WHO ARE DISCOURAGED JOB SEEKERS?

Who are Discouraged Job Seekers? Our definition of Discouraged Job Seekers was
 developed from the Statistics Canada definition of a Discouraged Worker. Statistics Canada defines Discouraged Workers as those persons who reported wanting to work at a job or business during a Labor Force Survey[1] (LFS) reference week and were available but who did not look for work because they believed no suitable work was available. Prior to January 1997, the definition of discouraged searcher was limited to those who looked for work within the previous 6 months but not during the last 4 weeks although they were available, and did not look because they believed no suitable work was available[2]. Their belief may derive from a variety of factors, including a shortage of jobs in their locality or line of work; perceived discrimination for reasons such as age, race, sex and religion; a lack of necessary skills, training or experience; or a chronic illness or disability[3].

We modified the definition for our purposes. We spoke with anyone who fit the following criteria a) was not currently working or b) was working and earning non-taxed earnings i.e. those who worked in the informal economy[4]. They also had to indicate that they had stopped looking for work or felt that there was little to no possibility that they would be able to obtain work where they would be eligible for insurable earnings. While not a standard we typically asked whether they felt they faced a specific barrier or set of barriers to obtaining employment. In this case we specifically sought out individuals who faced what we assumed to be barriers such as those with physical, cognitive or intellectual disabilities. Other groups we sought out were those with mental health issues and those with learning disabilities or educational gaps.

The inclusive nature of our definition meant that we ended up speaking to individuals with a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Some had been employed at the same job for many years, some had changed jobs frequently, some had university level education, and some did not complete high school. Ultimately the people who decided to participate in the Pathways to Work Project, our participants, opened our eyes to a wide array of experiences. This group should not be understood to be a representative sample of a population known as Discouraged Job Seeker. The definition of a Discouraged Worker and our adapted definition for a Discouraged Job Seeker allows for a wide spectrum of individuals to be classified as Discouraged Job Seekers. Table 1 above and Table 2 below highlight some key characteristics of the group we spoke with who identified as Discouraged Job Seekers.

We administered a questionnaire to all 31 participants. Nearly all participants identified as having at least one challenge or disability (84%). The majority however identified more than one. Figure 1 and Figure 2 below highlight this. (Note that the total responses for Figure 2 do not equal 31 as the majority of participants provided more than one response.)

As a result of discussions we had with employment services staff and others with experience in the field, we assumed that as the age of participants increased so would the number of challenges and/or disabilities they identified. We also expected that the majority of challenges and disabilities would be related to mobility, strength, and high intensity work[5]. Indeed mobility, strength and high intensity work were the most common characteristics that participants identified. However, there was no clear relationship between age and the number of challenges and disabilities participants indentified.

We did not administer any formal tests for the three main challenge or disability areas; namely, learning and literacy, physical strength and mobility, and social interactions and stress. We allowed participants to self-identify their challenge or disability, if any, in all of the categories that applied to them. We also did not seek to indentify the severity of the disability. While most of these categories are self-explanatory such as vision and hearing some are interpreted in a specific fashion. Following is an explanation of those categories.

For reading and writing we did not use a scale to assess where each participant placed in regards to the severity of their challenge or disability, rather we allowed them to identify it as an issue if it had caused them to a) be unable to work a specific job, b) be unable to retain a job, c) be unable to apply for a job, or d) have difficulty in activities of daily living. It should be noted that none of the participants appeared to be completely illiterate but some asked us to go over all of the written material rather than read it themselves. All the participants who identified a challenges or disabilities in this area did not identify a specific, verified learning disability rather they just ‘knew’ that something was wrong with the way they took in and interpreted information. It appeared that many would be prime candidates for learning assessments and training on how to manage their learning and literacy issues.

Similar to our exploration of participants’ learning and literacy abilities, no formal tests were given in order to assess where each participant placed in regards to the severity of their physical issues, rather participants were able to self-identify. Mobility was defined as the ability to move at ease throughout the day without a need to stop due to pain or fatigue. Strength was defined as being able to repeatedly lift more than 5 lbs, and was by far the most common problem. Fifty-two percent of all participants indicated some difficulty with strength. The difficulty was not always a physical disability one however. In one case the issue was more of attitude, seeing repeated lifting more than 5 lbs. as rough or stressful work.

