Page 35 - InvestAlberta-EDA-2025

defined by what Marchand calls “routine cognitive
exercises,” the technology will require a workforce
that is equal parts subject-matter experts and
highly skilled technicians.
“Of course we have the high-end opportunities
thanks to our great universities, but we also
have tremendous opportunities in the middle
for individuals to create their own businesses
doing manual work,” Marchand says, describing
a workforce that isn’t resisting the ongoing
technological revolution, but adding to it. “[As a
result] people are seeking Alberta out for all of
those opportunities that are in the middle.”
In addition to Alberta boasting a labour force
that is, on the whole, very well rounded, institutions
like the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
(SAIT) in Calgary are also intentional about
producing graduates that are individually prepared
to face the future of work, with 81 per cent of
graduates working in the field in which they trained.
Alberta institutions like Athabasca University,
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
“THERE’S THIS GREATER NOTION
IN DEVELOPED ECONOMIES THAT
THE MIDDLE CLASS IS GOING
AWAY AND THAT THERE’S THIS
POLARIZATION OF THE LABOUR
MARKET TOWARDS THE TAILS
[OF THE EARNINGS DISTRIBUTION].”
— JOSEPH MARCHAND, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS,
UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA AND DIRECTOR,
ALBERTA CENTRE FOR LABOUR MARKET RESEARCH
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