Labour Market Information 101 - Ottawa Employment Hub€¦ · Local Employment Planning Council What LMI isn’t LMI is not perfect The Forum of Labour Market Ministers’ research:

Labour Market Information

101

Local Employment Planning Council

OttawaEmploymentHub.ca

Our third annual “Building Connections” event

This program is funded in part by the Government

of Canada and the Government of Ontario

FOR EMPLOYERS


What is LMI?

We will discuss:

What is LMI?

Three key things to understand

• Occupations

• Industries

• Factors

How employers and service providers can use LMI

Recognizing common LMI challenges

Where to find LMI

Walking through “Ottawa this Quarter”

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What does “LMI” stand for?

“LMI” as a acronym refers to both:

Labour Market Information

• Information on the supply of, and demand for, labour (the labour market)

• Can be quantitative or qualitative data

Labour Market Intelligence

• Comes out of the interpretation and analysis of labour market information

• Helps answer the “so what?” that arises out of labour market information

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What is the labour market

Labour Market 101

A market is a term in economics that refers to any place where things are bought and sold

Labour is one of these commodities

Markets have two components or sides:

• The supply side refers to those looking to sell (employees, job seekers, entrepreneurs)

• The demand side refers to those looking to buy (employers or clients)

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A definition for LMI

Canada’s Forum of Labour Market Ministers defines LMI broadly as:

“the information needed by individuals and organizations to make informed decisions about the labour market.”

Ottawa Employment Hub uses the term LMI to mean:

“both information and intelligence on labour supply and demand.”

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Key LMI Components

Demographics

• Population

• Geography

Labour force statistics

• Labour pool

• Employment and unemployment

• Nature of employment

Skills & Education

• Labour supply

Where the jobs are

• Industries

• Business Counts

• Online job ads

What the jobs are

• Occupations and wages

• Skills and education required

Who is available

• Graduation rates

• Active job seekers

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LMI is comprised of both

“numbers and news”Keep an eye on key factors

and emerging trends


What LMI isn’t

LMI is not perfect

The Forum of Labour Market Ministers’ research: the labour market is so “complex and ever-changing” that it is almost impossible to ever capture or define it

Ottawa Employment Hub’s role is to locate the best available information and caution users appropriately

How you use it depends on whatdecisions you are informing

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Why you should understand LMI

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I wantto make a decision

No LMI

Use LMI

Understand what LMI is

LMI can be misleading

Assess risk of getting it

wrong

Know where to find it

What kind of decision are you making?

Short-termforecasts &

reliable sources

Longer-term forecasts & more

sources

Decide what LMI to use

HIGH

LOW


What LMI isn’t

Labour market forecasts are never a sure thing; forecasts do NOT predict the future

You CANNOT exactly predict which qualifications will be most in demand or which occupations will have the highest number of jobs

You CAN, however, use what information there is available to help you make a set of informed choicesand to give you a better idea of where the path you take might lead

Recent data on what % of a job can be automated is an interesting lense to use

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Two lenses for looking at jobs

Occupations

WHAT SOMEONE DOES

Defined by specific work roles and responsibilities

• When we think of someone’s ‘job’, we typically think of their occupation (e.g. computer network technician)

• An occupation might be found in a number of different industries or sectors

Industries/Sectors

WHERE SOMEONE WORKS

Defined by type of activity (good/service being produced) at a place of work

• A computer network technician might work in the healthcare sector (e.g. for a hospital)

• A computer network technician could also work in the education sector (e.g. for a college)

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SKILLS is an emerging third lens that MAGNET will inform


Occupations (NOC codes)

2011 National Occupation Classification (NOC)

Groups occupations according to:

• the type of work performed (i.e., the skill type)

• type and length of education/training required to perform the job (i.e., the skill level)

Occupations are assigned a 4-digit NOC code that can be used to identify the occupation for statistical or informational purposes

• 2281 - Computer network technician

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Breaking down a NOC code

2281 - Computer network technician

FIRST DIGIT: Skill type (type of work performed)

• 2 - Natural and Applied Sciences and Related Occupations

SECOND DIGIT: Skill level (length of education/ training required) e.g., this level is used in Express Entry

• 2 or 3 - Skill Level B (Technical, Paraprofessional and Skilled Occupations) Generally require college or apprenticeship training

