thejobhunters.net

Courtesy of the Toronto Star. For the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

Treasury Board President Stockwell Day has cut a sliver out of government spending by axing 245 mostly vacant positions on government agencies, boards and commissions.

Day’s announcement Monday followed a review of some 2,700 positions, the minister told reporters.

An NDP critic described the savings as imaginary, since 90 per cent of the positions at 200 federal organizations were vacant.

In some cases, the positions had been vacant for a few years.

Courtesy of the Globe and Mail. For the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

Eric Snow figures that, come the end of March, he’ll have a summer job all lined up.

It’s a pretty cocky attitude in the midst of an economy that has seen belt-tightening and layoffs. And it comes amid predictions of another summer that may match last year’s, when the student jobless rate hit a dismal 19.2 per cent, the second-highest figure since comparable data began being compiled in 1977, according to Statistics Canada.

So why is Mr. Snow feeling so confident?

The 23-year-old student, wrapping up the first of a two-year masters in public administration program at Dalhousie University in Halifax, has been pounding the pavement for the past two months.

And he’s flogging what he believes is his secret weapon: a résumé packed with volunteer and part-time jobs directly connected to his studies. He figures that makes him a prize catch for his summer-job target: a public-sector employer on the lookout for students armed with related experience.

The summer job hunt is on, and for students aiming to find work that will connect to their career path, employment and workplace experts say Mr. Snow’s strategy is on the mark.

Courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen. To read the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

The National Research Council is laying off 86 people as part of cuts announced last year to reduce costs at the country’s leading research organization.

The layoffs begin in April and will affect employees at the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI), the country’s national science library and leading publisher of scientific information. By the time it is over, CISTI, which used to employ about 350 people, will be down by close to 70 per cent, union officials say.

Courtesy of CBC. To read the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

So how will the budget be balanced? Will it be accomplished down the road through big layoffs in the federal public service, or by implementing a hiring freeze that would leave vacant positions unfilled? Will major capital spending programs be deferred? Will the military face cutbacks after the Afghan mission ends in 2011? Will the government abandon its “no tax increase” pledge? Will publicly owned assets be sold off? Or will the economy eventually grow enough to generate the new personal and corporate tax revenue needed to do the job? That’s what the government has fervently maintained will happen.

In the mid-1990s, Liberal Finance Minister Paul Martin chose to tackle the country’s large deficit through huge cuts in public spending. Some of the measures were not popular, but that government enjoyed a majority in Parliament.

Courtesy of the National Post. To read the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

The Chopping Block believes Ottawa can do a lot better. It’s done it before. From 1995 and 1997 (the year in which the Liberals balanced the budget) federal employment (not including the military) decreased by 41,000 and total wages and salaries decreased by $1.7 billion. Doubling that savings number of 15 years ago should be easy by comparison.

If we start with the 414,713 federal employees today, and allow for attrition and some judicious pruning, total employment could be cut by 1% per year over the next five years, dropping to 394,000 — a decline of 20,000 compared with the 41,000 cut in 1995-7.

Then Ottawa could begin holding wage increases down. Let’s be really generous and allow wages to keep pace with inflation of 2%. By 2013-14, the total wage bill would come in at less than $31.9-billion. Total saving: $3.4-billion by 2014-15.

Courtesy of the Financial Post. To read the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

Employers paid more than $290 million in “top-up” benefits to women on maternity leave in 2008, Statistics Canada said recently.

During that year, about 20 per cent of new mothers — more than 51,000 — who received employment insurance benefits also received the top-ups, the federal agency said. That number has remained stable for the past decade, it added.

Public service employees were “significantly” more likely than private-sector workers to receive the supplemental benefits. In the private sector, women working for companies with more than 500 employees were three times more likely to be paid the top-up.

Courtesy of the Montreal Gazette. To read the full story, click here.

Excerpt(s):

Whether critiquing the health care system, complaining about taxes or praising initiatives, few topics spark as much debate in this country as government does. With all we’ve got to say about our nation’s management, it might surprise you to learn that a staggering 20.4 per cent of the Canadian workforce is actually employed in the public sector.

“People generally don’t expect the government to be such a popular employer,” said Graham Donald, founder and president of Brainstorm Consulting. “We’ve been surveying university and college students annually since 2004 and government agencies are always at the top of their desired employer list.”

In 2009 the Government of Canada, Provincial Government and Health Canada were the highest-ranking employers on the Top Campus Employer Brand Rankings, based on a survey of more than 16,000 Canadian university and college students in all areas of study.

…

The ability for career advancement in the public sector is enhanced by various in-house management programs such as the Career Assignment, Management Trainee and Accelerated Executive Development Programs.

“There’s no question that the possibility for professional growth and career advancement is large,” Donald said.

Aside from internal mobility, public service positions offer competitive compensation and benefits packages. Dental, medical and pension benefits with coverage for prescription drugs, vision care, paramedical practitioners, and hospitalization for employees and their families are most noteworthy. In addition, employees are also granted the possibility of vacation time, numerous types of leave, sound working conditions and competitive salaries.

“The ability to achieve a work-life balance is a very important,” Donald said. “People want a reasonable work schedule that allows them to maintain and pursue their own interests.”

Courtesy of the Montreal Gazette. For the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

Training and continuous learning are given high priority in the federal government, says Joanne Lalonde, the PSC’s director-general of national client services. “The public service is a continuous learning organization, so there’s a great investment in all the employees through mentoring, coaching, classroom training, as well as on-the-job training.”

The government offers a myriad of career paths for a young person, Lalonde says. “The variety is exceptional. We have over 1,000 different types of jobs across the country (requiring) all types of educational skills.”

The PSC runs several hiring programs, including a post-secondary recruitment program designed to match university and college graduates to entry-level officer positions. Recently advertised, for example, were two policy analyst-related positions with the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness with starting salaries of about $50,000.

Many students get their foot in the door through hiring programs while they’re attending university. For instance, the government hires more than 9,000 students annually through its Federal Student Work Experience Program, which provides full-time students the opportunity to work in a field related to their studies. Hiring is also done through co-op and internship programs, says Lalonde.

Courtesy of the Montreal Gazette. To read the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

Landing an administrative job in government has never been an easy task for outsiders. But if you play your cards right, and market yourself properly, the odds of making it to the final interview stage will increase exponentially.

Contrary to what some may think, there are ample opportunities for employment at both the federal and provincial levels. While certain jurisdictions, such as Alberta, are in the midst of a hiring freeze, many government agencies are anticipating a growing demand.

Courtesy of Benefits Canada. To read the full story, click here.

Excerpt:

The fate of the so-called “gold plated” public sector pensions appears to be up in the air as the country awaits the federal government’s 2010 budget, and those on both sides of the debate are weighing in.

Recent comments from Treasury Board president Stockwell Day, regarding the need to bring federal spending down, have raised the hackles of public sector unions, who suspect the government’s oft-repeated statements about bringing the deficit under control without raising taxes means spending - including civil service compensation - is under the microscope.

One month before collective agreements in the public sector are set to expire, a study by actuary Pierre Girardin for the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) notes the growing disparity between public sector and private sector pensions, and calls on the government to take this into account for the budget.

Girardin’s study compares the working conditions of public and private sector workers, noting that most public sector workers enjoy the benefit of job security while the average private sector worker will have three different employers over the course of their career. He concludes that even if the private sector worker is offered retirement plans equivalent to the government plan by each of his three employers - an unlikely scenario - the public sector worker’s retirement plan will still be worth 41% more at the time of retirement.