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THE EVIDENCE ON CULTURE-BASED OCCUPATIONS 6 This section provides an overview of culture-based occupations and then proceeds to explore the issues identified summarized in Face of the Future in light of recent statistical evidence. The issues identified in Face of the Future were: 1. The weak “culture” of human resources 2. Lack of awareness of structural change 3. Employment status 4. Recruitment and retention 5. Access to training 6. Demand for new competencies The sector also shares with most of the economy features relating to • an aging workforce; • an aging marketplace; • an increasingly diverse population; • the presence of global markets; • global competition; and • strong impacts of digital technology. Culture also exists in a public policy environment with special concerns for youth, for visible minorities, for aboriginals and for regional disparities. OVERVIEW OF CULTURE-BASED OCCUPATIONS The total numbers of those in CBOs are quite substantial, representing 2%–3% of the entire labour force — metaphorically more than one person on every block. From a national human resources strategy — not just a culture-based human resources strategy — those in culturebased occupations represent 6.3% of all self-employed workers in the country. The size of this sector is significant not just because of its size relative to the labour force as a whole, but also because of its rate of growth — consistently surpassing the growth of the labour force as a whole as <strong>document</strong>ed for the 1970s and 1980s. The most recent census data for 2001 indicate this rate of job creation is still going strong. As examples, the number of people making their living from dancing essentially tripled during the 1970s, increased by further 40% during the 1980s, and a strong additional 70% in the 1990s. Actors also tripled in numbers in the 1970s, increased by 50% through the 1980s and doubled again in the 1990s. A core group of the arts and culture-based occupations has grown from a reported 156,000 in 1971 to 272,000 for 1981, to 375,000 for 2001. A more inclusive definition now used by the Department of Canadian Heritage and Statistics Canada puts the total of culture-related jobs at half a million using the 2001 Census data. 16 BUILDING ON SUCCESS — A HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE CULTURAL SECTOR — 2004 15
The future for this as an area in which people want to work, and do work, is indicated by looking at the number of people employed by age. The percentage of the labour force identified with culture-based occupations is 2.7%. However, it is only 2.2% for those over 55 years old, 2.5% for those between 35 and 44, but 3.1% for those between 25 and 35 and 3.4% for those under 25: i.e., younger people are present in culturebased occupations at a higher rate than has been the case in the past. There are proportionately more people 25–34 years old (a stage to become established in a career) in culture-based occupations in 2001 than there were in 1991. This situation is reinforced by cohort analysis (looking at people ten years later, e.g., 2001 versus 1991) which indicates that people stay in their cultural occupations, and in some cases, such as writers and visual artists, people enter these fields as primary occupations more as they get older. Over the past thirty years, culture-based occupations have become a substantial part of the Canadian Labour Force and this is a presence which Statistics Canada data indicates is increasing. Will their careers be successful? 6.1 “THE WEAK CULTURE OF HUMAN RESOURCES” AND “LACK OF AWARENESS OF STRUCTURAL CHANGE” As a preamble to its delineation of human resources issues felt to be affecting the sector, the qualitative report noted two “restrictive attitudes or beliefs that…pervade the sector.” “A central theme that emerged throughout the study which has far-reaching implications for the cultural sector is the weak ‘culture’ of human resources that exists within the sector.” – Face of the Future This theme, the lack of attention to human resources as an issue, has been expressed by the sector throughout the decade. This can be attributed to the small scale of many culture operations which do not allow for an expert to be employed in this area. It also is assumed to be a particular spin-off of the “character” of a cultural job which may be more concerned with artistic skills than attention to administration or management or career development from a financial point of view. These features the sector shares in general with many other sectors characterized by small or micro-businesses. Specific, high-profile programs on culture-based human resources issues from a national strategy will help address this concern. Another contextual theme raised in Face of the Future is the lack of a “big-picture” view of economic, technical and social changes in the sector — “the cultural sector appears to fail to appreciate the scope and importance of structural changes that are taking place in the workplace and in society in general” (7). This requires a strategic management perspective, which once again may be endemic in many areas of the economy dominated by micro-businesses and self-employment where there are not enough resources to allow contemplation of this scenario. 16 BUILDING ON SUCCESS — A HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE CULTURAL SECTOR — 2004
Page 1 and 2: A Human Resources Development Strat
Page 3 and 4: BUILDING ON SUCCESS — HIGHLIGHTS
Page 5 and 6: FOREWORD THE CULTURAL SECTOR HUMAN
Page 7 and 8: INTRODUCTION 1 Occupations based on
Page 9 and 10: PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT 3 The purp
Page 11 and 12: DEFINITIONS, SCOPE AND IMPACT 5 5.1
Page 13 and 14: THE PRESENCE OF THE “CULTURAL”
Page 15: Over the past generation • the nu
Page 19 and 20: Another indicator of employment sta
Page 21 and 22: With this background the data from
Page 23 and 24: The weaknesses noted with existing
Page 25 and 26: 7.3 CENTRAL FINDINGS The discussion
Page 27 and 28: • culture-based occupations are t
Page 29 and 30: (ii) allocating increased financial
Page 31 and 32: esources needs the development of s
Page 33 and 34: (b) Career development for cultures
Page 35 and 36: Solutions will require clear shifts
Page 37 and 38: access to the tools through its Web
Page 39 and 40: 8.3 CAREER-LONG LEARNING IMMEDIATE
Page 41 and 42: SOURCES A Leisure Study, Canada 197

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