“Black January”, that was the term used to describe last months employment numbers released by Statistics Canada. I found it amusing and yet somewhat upsetting to hear a term, originally coined to describe the events in January of 1990. Events in which, 137 Azeri peaceful protestors, lost there lives when Soviet troops had opened fire on the group protesting the communist regime in Azerbaijan. I failed to see the correlation between a few people losing their jobs and people losing their lives. Unfortunately, that seems to be the modern trend in media; to use a catch phrase headline of traumatic levels to grab the attention of the average reader. I prefer to replace the word “Black” with a more pleasant word. The word “Bright” can easily replace “Black.”
I began to look at the “Bright January” numbers released by Statistics Canada a little closer. Yes there was an unemployment rate of 7.2% across Canada. Then I noticed that in western Canada the increase was not nearly as significant. In fact Alberta, Sask., and Manitoba saw minimal changes. While the City of Vancouver also saw only a minimal 0.3% increase. Yes I know that the rest of the country is suffering job losses, but over the years I’ve learnt not to feed into national averages. What does a jobless rate 3000 km away really have to do with the economy around me? Although this may seem heartless, we as individuals should be concerned about our own communities first. Have a look around you are things really that dire. We got so comfortable with everything being extremely fast paced. Now that the economy has settled down to more comfortable levels we should relish this pace.
We also have to look at these numbers over a span of 30 years (that’s how long Stats. Canada has been recording this type of data). In fact prior to 2000 unemployment rates never dipped below 7%. Now here we are at 7.2% still a respectable number relative to the years prior to 2000 across Canada. We are also nowhere near the 12.0% of 1983 or the 11.4% of 1993. In fact we were coming off of some of the best numbers ever in 2007. Of course there is going to be some sharp increases from the market corrections were experiencing.
My heart does go out to any person who did lose the job in the past while. The shock and drama associated with losing a job can be overwhelming. This reminds me of a personal anecdote. Years ago I was working in a hog butchering plant. The job was not very fulfilling, but the pay was better than I had ever seen. When I was laid off from that plant I was devastated. What I was going to do for money? Not long after that I found a far superior job, with better working conditions and higher pay. Now looking back at that experience it was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. As the expression goes “when one door closes another one opens up.” I can’t begin to imagine what would have happened to me if I had stayed in that line of work. Perhaps I would have stayed there many years, possibly becoming a permanent fixture there. In fact over the years I was laid off from a few different jobs in the manufacturing and construction fields. Eventually, I wised up and went back to school, starting with a few computer courses. After a little while I was able to leave the construction industry permanently. Thinking back, I defiantly wouldn’t be at this great point in life today, had I not gone through all those lay offs.
I was also reading an article out of The Calgary Herald were the head of the
U. of C. computer science program stated “As soon as the economic environment turns south, companies are looking for ways to optimize their business processes and IT is needed for that. They want to become more efficient. There is great opportunities for all kinds of people.”
I’ve spoken to many individuals in numerous fields who agree that companies are in need of individuals to fill cost cutting roles, in these slower times. There are great opportunities for business/finance graduates, lawyers, I.T. people, engineers, and people with general experience and know-how to get jobs done efficiently.
If you have a cost saving idea propose it to your employer. You could be doing your career a world of good.
Just like our Azeri friends who eventually turned a tragic “Black January” into a catalyst for independence in October of the same year. We shall find a way to turn some minor market corrections that I have coined “Bright January” into a catalyst for a better future.
