:: rawblogXport ::

:: Friday, May 02, 2008 ::

Young people entering workforce still earning less than parents did: census - THE CANADIAN PRESS
The trend towards reduced wages for young males is one that emerged in the early 1980s in many economically developed countries, Morissette said, noting economists speculated new technologies were pushing out young workers.

Others believed the recession during that time may have prompted employers to try to cut labour costs by reducing the wages of fresh hires in order to avoid seriously harming morale and productivity among senior workers.

"In 2008, it's fair to say we still don't have a good understanding of why wages of young men fell back then," he said, adding there are some more plausible explanations.

The decline of the manufacturing sector in Ontario and Quebec - exacerbated in recent years by the loss of many automotive jobs and outsourcing to countries with cheap labour costs - has resulted in a 20-per-cent reduction in the number of blue collar union jobs, as well as lower wages for those who remain, Morissette said.

"We know unionized jobs pay usually 10-to 15-per-cent higher wages than non-unionized jobs and that has certainly contributed to reducing the wages of young men during that period," he said.

posted 6:24 AM :: reference link :: 0 comments ::

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