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As a result of China's family planning policy of 'raising population quality and controlling population size' initiated in the late 1970s, China has accomplished a population transition from high birth rate, low mortality rate and high population growth to low birth rate, low mortality rate and low population growth within a remarkably short timeframe. Along with this population transition, however, comes a shift in population age structure, with a rapid increase in the proportion of elderly people. This paper explores the implications of China's demographic shift for labour supply and suggests policy changes to target an emerging labour shortage.

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In recent decades, the labour market has undergone major changes in many countries around the world. Today, many young Canadians are having trouble entering the labour market when they finish school. The diversity among young Canadians means that the challenges they face are equally as diverse. One multi-faceted question has emerged: how can Canada help young people transition from school to work? To contribute to this important discussion, the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (the Committee, or HUMA) studied different types of experiential learning and how these could help with school-to-work transitions. On 9 November 2017 the Committee decided to undertake a study on experiential learning and pathways to employment for Canadian youth. The Committee identified a number of themes to explore during its study: (1) Youth unemployment and how it harms the transition to the workforce; (2) Youth underemployment after completing their education; (3) Apprenticeships; (4) Co-op programs and work-integrated learning; (5) Volunteerism and internships and how they inform work decisions for students; (6) Entrepreneurship; and (7) The school-to-work transition strategy in Canada compared with international models and programs.

This report begins by presenting, in Chapter 1, some background information on experiential learning and the government's role in skills development. Chapter 2 provides an overview of youth unemployment and underemployment. Chapter 3 reviews the various types of experiential learning and how they can help address the issues identified in the first part. In Chapter 4, issues facing vulnerable youth and youth who are under-represented in the labour market (Indigenous youth, immigrant youth, youth with disabilities), as well as youth in minority linguistic communities, are discussed in greater detail. This chapter also looks at targeted measures that can improve outcomes for members of these groups. The report wraps up with Chapter 5, which introduces some examples of international models that could be used as inspiration as Canada continues to reflect on the school-to-work transitions for young Canadians. The Committee hopes that this report will help inform the renewal of the Youth Employment Strategy that is underway, as well as the continuous development of skills development programs and initiatives for Canadians.

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A key feature of the Danish labour market is its so-called flexicurity, the coexistence of flexibility (low adjustment costs for both employers and employees) and security (owing to a developed social safety net with high coverage and high replacement ratios). This is often believed to have contributed to the resilience of the Danish labour market and especially to its ability to maintain a low and stable unemployment rate. The aim of this paper is to examine the performance of the flexicurity system and changes therein during the previous three decades, including the first years of the Great Recession. We carry out two types of analyses: at the levels of establishments and employees, respectively. First, we use linked employer-employee data for the private sector to examine how labour demand responds to output shocks by a study of firms' labour adjustment behaviour during economic upturns and downturns. Second, based on the same data set we examine how the flexicurity system protects workers from income losses associated with job losses due to plant closures or major lay-offs. In particular, we are interested in how the transformation of the flexicurity system since the mid-90s to increasingly emphasise activation and to reduce maximum unemployment benefit durations has changed employees' security in case of displacement. We document large worker flows that exhibit strong cyclical variation giving rise to volatile unemployment dynamics. External flexibility of firms has remained unchanged for almost three decades. While we find no clear traces of trend changes in employers' labour adjustment behaviour, we do find that income losses of displaced workers have declined over time, mainly due to their faster re-employment. Although it is still early days to conclude with certainty, there are so far no strong indications of the reemergence of unemployment hysteresis to the same extent as in previous recessions.

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Finland does not apply quotas or a points-based system to labour migration. Instead, Finland applies the determination of the availability of labour when issuing a residence permit for an employed person. The Finnish economy and labour market have suffered from recession for the past few years. According to the latest occupational barometer, published in February 2015, the situation as a whole has lately developed so that shortage of labour has decreased and surplus of labour has increased. At the national level, there are only 13 shortage occupations whereas there is surplus in nearly 40 per cent of the occupations. Labour shortage concentrates in the social and health care sector and sales work. In Finland, the effects of immigration policy on labour shortage and the national labour market are not systemically monitored. However, when the regional work permit policies are prepared, the effectiveness of the previous policy is taken into account.

