With a historically low unemployment rate and a rampant labor shortage, one might believe that the labor market favors workers. This is far from false. Emna Braham notes that historically, the big stress of work was finding and keeping a job. This stress has eased in recent years.
But Ms. Braham points out that the labor shortage comes with a little-talked-about counterpart.
Let’s think about the health sector, where staff shortages lead to compulsory overtime from which the network is trying to wean itself. Or in schools, where teachers complain about the lack of specialists to support them.
Since the second half of 2023, Ms. Braham points out that the economy has slowed, leading to job losses in sectors such as culture, media and information technology.
“The stress of losing your job may have resurfaced to some extent,” she points out.
Finally, she points out that careers are less “linear” than before and that workers often change jobs. This involves periods of adaptation and stress which can contribute to the feeling of being overwhelmed by events.
No one will be surprised to see inflation in the dock to explain our crazy lives. Time is money, and when the rent goes up, you often have to work more hours to be able to pay it.
Through the end of 2023, wages have increased on average faster than inflation. But Ms. Braham reminds us that the expression “on average” hides all kinds of realities. For some, inflation has hit very hard without income following suit. Braham also shines a spotlight on what she calls the “staircase” phenomenon. Inflation increases continuously, but this is not always the case for wages, which sometimes rise suddenly when collective agreements are renewed. Between two steps of stairs, workers can feel stuck.
Ms. Braham observes that since the start of 2024, wage growth has slowed, so that although inflation has slowed, it is now higher than income growth.
The tragedy is that these items are difficult to reduce and that they take up a large part of the budget, particularly for low-income families.
We all know the challenges of balancing work with the reality of having children – going back and forth to school or daycare, homework, soccer practice, colds to treat, the lark. But Emna Braham points out a reality to which employers and society in general are much less aware: the fact that with the aging of the population, many workers now have to take care of… their parents. “We can think of workers aged 55 to 65, who work longer and longer and whose parents are aging,” she emphasizes. This is a phenomenon that is likely to increase because we want to retain older workers. »
Women, Ms. Braham points out, are often the ones who play the role of caregivers and struggle to reconcile this new work-family reality.