First two digits = Major Occupation Group

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NOC2281


Breaking down a NOC code

2281 - Computer network technician

So far, we have Major Occupation Group

22 Technical occupations related to natural and applied sciences

The first three digits represent the Minor Group

228 Technical occupations in computer and information systems

Adding the last digit identifies the unit group – the “occupation”

2243 = Computer network technician

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NOC2243


Industry Structure (NAICS)

North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) (Canada, Mexico, and United States )

Defined by the type of activity (primary good/ service being produced/provided)

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) outlines the NAICS hierarchy:

• sectors (two-digit code)

• subsectors (three-digit code)

• industry groups (four-digit code)

• industries (five-digit code)

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Industry Sectors11 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and

hunting

21 Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction

22 Utilities

23 Construction

31-33 Manufacturing

41 Wholesale trade

44-45 Retail trade

48-49 Transportation and warehousing

51 Information and cultural industries

52 Finance and insurance

53 Real estate and rental and leasing

54 Professional, scientific and technical services

55 Management of companies and enterprises

56 Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services

61 Educational services

62 Health care and social assistance

71 Arts, entertainment and recreation

72 Accommodation and food services

81 Other services (except public administration)

91 Public administration

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Factors affecting the labour market

Economic-Political (e.g., labour laws; government policies)

Demographic (e.g., aging populations)

Social (e.g., ‘green’ technologies; use of contractors)

Climate (e.g., weather events, global warming)

Technological Innovation (e.g., driverless vehicles; knowledge workers)

Occupation/Industry Structure (e.g., changes in certification requirements; growth of industries)

Education and Training (e.g., lags between shifts in demand and ability to train; can create areas with too many or too few workers with certain skills)

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Common challenges with LMI

There can be discrepancies between different sources of information

• Ottawa-Gatineau, City of Ottawa, Ottawa Census Sub-Division, Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area

• Sector Councils and other groups are often reporting data in a way that best supports their “cause”

Projections are not always accurate

• Remember all of the factors that affect the labour market

• Making longer-term forecasts can be especially challenging

Numbers do not always tell the full story

Single events can be mistaken for trends

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Why forecasts are challenging

FLLM Example:

REACTION & REALITY Educational institutions may increase the number

of students they take into their programs

Electricians may migrate to that province for the work

Immigrants may be brought over to fill the expected gap

There may be an economic downturn that prevents older workers from retiring

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FORECASTA graph may show a large number or percentage of openings for electricians in one province, based on upcoming expected retirements and an expected boom in construction.

POTENTIAL RESULT - Within three years there

may be an oversupply of electricians.


Getting the most out of LMI

Develop a base understanding of LMI terms and concepts

Strive to know what you are looking at:

• What is the source of the material? (i.e., is it well-respected, is it considered neutral)

• When was the data collected? (e.g., a report published in 2016 could be using data from 2011)

• Try to understand exactly what information you are accessing (e.g., wage data often does not include self-employed people)

• Always try to place numbers in their appropriate context

Explore the origins of statements about the future so that you can apply an appropriate “grain of salt”

When in doubt, contact us to see if we can help!

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Studies show employers use LMI

Ekos Research (2008) is the most recent comprehensive research on LMI use by employers in Canada

Most employers “are facing human resources issues and challenges that LMI could help them to address”

LMI use is already quite high amongst employers in three key areas of HR:

• recruitment and hiring

• training and development

• workforce development

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How employers can use LMI

HR planning, recruitment and retention: predict future human resource needs determine fair/ competitive wage rates identify sources of labour determine training needs assess retention efforts write more effective job descriptions and ads

Strategic/business planning: inform expansion plans find new markets for services

Marketing campaigns: target markets more precisely

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Where to find LMI

LMI can be found in many different places, including informal (conversations with friends, job advertisements, etc.) and formal sources

Canada Job Bank www.jobbank.gc.ca

Ontario Job Trends and Outlook www.ontario.ca/page/job-trends-and-outlook

City of Ottawa information www.locateottawa.ca

Labour Market Ottawa portal www.labourmarketottawa.ca

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http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/

http://www.ontario.ca/page/job-trends-and-outlook

http://www.locateottawa.ca/

labourmarketottawa.ca

Documents

Labour Market Information 101 - Ottawa Employment Hub€¦ · Local Employment Planning Council What LMI isn’t LMI is not perfect The Forum of Labour Market Ministers’ research: