The time is coming for provincial and federal governments to consider and implement programs that would enable the unemployed to be harnessed in the economy after the pandemic is over. For this, you will need the right skills to take into account the realities and needs of the economy in the new times.

A particular problem may be the activation of the long-term unemployed, who may lack many skills necessary and required by future employers.

Returning to work for people after the mass lockdown-related layoffs can prove to be a huge challenge. At the moment, there may not be a job to return to. This job may not be there in a short period of time. Maybe the person does not have sufficient or appropriate skills to find employment.

This situation has resulted in an extremely high percentage of long-term unemployed. In order to change the current situation, there will be needed help of appropriate labour market strategies and skills development.

Long-term unemployment, of those who do not work for six months or more, increased by 207% to 462,100 Canadians between March 2020 and February 2021. This increased the share of long-term unemployment by 9.7% during that period to 27.8% in February.

This unprecedented increase in long-term unemployment far exceeds what we witnessed during the financial crisis of 2008 and is quite worrying because of its long-term and terrifying effects.

Evidence shows that job interruptions lead to a decline in the value of skills, negatively affecting employment prospects. The probability of finding a new job decreases significantly the longer one remains unemployed. Employers are usually cautious about hiring unemployed jobseekers as their productivity is perceived to be lower than that of hired workers. In addition, workers whose jobs have disappeared permanently or who have lost their jobs due to a lack of adequate skills in the light of automation, globalization and, more recently, the pandemic, face greater difficulties in finding employment.

In addition to the lack or loss of skills, the long-term unemployed may struggle to find employment due to low educational attainment and the high cost of retraining or upgrading skills.

Research shows that education, training and employment programs are helping to make the transition to sustainable employment.

The quality and duration of training play a fundamental role in both the short- and long-term results. This suggests the need for an adequate employment and training policy, in particular targeting the long-term unemployed, improving their motivation, skills and employability.

Today, both federal and provincial governments invest in adult education and training through a variety of programs. However, more needs to be done.

One of the most important barriers to participation in adult training and education is money. The recently proposed CTB – Canada Training Benefits program tries to address these barriers by proposing a tax credit of $ 250 per year that can be used up to a maximum of $ 5,000 in a lifetime. This is unlikely to be enough to encourage training.

Improved federal and provincial investment in training programs would also be needed to achieve effective skills development. Let’s take the example of Singapore, where adult learning has been linked to the requirement of a strong partnership between all levels of government, business and schools to collect, track and exchange data between them on a regular basis, leading to the continual identification of skills needs and adequate training in the labour market.