Missing something important?: the state of work and employment in economic and social policy in the Atlantic Provinces

Abstract

This working paper argues that there is insufficient attention being placed on the role of employing organizations as key actors in shaping the quality of work, and as architects of employment systems that impact workforce participation and regional retention. It is disconnected from debates on the role of income inequality and poor quality work on labour productivity, employees’ discretionary effort and aggregate economic growth. This paper is organized as follows: first, we offer a preliminary review of the issues raised by policymakers,business leaders and academics with support from publicly available administrative and survey data. Secondly, we consider how these issues are constructed and perceived in regional policy debates recognizing that how policy problems are construed shapes the approaches to interventions. Lastly, we consider the extant national and international debates on job quality and skills policy to question the extent to which the region’s policy approach may be addressing the underlying social and economic challenges. We argue that debate on the quality of work and demand-side interventions are missing from social and economic development policy in Atlantic Canada and that this is a significant gap worth addressing.