Post Secondary Problem

Over the past few years, the job market has separated and it is becoming quite evident in various geographical regions. There are heaps of high and low-income jobs being created, however, the middle-income jobs have started to become more uncommon. The concentration of employment opportunities is gravitating to areas of large populace, forcing individuals that seek employment to commute or relocate closer to these thriving metropolises. As large corporations are “setting up shop” in big municipal areas with ample human capital such as Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary, smaller municipalities with inferior human capital are becoming less attractive for employment opportunities which in turn is forcing more and more people to relocate closer to big municipalities for employment.

Enrico Moretti of the University of California, Berkley reports that this is occurring because these cities are increasingly defined by skill levels. He proposes that cities, like Toronto, Vancouver, and Calgary, with a high concentration of college and university educated workers are attracting more and more individual of the same competency. As a result of these educated workers fleeing to more regions of dense population, smaller municipalities become less appealing for employment opportunities as they only offer dead-end jobs with low wages. These individuals relocate to larger municipalities for employment with a higher income and the possibility of advancement.

Many university and college graduates with specific skill-sets are relocating to larger urban areas because the various corporations positioned there require employees with their specific educational backgrounds. However, the influx of graduates to these urban areas creates competition for employment. Although, there are a lot of jobs out there employers are looking candidates with a specific set of skills these days. A poll released by Modus Research Inc. found that out of 823 business leaders, only 41 per cent believed the educational institutions in their own provinces were doing a good job at preparing graduates to meet the needs of the employer, while 31 per cent said they were doing an extremely poor job. As a result of companies being unhappy with the quality of university graduate applicants, these university graduates are no longer being guaranteed a job after finishing school and for this reason, they end up taking low paying jobs that have nothing to do with their field of study.