During the past week, the
author learned of a Statistics Canada report concerning
unemployment in the High Tech sector of the economy, in particular the
following :-
ICT – Information
and Communication Tachnology
In Ottawa, where the
author lives, this is of particular concern on account of ca. 20,000 layoffs
since March 2001 (most of these from Nortel and JDS Uniphase). The report
contains data specific to Ottawa. The report ‘s approach measures the
drop in numbers « Employed » in these two sectors, thus it seems to
correctly state the true size of the problem in this sector.
From this we may infer that at least one federal government department - Statistics Canada – knows all about what is happening.
Reference :
« High Tech Boom and Bust », by Geoff Bowlby and Stéphanie Langlois.
Statistics Canada -
Catalogue no. 75-001-XPE Summer
2002 PERSPECTIVES
However it is questionable at present whether other
federal government departments, the provincial government, the business
community or the general public are paying attention to the information and
acting on it.