The March 2013 Labor Force Survey published by Statistics Canada painted a disappointing picture of full-time employment in March. However, while there was a decrease in full-time positions compared to February, the employment rate increased from the same period last year with 203,000 more jobs, most of them in full-time jobs. Part-time and self-employment have continued to grow over the past three decades, and full-time employment has remained relatively stable at 50% of the total workforce.

The challenge of focusing on one month’s data when it comes to employment means we may be missing the mark on the future of full-time employment. Job growth should be about the continued growth of new positions, but it may not mean full-time jobs with the same employer for an extended period. New job development must be about creating and sustaining employment opportunities that come with a future and the ultimate challenge is matching current and future skills needs with job seekers.

Rick Miner, former president of Seneca College, in his report Jobs of the future: options and opportunities comments that “…the new jobs that we and our children must prepare for are not always going to be unrecognizable today; many will be modifications and adaptations of jobs that are already being done, albeit often with new titles and new training requirements.” Some old jobs will certainly disappear, though, as they have in the past.”

But, with the rapid pace of technological advancement, it can become increasingly difficult to develop, hire, or prepare for future skills when we may not know what they are. This means that employers and employees (current and future) will need the ability to convert trends into actual positions.

Today, workplace factors that affect the nature of work include;

• Increased communication on social networks both inside and outside the organization;

• advances in technology to support the storage and exchange of information and data;

• online training advancements to support skills development on the job and 24/7;

• business-oriented online sites to provide more opportunities for employers and recruiters to obtain a wider variety of potential candidates; and of course,

• aging workforce.

These factors suggest that employers and job seekers will need to continue to invest in skills development and training. In 2006, the Canadian Apprenticeship Council found that Canada was lagging behind the US and UK in investment in training. Thirty percent of workers in Canada participated in job-related education and training compared to 35 percent in the UK and 45 percent in the US. As a percentage of total payroll, US .. spent about fifty percent more than Canada. In 2009, this same council reported that 67 percent of future jobs would require some form of secondary education and skills training. Will entrepreneurs be willing to increase their investment?

Many management positions are held by boomers, and their experience must be passed on to the next generation of leaders. This will require a commitment to training and development where the mentoring and coaching processes help identify critical skills and create an alignment between these skill needs and those identified as future leaders. This could further increase training and development costs, which will affect the growth of full-time positions.

Being employed full-time can end up being employed by more than one employer at the same time, such as a contractor juggling several different projects at the same time, or moving from one contract position to another with little or no gap between contracts.

Flexibility and creativity will be required on the part of both employers and employees, as the nature of full-time work may be changing.