Joanne McQuarrie, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
It was just over a year ago when the COVID-19 pandemic changed life across the globe. Millions of people have been impacted by job losses and recovery has been slow for many.
There has been inequality when it comes to job loss for women since the onset of the pandemic, said Ginette Marcoux, executive director for the Jasper Employment and Career Centre, in an email.
鈥淚t's no secret that the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women, especially low-income or recent immigrant women,鈥� Marcoux said.
鈥淲omen lost twice as many jobs or hours as men during and after the March lockdowns, and have recovered these jobs and hours much more slowly. In July, women's participation in the labour force reached its lowest level in 30 years.鈥�
Marcoux said from widespread job losses in female-dominated jobs to the pileup of work in the home, women have been hit harder since the beginning of COVID-19 and advocacy groups have warned that there will be long-term fallouts from this imbalance.
鈥淥ne year in, the impact is already starting to show,鈥� she said.
鈥淎ccording to Statistics Canada labour force data analyzed in January 2021, almost half-a-million women who lost their jobs due to the pandemic hadn't returned to work, and more than 200,00 of them were considered long-term unemployed. Another 100,000 above the age of 20 have exited the labour market, meaning they are no longer looking for work.鈥�
Marcoux said experience shows that the longer women remain unemployed, the harder it will be for them to re-enter the labour force.
鈥淔or many, the jobs they lost may not exist anymore, through shrinkage of sectors and permanent adaptations of the way companies operate,鈥� she added.
鈥淢any will experience 'skills erosion' and find that the longer they've been unemployed, the harder it will be to re-enter the sector they once worked in without upskilling or retraining.鈥�
Marcoux noted that along with the deterioration of skills will be the deterioration of networks, which will make it much more difficult to move between jobs.
Three government ministries - including Children鈥檚 Services; Culture, Multiculturalism and Status of Women; and Jobs, Economy, Innovation - were asked by the 51暗网 about how many and what type of jobs will be created by the province鈥檚 2021 budget and what jobs have been created or are available to allow women to work in conjunction with child care needs.
Justin Brattinga, press secretary for Jobs, Economy and Innovation, responded on behalf of all three ministries in an email.
鈥淲e know that women have felt the impact of job losses related to the pandemic. In the past few months we鈥檝e seen more women return to work as the economy has reopened and this is very encouraging to see,鈥� he said.
鈥淎ccess to quality childcare and eliminating barriers for all women of all backgrounds is an important part of Alberta鈥檚 economic recovery and is supported in Budget 2021.鈥�
Brattinga reported that over 131,000 women have returned to work since the height of job losses in April 2020, which is more than 53 per cent of the total jobs that have been created.
He noted how Alberta Enterprise Corporation has been a catalyst for attracting venture capital to the province, a large portion of which went to support women entrepreneurs, led by president and CEO Kristina Williams.
Alberta Innovates, another crown corporation that helps thousands of small businesses and start-ups in Alberta every year, is led by CEO Laura Kilcrease.
鈥淔emale participation in Alberta鈥檚 technology sector is over twice the national average and 30 per cent of tech companies in the province have a female founder or co-founder, according to a recent study by Alberta Enterprise Corporation,鈥� Brattinga said.
The province鈥檚 Working Parents Benefit program and space creation grants help provide more accessible childcare to working men and women across the province.
鈥淭he child care sector is also staffed by predominantly women, many of whom are female entrepreneurs,鈥� Brattinga said.
鈥淎lberta鈥檚 government invested nearly $110M since the start of the pandemic to ensure these centres could remain open to serve families.鈥�
Brattinga reaffirmed the commitment of Alberta鈥檚 government to support women in pursuing higher education and fulfilling the career of their choice, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) where women are traditionally under-represented.
鈥淥ur LEAD Scholarship Program provides funding to students who are working to reduce gender discrimination in their communities, or are pursuing a career in STEM,鈥� he said.Marcoux welcomed all jobseekers and encouraged anyone needing support for re-entering the workforce or retraining to contact the Jasper Employment and Education Centre at 780-852-4418 or visit jasperemployment.com.
