A problem or simply time to adjust?

Submitted by David on Sat, 2009-11-28 14:48

Two-thirds of university-educated recent immigrants to Canada are underemployed in jobs requiring at most a college education or apprenticeship, according to a Statistics Canada report released Monday.

Looking at Canada's immigrant labour market in 2008, the report found that immigrant wages were lower while part-time work and temporary employment were more common than among Canadian-born workers. However, after 10 years in Canada, immigrant employment looks similar to that of their Canadian-born counterparts.

- Excerpted from the Calgary Herald

This report doesn't seem to distinguish immigrants from Western and/or English-speaking countries. If coming from anywhere outside the West - or if there's a need to learn a new language in which to communicate - I'm wonder if this is really a problem or simply a reflection of the time required to adapt to the new situation linguistically and or culturally. What do you think?

Comments

Sarennah

Sun, 2009-11-29 23:29

I am sure that language learning has a LOT to do with it. But even if someone already speaks English, learning the cultural differences involved in looking for work, how to act during interviews etc can take getting used to. Also, they would likely not know or have any contacts in the fields since they are newer to the country, or know where is the best place to look for jobs. I'm glad to hear though that after 10 years it is about the same.