Sears Canada Pension Crisis

One of the most pressing issues faced by Canada today is unemployment. In fact, reports confirm that the jobless rate continues to increase every year. As of February this year, the unemployment rate was at 7.0%. The presence of unemployment rate is evident in various provinces. In Quebec, the number of people working declined by 26,000 in February. Alternately, the number of employed in British Columbia fell by 10,000; while Saskatchewan nearly 6,000 individuals are unable to find jobs. The Conference Board of Canada projected that the country’s labour woes could reach to more than one million workers by 2020. In addition to this, experts predict that the unemployment rate in this country will surpass that of the United States. Along with the dismal figures and projections, the problem of unemployment consequently creates numerous negative consequences on the nation’s economy, its government, and of course its people. Some of the known effects of unemployment include reduced spending power, an increase in financial cost, recession, and even crimes and violence. Individually, long-term unemployment may result to depression, loss of self-respect, and strained relationships with family and friends – ultimately causing damage to the person’s overall well-being. The adverse effects of unemployment only show that this issue imposes a significant cost both on a national and individual level. As such, it is of primary importance to create an immediate plan of action to alleviate

All companies have core competencies that they use to differentiate their company, product, or service from the competition, Sears is no exception. Also, it is common for a company’s core competencies to change, as their industry progresses through phases and shifts its emphasis between product and process innovations (Regis University, 2011), Sears is no exception. Yet, when a company’s core competencies become misaligned and no longer supports their strategic intent the business is in danger of becoming obsolete (Regis University, 2011), as their customers no longer perceive the unique benefits the company has

The employees being laid off are major stakeholders as their means of living in jeopardy. In addition, as a result of the layoffs, the local economy will be effected. The culture of inclusiveness was one of the things that attracted Dennis to the company and the layoffs could seriously damage the institutions culture (Gentile, 2009).

I think that Abbott did right by finding alternatives to workforce layoffs. It was good thought by giving early retirement to employees over the age 55. Others like cross training and sharing reduced the work on one person and improved efficiency. What he did not focus was did not strategically look for other alternatives besides getting rid of older employees by offering them retirement. He should of retained older people whose experience

However, after the CPP came into effect, Pearson had changed their low status into a higher one. This pension plan compelled workers to save for the future and thus allowed the senior population of workers to live a prosperous life with guaranteed income. With more money, seniors could maintain the possessions and assets that they had prior to retirement and not have to give them up due to their impoverished situation and need for more money. Likewise, they would not have to sacrifice as much of their daily habits and pleasures because they could not afford to partake in them. However, seniors were not the only individuals who experienced positive change because of this plan, so did the workers themselves. Employees felt a sense of safety and satisfaction when going about their lives since they knew that their financial future was more promising than bleak. With this plan, Pearson subdued most of the anxiety that workers would experience when contemplating their future by forcing them to constantly secure their own future. Thus, based on Lester B. Pearson’s contribution to the making of universal healthcare in Canada as well as the Canadian Pension Plan, it can be concluded that Pearson positively changed the health, mental and economic well-being of all

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the creation of the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan and to argue that it is a necessary and potentially effective way to ensure that workers in the private sector in Ontario will be able to retire and live comfortably. This conclusion is not made lightly as it is import to view any broadening of government influence through the most critical of lenses. However, there is an increasing need for Ontarians to save for retirement and it is becoming more and more apparent that private pension plans will not be able to meet the needs of most people. This is because too few people have private pensions and the once that do exist sit on volatile ground.

Canada’s birth rates are below replacement levels and its population is aging, causing a significant drop in labour force growth over the long term. By 2030, nearly one out of every four Canadians will be 65 years or older. Moreover,

Over the last few years, it has been predominantly evident that Sears Canada has been not performing relevant to the standards present within the competitive industry. The market of retail department stores has dramatically changed since the time the corporate entity first began. To stay relevant within today’s retail industry, Sears Canada has to change their current operations. In today's market, the power of value-driven consumer products has been dominating the industry due to their affordable prices and emphasized popularity. Sears Canada has failed to distinguish themselves within the industry as either an affordable or a high quality department store. With emerging high-end retailers like Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew, the Hudson's Bay Company, and the rise of online discount retailers like Amazon and eBay, Sears can not afford to flood both market segments. This has become a major issue that Sears Canada is facing, as the company will need to differentiate themselves from their competitors by focusing their resources in the home improvement industry.

