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Blue collar wages up
Men who left school without any qualifications or without going on to further education have seen their wages rise over the past six years, while those who have a degree have seen theirs fall
These are the findings from a recent Statistics Canada report which show that wages for workers in blue collar occupations are fast closing the gap on white collar ones.
The report found that average earnings for males aged between 25 and 34 who held high school diplomas rose by 5.2 per cent between 2000 and 2005, while in the same period wages for men with university degrees fell by 2.8 per cent. Men who dropped out of school altogether, moreover, saw their wages increase by a whopping 7.8 per cent.
While university educated men still earn on average more than those who only hold high school diplomas or an equivalent qualification, the gap between the two group's earnings has decreased from CDN$259 a week in 2000 to CDN$198 in 2005.
One of the reasons given by Statistics Canada for this change in trends is down to the huge increase in blue collar positions that have become available in the country over the past five years, particularly in the oil, mining and construction sectors. Each of these sectors, according to Statistics Canada, tend to employ a larger proportion of young, less-educated workers than many white collar jobs.
The report also says that while both blue and white collar industries have added a substantial number of new jobs to the Canadian economy between 2000 and 2005, the positions created in white collar professions have been largely focused on occupations which do not require post-secondary education and are low paying, such as retail sales and clerical positions. However, this trend does not apply to Canadian women. University educated females in the 25 to 34 age bracket experienced a larger rise in their wages than those who held only high school diplomas – 2.4 per cent compared to 2 per cent – in this five-year period.
And the report was doubtful as to whether less-educated men will continue to close the earnings gap on their degree holding counterparts for too much longer. "In a global economy, industries that do not require a highly skilled, highly educated workforce search the world for cheap labour, often finding it in developing countries," it says. "This leaves Canadian workers with no post-secondary education facing significant uncertainty. "Moreover, as the economy becomes more dependent on those with high levels of education, it is expected that the education wage premium will increase and the earnings gap between university and high school graduates will widen."
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