Taryn Leahy has been looking for a job in Calgary for months and figures she has despatched out 160 resumés since she began trying in January. It’s been exhausting, she says, and demoralizing.
She mentioned her dream job can be working in a biology lab as a analysis assistant, placing the diploma she earned on the College of Calgary final winter to good use. At this level, she’d accept a part-time function as a receptionist, however even discovering one thing like that’s proving to be an amazing problem.
“It doesn’t really feel too nice to not be capable to have a job, particularly after placing within the effort to get a college diploma,” she mentioned. “I really feel like I’m not alone, although. I don’t know if that makes it any extra comforting, however I’m definitely not alone.”
Gen-Zers
throughout the nation are up in opposition to a droop in hiring, however the job hunt is particularly discouraging in
Alberta
, the place the 15-to-24-year-old crowd is coping with unusually excessive ranges of unemployment.
The
jobless charge
for this group was the best within the nation for a lot of the spring, hitting 17.2 per cent in each April and Could. Issues improved in June, with the speed falling to 16.4 per cent, nonetheless the second-highest in Canada, subsequent to Newfoundland and Labrador, Statistics Canada mentioned Friday.
It is likely to be comforting to know different Canadians are additionally feeling cheated out of a primary crack on the workforce. But it surely doesn’t put money in Leahy’s pocket, nor does it add essential strains to her resumé.
Her era is caught up in a world of paradoxes. Alberta’s economic system is predicted to be the nation’s prime performer this 12 months, in keeping with some forecasts, and but its youthful employees are coping with ranges of unemployment they’d sometimes see in a recession.
Outdoors the pandemic, Alberta’s job market hasn’t been this dangerous for each women and men beneath 25 because the downturn of the early Nineties, in keeping with Statistics Canada knowledge.
A mixture of political and financial forces are working in opposition to them. Gen-Zers throughout Canada are feeling the consequences of United States President Donald Trump’s unpredictable commerce insurance policies, Mark Parsons, chief economist at ATB Monetary, mentioned.
Employers aren’t hiring as a lot, nervous the Trump administration might unleash a brand new spherical of tariffs at any second, doubtlessly derailing total industries or maybe slowing the worldwide economic system and the urge for food for Canadian exports, he mentioned.
Entry-level positions are sometimes among the many first issues to go when firms are reining in prices. Younger individuals disproportionately bear the brunt of these cuts as a result of they’re new and inexperienced.
However this alone doesn’t absolutely clarify why Leahy and other people like her can’t discover a job. Parsons mentioned younger job seekers are additionally up in opposition to much more competitors.
Alberta stays the highest vacation spot for employees who’re shifting inside Canada. These newcomers are
overwhelmingly younger households and youth
. They’re doubtless chasing the attract of extra reasonably priced housing, given that the majority of them are arriving from Ontario and British Columbia,
that are the nation’s costliest housing markets.
“You’ve got younger households coming right here with their teenage children or university-aged children, after which you’ve got quite a lot of younger individuals coming right here due to housing affordability benefits,” Parsons mentioned. “If persons are chasing affordability, they may not be coming with a job. They is likely to be coming into the labour market on the lookout for work.”
Corporations in Alberta are nonetheless hiring younger individuals, with general employment for Gen Z up barely in June from a 12 months in the past, however companies aren’t hiring quick sufficient to maintain tempo with the inflow of younger individuals into the province.
Leahy mentioned she had thought that having a college diploma would give her a leg up when making use of for jobs, however she realizes it’s not serving to her stand out in an more and more crowded labour market.
“The biology jobs that I’m taking a look at normally get 50 candidates a day, so I do look outdoors my subject,” she mentioned. “There’s quite a lot of admin jobs, however, sadly, I’ve solely heard again as soon as for an admin place.”
After being ghosted by employers for months, Leahy is slowing down her job search. Possibly she will be able to enhance her resumé or dream up a brand new technique with some downtime.
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Kate Han, an 18-year-old highschool graduate, is feeling equally bummed about her possibilities of discovering work in Alberta’s largest metropolis. She’s been on the lookout for something that pays — quick meals, retail, the Calgary Stampede — however she’s not having any luck.
“There’s no manner persons are taking a look at my resumé, particularly since I don’t have expertise; there’s no likelihood of me being thought of as a result of there are such a lot of candidates for one job,” Han mentioned, including that some on-line postings entice a whole lot and even 1000’s of responses.
“It simply appears like I’m repeatedly getting rejected time and again,” she mentioned.
• E mail: rsouthwick@postmedia.com
