Economists say the job market is hollowing out. What does that mean for Calgarians?

Welding is loud, dirty work — precarious in Alberta in that it's tied to the constant ebbs and flows of the economy.

After 10 years, Laurn MacIsaac is proud of a career she thinks she can count on. But the apprentices who work under her? Not so much. 

"The ones that I've talked to have said that the trades were kind of like a gateway to make money so that they can pay off their next choice of education," she said.

Work is changing. Attitudes are changing — in Calgary and across the country.

Historically, Calgary's fortunes have gone up and down with the price of oil, not just for engineers and executives, but with extra cash feeding construction, service jobs and retail.

Now other trends are threatening. Cities in Canada and beyond are seeing middle-skill jobs — for example, machine operators and cashiers — steadily disappearing.

And while some believe a labour shortage could lead to higher wages for typically low-paid jobs, it's not yet clear if/when that will happen. And then there's artificial intelligence. And the pandemic. Did it accelerate other trends we're only now discovering?

Today, CBC Calgary is launching a new community-driven series on work. We want to hear your stories on how your industry is changing and what it actually means on the ground.

Is it changing your ambitions or dreams?

Use our text messaging app if you want to chat in a confidential way. Then together we can figure out how to tell the work stories that matter — paint a clearer picture of life in Calgary and maybe get better prepared for the road ahead. 

Boom and bust. Today, Alberta is booming with record profits for oil companies and the promise of massive reinvestment in 2023.

But will those middle-wage jobs come back? Calgary is the second most unequal city in Canada, after Toronto, according to the 2022 Community Wellbeing Report, released Tuesday. Almost 42,000 Calgarians are considered "working poor," and one in five Calgarians can't afford healthy food.

And there's a skills mismatch. In Alberta, Statistics Canada says there are about 100,000 open jobs and about 150,000 people looking for work, while companies especially in energy, manufacturing and construction say they can't find people. Groups such as the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say there's a lack of interest in those jobs from younger Canadians and an exodus of aging baby boomers.

What does it mean on the ground? In some cities, the labour shortage has led to markets being tilted in favour of workers for the first time in memory.