Middle class goes Part-time under Harper Regime

Is part-time work the new normal?: Goar

For the past year, the only part of Canada’s job market that has showed any sign of life has been part-time employment.
 

The numbers are striking. Since last autumn, Canada has created 50,000 part-time jobs but lost 20,000 full-time positions.
 

What was once a whisper — are we becoming a nation of part-timers? — has swollen into a worried chorus.
 

Mainstream economists dismiss the suggestion. As far as they’re concerned this is just a cyclical malaise. Once the United States pulls out of its prolonged slump and exports pick up, employers will start rebuilding their workforce, they insist.
 

But workers are skeptical. This doesn’t feel like a normal recovery. Five years after it began, employers are still making do with part-timers, temporary workers and contract employees. Skilled workers who lost their livelihood during the recession are now doing low-wage service jobs. College and university graduates can’t get an economic foothold. A new business model seems to have taken hold.
 

The government is not offering any reassurance. “It’s important that we remain fiscally prudent,” Finance Minister Joe Oliver says. “We look forward to a surplus next year and we’re looking to cut taxes.”

Read More: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/09/07/is_parttime_work_the_new_normal_goar.html