All posts tagged: Jobs

Will jobs pay the price for the lockdowns?

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It seems that the economy will soon be paying the price of the lockdowns, as two reports suggest businesses are struggling. The lockdowns not only resulted in governments shutting down non-essential businesses, but governments also shifted people’s spending habits online, jeopardizing local jobs. According to a survey of over 700 US executives and members of corporate boards conducted by PwC in July, nearly 50% stated that they were thinking of cutting staffing and 52% said that they had already implemented a hiring freeze, Breitbart reports. Breitbart noted that several major corporations have already started laying off employees: Home goods company Wayfair decided to cut approximately 870 workers to help manage operation costs and “realign its investment priorities” following the coronavirus pandemic, the Associated Press (AP) reported this week. In addition, Best Buy was also cutting jobs as the company grappled with shifting consumer behavior, the AP reported on August 12. Another report states that 97% of corporate executives believe America is heading for a recession. READ: 97% of corporate execs think US is in recession, …

Canada: 85% of new jobs were in government since the start of the pandemic

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Pointing at job numbers, Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has been gloating about how Canada’s economy has bounced back from the pandemic. But has it? According to a recent survey of jobs in Canada, 85% of the jobs created since February 2020, involved working for the government. The Hub has more details: That Canada’s economy fully restored the jobs lost during the pandemic by late 2021 seemed to answer these questions. Headlines and commentaries declared that “Canada’s pandemic jobs recovery has been remarkable” and “Canada’s labour market bounces back.” The Trudeau government was even more affirmative: its 2021 economic and fiscal update, for instance, boasted that the economy was “roaring back” based on recouping 106 percent of the jobs lost during the pandemic. Yet these top-level claims require a deeper dive into what’s really behind Canada’s post-pandemic recovery. The data tell us a less favourable story than the prevailing narrative in the media or from the government. Much of Canada’s post-pandemic jobs recovery—indeed, nearly 85 percent since February 2020 — has actually been concentrated in …

The Great Resignation: Are you ready to quit?

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Do you know anyone who is quitting their job? Are you? There is an epidemic of quitting to do something else, these days. Some people just want out of their job, others want a new job, and many want a new life. I was talking to a relative of mine, a few days ago, and I saw this new trend in his life. He was a manager, in a small city, but then his company downsized and they let him go. They let many of their managers and staff go, so he got a severance package. He is a young man, with a wife and two children, and he never wants to go back to his old job. That business didn’t work for him. Now, he has a new job, and he seems to be busy in it. Possibly his salary went down a bit, but he doesn’t mind. When I visited, he showed me his room for ‘what he loved the most.’ This man loves guitars, and his basement office is now a shop …

Hey, do you need a job?

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2020 has been interesting, so far. “Interesting.” First we had a pandemic and a lockdown, and then we had violence in the streets, and who know what will happen next. In this mix of terrible news, many of us have lost our jobs. We hope the economy will restart, and maybe we will all get back to a normal life, but I have friends who are suffering from unemployment. For them, the other bad things are just in the news. We were told: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10: 29 and 30) If we believe God, can we believe for employment and healthy finances, in this crazy year of 2020?

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Jobs for Christians

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Are you a Christian? Do you believe that God will provide? Do you know any Christian who is struggling to find a job? I know someone who is struggling right now and I have been there myself. I have worked in places where I never mentioned that I was a Christian and that I didn’t tell people that I went to church on Sunday. That information could have cost me my job, or I would have missed some promotions. A comedian in England, Tracey Ullman, has published a video comedy skit about a Christian in a job interview. The joke isn’t very funny, but sometimes comedians make serious statements behind the laughter. Getting and keeping a job can be a problem for a Christian. Most of my career work has been training people so they can qualify for employment, or getting them into schools where they could train for a job. At the same time, I had to get and keep my own job, and maybe get promoted. I also have good friends who work …

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Careers for Christians: Making a Difference

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Yesterday I taught a class. One man in the class was well groomed and polite; obviously a company manager. On a break, he told me his business was slow, so he was looking for a job, just a job. He was tired of losing money with his business, so he closed it down and put all his employees out of work. I train truck drivers. That man is at a very low point in his career, and I hope he climbs out and finds more success and satisfaction. If you are wondering, I am not longer a career climber. I am semi-retired and I work as a contractor helping other people with their work, and I really enjoy what I do. In the last few weeks, I learned how to find a satisfying career, and I know this will work for everyone, including you. Lesson 1) I visited my father because about a week ago I think God spoke to me. I am a Christian, and I expect this. The sensation reminded me that my …

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Careers for Christians: Good Without God

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Everyone needs to eat, and make the payments to the bank, and that is a problem. In modern times we have careers with long-term plans. In Bible times they had slaves, and kings, and warriors. So how do we live today? What is a career for a Christian? The Bible tells us to work, and to work hard, and this is a curse we can’t escape from: “By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made.” (Genesis 3:19). I don’t see an exciting career in those words. If you follow the news, some fabulous careers are coming apart and collapsing these days. 2017 is the great year of the scandal, and in the news, that usually means sex crimes by powerful people. We can easily miss the other allegations of dirty politics, espionage, terrorism, and financial fraud; and I’m sure I missed something. We live in an information age when there are no safe secrets, and the wave of scandals is …

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Careers for Christians: Where do we start?

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People everywhere are trying to find satisfying careers; we want to be fulfilled in the job we do to earn our paycheck. Sometimes, just getting a paycheck is the challenge. We are getting close to the new year when most of us think about these things. So, if God cares, does he care about this part of our lives? I may be on my third career now, or my fourth, depending on how you count some jobs. When I was a boy I delivered newspapers and when I was fourteen, I worked as the shop boy in the Yarn Barn. Knitting was a big thing and one of the ball winding machines had a broken tension hook, so I was the tension hook. I tugged on the yarn with my fingers as it raced through the machine, and I still have all my fingers. No one likes their first job, and I have moved on since then. I am sure the Bible has career advice for Christians, and really, the good book is good for …

So You Hate your Job, Chapter 4: Dream On

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[by Sandy McIntosh] Is your job bugging you? Are you unfulfilled and frustrated with your career? Do you want to turn it all around? Here’s a start; Don’t be a lazy dreamer. I have been guilty of lazy dreaming, and I know there is always a price to pay. Probably you are guilty with me. When I was younger I looked into education that would give me a vocation, a career for the long term. At a big university I visited a professor to talk about possibilities, and during the conversation he looked at me and said “Would you like to join our doctoral program?” I heard him and felt a stab of fear, so I quickly said no. Now, looking back, I should have ignored the fear and asked questions. A doctorate might have been a good thing. Sometimes I think about that road not taken and I wonder. I had a dream for something better, but it was feeble and lazy, and it couldn’t connect with real opportunities. The professor gave me a …