Alberta Jobs

[BC_chick]

hahahahaha - that post is the buzzer-beater. GAME OVER. sums it all up quite nicely.

The average Albertan earns $67,000/year which is well above the national average, and well-above the second highest-earning province of Ontario. That's where all the hype comes from.

But obviously people are forgetting that the province is not very populated, therefore the top-income brackets bring up all the average figures, giving an illusion of wealth throughout the province.

The labour shortage is a fact though.

[geoffrey]

The average Albertan earns $67,000/year which is well above the national average, and well-above the second highest-earning province of Ontario. That's where all the hype comes from.

Yup, about $10k higher than anywhere else. And a GDP per capita of well over 130% of the national average too.

But obviously people are forgetting that the province is not very populated, therefore the top-income brackets bring up all the average figures, giving an illusion of wealth throughout the province.

I confused. Are you saying there are more high income earners as a percentage of the population in Alberta? And if so, why is that a bad thing?

[Saturn]

The average Albertan earns $67,000/year which is well above the national average, and well-above the second highest-earning province of Ontario. That's where all the hype comes from.

The labour shortage is a fact though.

The average Albertan also pays more for housing and everything else than people in ROC do. When you consider the differences in the cost of living and the fact that Alberta's future isn't that bright, you may be better off living elsewhere.

[Saturn]

But obviously people are forgetting that the province is not very populated, therefore the top-income brackets bring up all the average figures, giving an illusion of wealth throughout the province.

I confused. Are you saying there are more high income earners as a percentage of the population in Alberta? And if so, why is that a bad thing?

BC is saying that the income distribution in Alberta is more skewed than in the rest of the country, meaning that the average exceeds the median by a lot more in AB than in ROC. This is of course why income averages don't mean a whole lot and why they are generally used by people who don't know stats.

[guyser]

The average Albertan also pays more for housing and everything else than people in ROC do.

You sure about that? Compared to Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal?

[Saturn]

The average Albertan also pays more for housing and everything else than people in ROC do.

You sure about that? Compared to Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal?

Last time I checked Vancouver, TO, and Montreal were still cities, not provinces.

[geoffrey]

The average Albertan also pays more for housing and everything else than people in ROC do.

You sure about that? Compared to Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal?

Last time I checked Vancouver, TO, and Montreal were still cities, not provinces.

And last time I checked Calgary was a city, not a province.

[BC_chick]

I confused. Are you saying there are more high income earners as a percentage of the population in Alberta? And if so, why is that a bad thing?

Sorry, I took the "cut out as much of the quote out as possible" a little too far.

The quote I was responding to was agreeing with another poster who had just listed a number of available jobs in AB, illustrating that the wages in AB are not that much better than anywhere else.

I was therefore saying that the reason everyone says jobs pay so much better in AB, is not because the rate of pay for the same jobs is better, but because the per-capita in so much higher. I then went on to imply that if you factor in the fact that the top earners of the province are making incredible amounts of wealth, but there are not enough average-income earners to balance this out (compared to say ON), then the figures are misleading.

Hence, it is true per-capita wages are high, but every-day jobs (outside the oil industry) do not pay that much better than anywhere else.

[geoffrey]

Hence, it is true per-capita wages are high, but every-day jobs (outside the oil industry) do not pay that much better than anywhere else.

I see your point and agree with some of it, at least in principle. I don't think Superstore cashiers make $12.50/hr plus a $1/hr bonus after 1000 hours many other places in Canada.

Alot of the stress is limited to Calgary and the actual centres of oil development like Fort Mac. Places like Lethbridge or Edmonton aren't feeling the same stresses or seeing the same labour increases.

It's not as profound as many make it out to be, but even an unskilled worker can make a decent living in Alberta. If you get into oil and gas as a floorhand on a rig, your making good cash and all you need is a couple day course in sour gas safety.

The potential is there for those ambitious and perhaps crazy enough to want it. Alberta is very much that way, you get what you earn here, there isn't much for people wanting to be average.

It's fantastic that way for younger people entering the workforce, you can advance extremely quickly and make great money doing so. I'd never see the opportunities I've been given at my young age working in Toronto or Montreal, especially in the area that I'm in. I have friends in business schools in Ontario and Quebec as well, and they are amazed at the responsbilities and compensation we received out here.

It's a place to make your name, but not much past that. If you want a place to live and just 'exist' per say, Calgary ain't your place. If you want to be a winner, it's clearly the place to be in Canada.

[fellowtraveller]

A guy I know works for the Post Office, actually he is retired but they keep bringing him back on contract for a month or three. Even Canada Post is feeling the pinch of labour shortages, despite offering $23/hour, great benefits and relative job security.

They've lost plenty of carriers and drivers to greener pastures. Those used to be very difficult jobs to secure, not anymore.

[Black Dog]

That's a very unaccurate sterotype, maybe in your neck of the woods. The BMW's and Benz's are becoming more apparent in Calgary, we're slowly leaving our pickup truck obsession.

Of course: that's where all the head office schmucks live. I'm talking about the guys with high school educations making 60K a year as righands. They're the one's who, in the event of a downturn, are going to be up shit creek without a paddle, not the white collar boys with the fat stock portfolios and cushy desk gigs.

[geoffrey]

That's a very unaccurate sterotype, maybe in your neck of the woods. The BMW's and Benz's are becoming more apparent in Calgary, we're slowly leaving our pickup truck obsession.

Of course: that's where all the head office schmucks live. I'm talking about the guys with high school educations making 60K a year as righands. They're the one's who, in the event of a downturn, are going to be up shit creek without a paddle, not the white collar boys with the fat stock portfolios and cushy desk gigs.

So they'll return to where they would have been before the oil and gas boom?