Articles

The old industrial era was stressful for workers. Factories churning out endless consumer products were built around assembly line jobs, which were physically taxing and mind-numbingly boring. In today’s global knowledge economy, robots or workers in developing countries do most of the factory work. The "blue-collar blues," as factory worker dissatisfaction was called in the […]

Presenteeism hurts output, quality of work-life and employee health. Absenteeism has caught the attention of many employers. It’s on the rise, costly, and one of the most widely measured indicators of a healthy organization.

Keynote presentation by Graham Lowe at the Health, Work & Wellness 2002 Conference. Lake Louise, Alberta. October 7, 2002

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some injured workers do not file for workers’ compensation claims. This article provides evidence of this under-reporting, based on a national survey of Canadian workers. Forty percent of workers who had experienced an injury elibible for workers’ compensation had not filed a claim. Policy makers therefore need to do more to […]

Expect to hear a lot more about workplace health in the near future. Skyrocketing public and private health-care costs will almost certainly increase calls for workplaces to be used as venues for health promotion.

Looking into a future marked by intense competition for talent, growing numbers of employers are striving to create “workplaces of choice.” Yet, despite the consensus that health human resources are a vital piece of the healthcare reform puzzle, few health service organizations have developed comprehensive strategies to address work environment issues. The cumulative impact of […]

Across the industrialized world, governments have adopted a human resource-based model of economic development. Enabling citizens to acquire knowledge, skills and education is a necessary but no longer sufficient condition for economic success. Equally crucial is ensuring that past investments have the intended social and economic payoffs. The next generation of policy must strive to […]

Today’s skill needs and tomorrow’s baby-boomer retirements are motivating employers to act strategically about recruitment and retention. Too often, however, the goal of a resilient and committed workforce is expressed in vague terms, like becoming an &’employer of choice’.

Canadians want quality. We want quality time with our loved-ones, quality consumer products, and quality service as customers. What about the quality of work?

Much of the debate about enhancing the employability skills of Canadian youth is premised on untested assumptions. This paper examines Alberta high school students’ self-reports of the employability skills they have acquired in high school courses, formal work experience programs, paid part-time employment, and volunteer work. Certain types of employability skills are considerably more likely […]