Computerization Of Work In Canada

The internal combustion engine made the horse obsolete; while we used to rely on horses to do many tasks for us, they could not compete with machinery (CGP Grey, 2014). With the rise of automation technology Canada’s youth face an uncertain future similar to the horse at the beginning of the industrial revolution. Firstly, youth underemployment threatens their sense of identity, their wellbeing, and future prospects. Secondly, as work becomes increasingly computerized, it also becomes deskilled, leading to further underemployment. Finally, the automation of work is changing how the world functions, and it is the young who will be affected first. In Canada computerization of service sector work had led to young people to up-skill. While young …show more content…
Youth in Canada are underemployed; there is a high rate of youth unemployment, youth that are employed are in part time, temporary, low-skilled jobs that are precarious in nature, and they are overqualified for those jobs (Macdonald, 2011, p. 436). After World War II, the service sector grew while industry shrank (Menzies, 1996, p. 30). Today, over three quarters of Canadians are employed in the service sector (Hiller, 2006, p. 113). The number of low-skilled, precarious jobs are only increasing, making the service sector ideal for young Canadians to find work (Macdonald, 2011, p. 435). Young Canadians employed in precarious work grew from 6.9% in 1997 to 11.6% in 2011, compared to older workers, 4.0% to 5.7% during the same time period (Foster, 2012, p. 3). They are overqualified for those jobs as well with 18% of university graduates working jobs requiring a high school education or less, and 40% working in jobs requiring a college degree or less (Uppal & LaRochelle-Côté, 2014, p. 4). Concerningly, underemployment is occurring during the time when youth are experiencing a time out from life to sort out their adult identity, an identity moratorium (Cote & Allahar, 1996, p.74). During this time, many youth go to post-secondary institutions to obtain a degree, placing themselves into lifelong debt, only to join a workforce that is saturated with overqualified graduates, when having a degree no longer guarantees a job (Peters, & Besley, 2013, p. 782). This is troubling as the effects of long term underemployment are stress, anxiety, lowered physical health (Peters, & Besley, 2013, p. 780), as well as having persistent lower wages relative to peers and older workers (Foster, 2012, p. 1). Youth underemployment in jobs that are not fulfilling can cause alienation, as these youth feel disconnected from their purpose in life, harming their self worth, as they link their job to