After the “great resignation” experienced in the United States by the hundreds of employees who have left their jobs since the pandemic, Canada may be experiencing the “great retirement”. In August 2022, 31% more people retired than in August of the previous year. This massive exodus of qualified personnel, combined with the aging of the population, could cause an economic slowdown according to several experts.
With our correspondent in Quebec, Pascale Guericolas
Faced with an unprecedented labor shortage, the Conseil québécois du patronat is launching a campaign for 60-69 year olds. Entitled “Seduction”, it aims to help employers convince 60-year-olds to stay at work or return to it.
Never in Canada has the working age population been so old. One in five people are in the 55-64 age bracket, while the proportion of young people aged 15-24 continues to fall.
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The demographic curves have proclaimed it for several years. Baby boomers, a very large age category, born between 1945 and 1965, are increasingly leaving the labor market. And with a low fertility rate of less than two children per woman for 50 years, there is little chance that the active population will be maintained, despite the contribution of immigration.
A glaring lack of qualified employees
The transport industry is particularly affected, but also health care. On the other hand, the constant lack of employees, especially qualified ones, weighs down the ambitions of many companies which have to give up expansion projects or even sometimes close their doors. Elements that could plunge the country into recession while the Bank of Canada has just raised interest rates to fight against inflation.
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