This week I turned 50. Reading those condescending LinkedIn posts about the young HR managers taking a ‘chance’ on the 50+ workers now takes on special meaning. One I read today talked about his great success hiring 50+ workers because they “bring…
Continue ReadingAttracting international R&D: In praise of Siemens
One of the issues we discuss very little in New Brunswick is the role of multinational firms. When we do, many people derisively talk about how we need to ‘take care’ of our own firms and they express skepticism about…
Continue ReadingNB’s R&D sector – no old fogies allowed?
As I have detailed elsewhere New Brunswick is primarily known for having an older workforce when compared to other provinces. Not so with the R&D sector where 44% are under the age of 35 – second only to PEI among…
Continue ReadingNew Brunswick’s youngest and oldest occupations
The Census gives us good information on the age of workers in the province. While it doesn’t provide a median or average age by occupation it does breakdown the number of people working in 500 occupations (and aggregations) by age…
Continue ReadingMaybe it’s time remove the opaqueness of tax policy. Does it offend Canadian sensibilities?
I just read John Geddes masterful piece in Macleans on the history and influences of Bill Morneau’s tax crusade against the 1%. It reads like a condensed modern biography – a thriller with Geddes unearthing deep background – only partially…
Continue ReadingImmigrants and the workforce: Moncton CMA impressive results
One of the mantras I have been preaching for years now is the need to attract immigrants into actual employment opportunities. I realize this is not as simple as it seems given the sometimes strange world of immigration where prospective…
Continue ReadingNet worth-less? What’s going on?
Well the new data on household net worth is likely to cause a kerfuffle. Statistics Canada is reporting that median household net worth in New Brunswick dropped by 11% between 2012 and 2016. If you look at the average household net…
Continue ReadingSJ largest IT sector, Freddy largest IT labour pool, Moncton doing fine
Okay, I posted earlier this evening that Saint John has the largest IT sector measured by the number of people working in the IT sector as a share of total employment. It was pointed out to me that lots of…
Continue ReadingHave fun with numbers! Everyone can play along!
What do Riverview, New Brunswick and Niagara Falls, Ontario have in common (besides being named after a body of water)? Saint John, NB has the #1 employment concentration among hundreds of municipalities across in Canada for what industry? First the…
Continue ReadingEncouraging scale – towards global competitiveness
I have been thinking a lot lately about competitiveness – specifically how New Brunswick firms can compete in an increasingly globalized economy. Traditionally this was mostly a concern related to exporters but now even firms 100% focused on local markets…
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