Foreword

Both long-term and short-term economic changes such as the digital transition and the COVID-19 pandemic have had a profound impact on the labour market in Alberta. For instance, as technology continues to advance rapidly, industries are undergoing significant transformations, leading to shifts in job requirements and skills. The pandemic further accelerated these changes, forcing businesses to adapt to remote work and digital operations. Consequently, both challenges and opportunities have appeared for Alberta’s labour market, as labour demand across sectors and occupations has shifted over the last decade.

This report aims to provide an analysis of Alberta’s labour market dynamics, with a particular focus on the impact of the digital transition, COVID-19, and related trends. By examining a dataset of online job postings spanning from 2015 to 2022, the report analyses the evolution of job demand, qualifications, and degrees sought by employers, as well as the growth of different sectors and occupations, both pre- and post-pandemic. Additionally, the report explores the specific challenges and opportunities faced by youth in the labour market, including the skills demanded and career pathways available to them. The analysis in this report provides insights for policy makers, suggesting a need to support growing sectors, enhance digital skills development, address demand for health workers, and improve youth job access. Additionally, to navigate through this complex data, an interactive data visualisation application (available in the publication’s web page) accompanies the results in the report and provides detailed information about the most relevant technical and transversal skills demanded by employers for all occupations analysed.

This work has been carried out by Annikka Lemmens and Diego Eslava, under the supervision of Fabio Manca in the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs. The report benefitted from comments by colleagues in the OECD, including Stefano Scarpetta (OECD Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs), Mark Pearson (OECD Deputy Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs), Glenda Quintini (OECD, Senior Economist, Skills and Employability Division, Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs), and Francesca Borgonovi (Head of Skills Analysis, OECD Centre for Skills). Comments were also kindly provided by Kara Sherwin (Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education) and Krishna Modupalli (Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education). Editorial assistance was provided by Natalie Corry. This report is published with the financial assistance of the Alberta’s Ministry of Advanced Education.