The questions we asked about possible problematical work conditions reflect the general types of work that participants could do within the category of 'entry level’ work. We considered conditions in the retail, food service, processing and manufacturing workplaces that may be difficult for workers. In the literature about workplace accommodations and in discussions with local experts prior to engaging in a formal data collection process, we were alerted to two possible areas of concern: 1) managing relationships with co-workers and the public, and 2) the expectation for performance in a high intensity work situation.

What we found was that the social aspect of work was a motivator for many to engage in work, i.e., to reconnect with the world. At the same time the social aspect of work could be a disincentive, as many participants wanted to avoid stressful social situations. Although participants did not identify this issue as a concern when asked about it directly in the questionnaire, we suggest that it is. The recognition of this came out in the in-depth interviews, where we heard about specific troublesome situations.

High intensity work was the most difficult concept for people to grasp as we worded it, in nearly all cases we had to describe the idea. We described it as work that is fast paced, requires sustained effort and may at times be stressful. Many of the participants (42%) self-identified as being unable to maintain high intensity work.

Figures 1 and 2 below highlight the number and frequency of challenges and disabilities identified by the participants.

To many of the participants the 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday work week did not seem feasible due to the unpredictable nature of their challenge or disability. As a consequence many felt that they may require work hour accommodations: an 8 hour day broken up into several smaller shifts, need to work a day on and then a day off, or time off periodically to go to medical appointments. Figure 3 show the percentages of participants who felt they did or did not require work hour accommodations on. Issues of fatigue, both physical and mental, and pain were common amongst the participants. Many knew that they would likely need a day of rest in between work days to manage their challenge or disability. The need to go to a health care provider for medication to manage an illness or disability was also mentioned several times as a reason for needing work hour accommodations. Due to the fact that many participants had a need for work hour accommodations many of them were not seeking full-time employment (Figure 4)

In the initial stages of developing the research design employment services staff suggested that Discouraged Job Seeker’s inability to find work was a desire to ‘skip the line’ to move from unemployment and no experience to a higher paying job. In order to test this suggestion we asked each participant where ideally, they saw themselves fitting into the workforce. This question in particular was important to keep open-ended. We wanted to understand whether there was a difference between participant education and experience and where they saw themselves in the workforce: and, if there was a difference, how big that difference was.

Contrary to what was suggested by employment services staff 29 of 31 participants wanted positions exactly the same, or very similar, to ones that they had held in the past. A large majority of the positions were in retail or customer service. Table 3 below illustrates what types of jobs the participants were seeking – keep in mind these were what they saw as ideal jobs.

Table 3: Types of Jobs Discouraged Job Seekers were Seeking
Which Sector do you see yourself fitting into?	Number of Participants
Retail / Customer Service / Food Service	10
Office / Administration	6
Knowledge Sector / Research /Teaching	4
Human Services	3
Fine Arts / Music / Theatre	2
Agriculture	1
Trades / Manual Labor	2
No Answer/don’t know	3
Total	31

The two participants who indicated they wanted jobs that they did not have experience in were pursuing education to meet the requirements of those jobs at the time that they completed the questionnaire.

In some cases while the participants had worked in the job they wanted to be working in, in order to obtain those jobs now they required upgrading, the learning of new skills or the attainment of credentials that were not required previously. In only one instance did the participant require something other than more training; this person simply required a vehicle to get to work as a security guard, a position which he had held previously.

While our group was diverse and represented many different socio-economic backgrounds they shared the feeling of being left out of the world of work, they identified as being Discouraged Job Seekers. Given the diversity of the participants we spoke to it is difficult to draw a definitive picture of who are Discouraged Job Seekers. There are a few characteristics our group of participants appeared to have in common:

Majority were over the age of 35  Many have recently tried to use Employment Support Services  84% experienced some form of limitation or disability  Over half self-identified as having two or more challenges or disabilities

The most frequently cited challenges and disabilities were related to strength, mobility and ability to handle high intensity work  Over half (52%) identified a transportation issue as a barrier to seeking employment