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The projected lack of healthcare workers for many EU/EEA (European Union/European Economic Area) states is significant. The demand is not only due to an increased need for healthcare and social care services in the coming years but also to retirement, high turn-over rates, high student attrition rates and emigration of healthcare labour. Officially, many EU/EEA countries strive towards healthcare labour sustainability. But lack of strategic planning and lack of determination to invest in healthcare workforce training and education, coupled with continuous recruitment from abroad, indicate that reliance on migrant healthcare workers is likely to become a path dependency and a convenient cost-containment measure. The paper presents some findings of a Delphi study conducted in the UK and Norway on governmental strategies related to the international recruitment of healthcare workers for employment in the public healthcare sector.

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This discussion paper undertakes projections and analysis of the potential role of immigration in meeting future labour force needs to inform government consideration of future settings of Australia's temporary and permanent migration programs.

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In the years ahead, Canada faces the challenge of not having enough workers with the right skills to meet its labour needs. Canada's Aboriginal population is the fastest-growing population cohort in Canada, and could play a significant role in helping the country meet its labour market needs. However, the labour market participation of Canada's Aboriginal population lags behind that of the non-Aboriginal population. This report analyzes the challenges and opportunities employers encounter when engaging Aboriginal workers. A survey was conducted with Canadian businesses about their engagement with Aboriginal workers, and interviews were held with businesses, industry associations, and Aboriginal employment organizations. The report provides recommendations on the steps that employers, Aboriginal organizations, and policy-makers can take to help improve the labour market participation of Aboriginal workers.

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This is the Cotton Workforce Development Strategy and Action Plan for 2015-18. It is based on a substantial body of high quality research, case studies, skills' needs assessment and focus groups across the industry. This has resulted in a broad picture of the significant capability gaps and challenges facing the industry in terms of maintaining enterprises' human resource capacity, systems and skills to meet various challenges. The aim of this strategy is to ensure that the cotton industry has the people with the right skills, experience and capabilities to drive industry competitiveness now and through time. The scope of the strategy is limited to on farm capability and capacity. It considers educational and training systems and supply chain issues only to the extent that they impact skills and labour availability on-farm.

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The horticulture industry is reliant on workers to pick, pack and grade fresh produce, with the bulk of the seasonal horticulture workforce in Australia drawn from different types of temporary visa holders. However, evidence suggests that the workforce that sustains this industry is poorly regulated and managed. Despite growers attesting to labour shortages, the industry is often accused of non-compliance with labour standards, in particular for migrant workers. This report interrogates both the extent of labour shortages in the horticulture industry for pickers, packers and graders and the level of non-compliance with labour standards. Its purpose is to comprehensively examine horticulture labour supply to develop a robust evidence base for analysing the effectiveness of existing policy arrangements and organisational practices and to identify areas for potential reform.

The research for this report revealed both the depth of labour supply and compliance challenges facing the horticulture industry and the fragility of current labour supply options currently provided within the Australian regulatory framework. The evidence suggests a need to redesign labour pathways, particularly to ensure that temporary migrant workers are channelled via visa categories that will enable growers to meet their seasonal and ongoing labour needs more efficiently and sustainably.

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The recent and currently fragile economic recovery has not yet been able to create new jobs and the social situation in the [European Union] EU shows little signs of improvement so far. The improved outcomes in the EU labour markets are still at best modest. Employment showed the first signs of stabilising in 2013, with a 0.1 per cent growth in the second half of the year. This analysis also points to an expected increase in poverty levels and a slight improvement in the impact of social protection expenditure in 2013, even if its support effect remains very weak. The situation for households remains serious. The income that households have at their disposal is lagging behind the growth of gross domestic product. It provides also empirical evidence that the crisis at its height had the strongest adverse impact on labour market transitions of men and young people.

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