During times of economic downturn, employees can feel susceptible. Employers may need to reduce contracted hours or change staff job roles to save money. This leads to staff feeling exposed and concerned about possible redundancy, which in turn effects how they relate to the organisation.

The layoffs are at the heart of the problem affecting the hospital. From the CEO’s perspective, the layoffs are a response to decreased revenues where the facility has to reduce its expenses to stay in operation. In the case of the operations director, the layoffs are a cost-cutting measure and an appropriate response to reduced activity in the hospital. However, the employees are likely to interpret the situation as a lack of proper management or concern for their welfare (Sobieralski & Nordstrom, 2012).

Given the state of the recession and how it might have affected an organisation’s finances, this has a large impact on the employment relationship i.e. due to cuts there be maybe redundancies, therefore leading to loss of jobs.

Mandatory retirement has a long history in the Canadian labour market system. Retirement is a social institution which emerged in the industrialized revolution during the beginning of the 20th century (McDonald 2). The social policy was developed along with the introduction of private and public pension plans (McDaniel and Um 75). Until recently, mandatory retirement was allowed in all of Canada jurisdictions except for Manitoba and Quebec (Gomez and Gunderson 2). Mandatory retirement was most prominent for males and persons with higher education, better health, full-time work, lived in urban locations and has higher income (Gomez and Gunderson 4). Maximum age limits are used by employers to institute mandatory retirement policies and the maximum age limits are used by employers to govern mandatory retirement policies. These limits have been challenged under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which applies to all

After the liquidation, approximately at least 2,900 people will lose jobs, leaving Canadians in a serious economic crisis in their life. Due to this, it seems challenging for Canadians to pay off their mortgage, bills, taxes and more. Not only they might have an issue to meet the payment of their economic priorities, but also the difficulty of providing themselves along with their family with the services and resources needed to survive. This includes the inability of providing food, clothes, education and much more. Very few Sear employees were shocked with the liquidation due to them having the upcoming feeling with the dwindling sales, debt loads, and with the shifting of consumer tastes toward online sales. Rather they are vigorous and upset of the closing. Workers at Sears are still contributing their assistance and will have to until the liquidation process will be done. With this, the employees know that they will be unemployed by the very end. After the liquidation, former Sears employees will have to find an entirely new occupation field, where they might have no experience in or need to learn about it. With Sear employees finding new jobs, this can benefit other large retailers, since the unemployed Sear employees are most likely trying to find the same occupation

After considering Scott Gilmore’s article in this weeks collection of The Columnists, many employed individuals are still suffering with loans and credit losses. Canadians find that receiving an advance pay day loan will help them in the long run but not when it comes to the amount of interest due when following up on financial companies, their spending more money then they initially have. Consumers are bombarded in multiple occasions of monthly and weekly payments that they simply cannot keep up, thus turning to rely on loans which includes; car payments, tax deductibles, land tax, etc. Canada successfully has made a profiting business towards those who cannot even afford there bills they already have piled up. This

Downsizing, restructuring, rightsizing, even a term as obscure as census readjustment has been used to describe the plague that has been affecting corporate America for years and has left many of its hardest working employees without work. In the year 2001 we had nearly 1.8 million jub cuts, that’s almost three times as much as the year 2000(Matthew Benz). In the 1990's, one million managers of American corporations with salaries over $40,000 also lost their jobs. In total, Fortune 500 companies have eliminated 4.4 million positions since 1979 including the 65,000 positions cut in February of 2002 (Ellen Florian). Although this downsizing of companies can have many reasons behind it and cannot be