What We Heard - P.E.I.

Some Opportunities for Action...

Retention: a matter of quality and meaningful employment

Some participants suggested that more efforts be made to provide youth with meaningful summer work opportunities in their field, as a means to build up their skills and experience, but also to entice/prepare them to return to work on the Island at the end of their studies
Others indicated that PEI must learn from its successes, e.g. its aerospace sector and Holland College. The key, in both cases, is a shift towards knowledge-based work.

4.2 Other Vulnerable Groups

Participants highlighted the challenges faced by persons with disabilities and immigrants:

Persons with disabilities: Participants identified persons with disabilities as a marginalized group that requires special attention if they are to participate fully in the workforce.
Immigrants: participants highlighted the challenges faced by immigrants in accessing the labour market, particularly as this relates to credential recognition and language barriers. Some also noted that it is important to remember that while we may focus immigration as an approach to supplement our labour market, this strategy also causes important labour market challenges in the countries we recruit from.

On a more general note, participants commented that others in the workforce too often face the challenges faced by youth. In particular, they noted that many jobseekers find it difficult to gain relevant work experience in their field and endup accepting jobs for which they are often over-qualified.

4.3 Succession Planning and Older Workers

Some participants noted that over a third of PEI's working age population is over 55 years old. This, they said, begs the question: "how can we better utilize older people?". Participants discussed both measures designed to extend the working life of older workers and challenges faced by those approaching retirement:

Extending the working life of older workers: participants discussed the merit of incentives that would encourage older workers to stay in the workforce longer, as a short-term strategy for dealing with the labour market pressures caused by youth out-migration. Participants also highlighted the need to create new employment models to accommodate older workers who can and want to continue contributing to businesses e.g., flexible work arrangements to keep older workers on in some capacity to do training and mentoring.