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Chiarelli's challenge: jobs for 145,000: Regional chair wants to get `Ottawa's Hidden Workforce' working; [Final Edition]

Bert Hill. The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ont.: Oct 3, 1998. pg. D.3

Author(s):

Bert Hill

Document types:

Business

Section:

Business

Publication title:

The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ont.: Oct 3, 1998.  pg. D.3

Source type:

Newspaper

ISSN/ISBN:

08393222

ProQuest document ID:

199884141

Text Word Count

638

Document URL:

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=199884141&sid=9&Fmt=3&clientId=58622&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Abstract (Document Summary)

Regional chair Bob Chiarelli challenged business and community groups yesterday to create jobs for more than 145,000 people in Ottawa-Carleton who are unemployed, have given up searching for work or are stuck in part-time jobs.

The group, which is heavily composed of young people, recent immigrants and social-assistance recipients, was called "Ottawa's Hidden Workforce" in a study by the Ottawa Economic Development Corporation.

The study said "two-thirds of Ottawa's unemployed don't show up on the radar screen" when government counts the unemployed, and they get none of the training programs provided by governments.

Full Text (638   words)

Copyright Southam Publications Inc. Oct 3, 1998

Regional chair Bob Chiarelli challenged business and community groups yesterday to create jobs for more than 145,000 people in Ottawa-Carleton who are unemployed, have given up searching for work or are stuck in part-time jobs.

The group, which is heavily composed of young people, recent immigrants and social-assistance recipients, was called "Ottawa's Hidden Workforce" in a study by the Ottawa Economic Development Corporation.

They represent about 28 per cent of the region's working-age population of 523,000 -- far above the official unemployment rate of 8.8 per cent in 1997.

The study said "two-thirds of Ottawa's unemployed don't show up on the radar screen" when government counts the unemployed, and they get none of the training programs provided by governments.

The group represents a potential hidden asset for high-tech employers searching for qualified workers in expensive national and international recruiting campaigns.

OED president Brian Barge said 52 per cent of the unemployed have a university or college degree or some post-secondary education.

"We are going to set some target numbers and we are going to challenge business and community groups to meet them ... by moving people into training and into jobs," Mr. Chiarelli said.

A task force will develop literacy and computer training, job- skills development, coaching, mentoring and co-op placements in co- operation with a new Ottawa Training Board. The region will also seek more daycare support and relief from provincial rules that prevent social assistance recipients from working and collecting benefits.

Business leaders predicted high-tech companies will take up the challenge despite major job losses during the summer and the expected loss of 1,000 jobs at Digital Equipment, Northern Telecom and others.

Bill Collins, president of the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation, said high-tech companies will support the program because employers such as Nortel are already by promoting education programs for all age groups.

"Nobody wants a divided community where a few rich people have to live in gated and barred neighbourhoods."

Les Miller of the Ottawa Tourism and Convention Authority said the hospitality industry has endorsed training programs aimed at welfare recipients.

The OED report attempts to identify the people left behind after a decade of deep public- and private-sector job cuts. In October 1988, more than 71 per cent of the Ottawa-Hull working age population had paying jobs. Today, only 62 per cent have jobs, despite recent strong growth.

The study found that only about 40,000 of the hidden workforce are counted by the government as formally unemployed people. To qualify as unemployed in the monthly unemployment-rate tallies, people have to show they are actively seeking jobs. The study said only 35 per cent get employment insurance benefits because eligibility rules have been changed.

The biggest group in the hidden workforce is an estimated 80,500 people who are too discouraged to search for work, or employable people receiving social assistance.

The proportion of unemployed people not actively seeking work has grown twice as fast as the working-age population since 1990 -- and faster in Ottawa than in the rest of the province. The number would have been considerably larger but the study excluded two key groups - - students and retired people -- whose numbers are growing rapidly because of weak job markets.

The final major group in the hidden workforce is more than 25,000 people in part-time, low-paying jobs who would rather have full- time work, the study said. They include 2,700 highly-skilled immigrants who cannot get Canadian employers or governments to recognize their professional credentials. In addition, about 35 per cent of recent post-secondary graduates are unemployed or working part-time.

People under 25 are disproportionately represented in the hidden workforce, including 21 per cent of the unemployed, 28 per cent of people on social assistance, 37 per cent of the discouraged unemployed and 42 per cent of part-time workers, the study said.

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