Reversing the optic: workplace reforms for the new learning society

Constant change through inter-firm competition, employer-employee negotiations and technological change has defined capitalist production from its inception. New information technologies add some distinct wrinkles but don't alter the basic dynamics of the system. People are increasingly pursuing more formal schooling, further education courses and informal learning to compete in labour markets that demand greater credentials. But, with the exception of occasional specialised skill shortages, the work-related knowledge and learning capacities of the populace continually exceed the technical requirements of the existing job structures. Underemployment (including the talent use gap, structural unemployment, involuntary temporary employment, credential underemployment, the performance gap and subjective underemployment) is an endemic problem. Important as continuing learning is to our species existence, insisting on still greater learning efforts will not resolve the underemployment problem. The sensible response is more concerted efforts to redesign and redistribute paid and unpaid work (for example, workplace democratisation, work time reduction policies, development of green jobs) to allow sustaining uses of many more peoples' skills and knowledge. This presentation draws on recent Canadian national surveys, including the first national survey of adults' informal learning and related case studies conducted by the research network on New Approaches to Lifelong Learning (NALL), to support these arguments.

Excerpts from printed abstract used with the permission of the copyright holder.

Volume one of these proceedings is indexed at TD/TNC 68.31, volume two is indexed at TD/TNC 68.32 and individual papers may be found from TD/TNC 68.17 to TD/TNC 68.29 and from TD/TNC 68.33 to TD/TNC 68.100.

Constant change through inter-firm competition, employer-employee negotiations and technological change has defined capitalist production from its inception. New information technologies add some distinct wrinkles but don't alter the basic dynamics of the system. People are increasingly pursuing more formal schooling, further education courses and informal learning to compete in labour markets that demand greater credentials. But, with the exception of occasional specialised skill shortages, the work-related knowledge and learning capacities of the populace continually exceed the ...  [+] Show more