded the highest level of immigrants entering the country in 50 years.

"Our role is to help support, connect, assist employers to grow their bottom line and grow our communities and ultimately grow our economy," says Pollack. We're not encouraging them to do it because it's a nice thing to do or out of charity, we're saying there's information that you need to be aware of that will assist you with business. We're here to help them understand that. "

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