Employment : In The News

Last weekend, more than 10,000 people marched for climate action in a Toronto rally that attracted the likes of Jane Fonda and David Suzuki. Its message was precedent-setting for one big reason, according to The Guardian: an emphasis on the notion that tackling climate change can make for a more fair and equitable society. 

“I’m here because I think that the coalition that is represented in today’s march and rally, and not just today but ongoing in Canada — First Nations, labour unions, working people, students — this is the kind of coalition that will make the difference,” said Fonda. 

Read the whole story here.
Source: The Guardian. 

We've been going on and on about how Toronto's great for startups, but don't take our word for it. According to Forbes, Toronto is a great destination for startup investors and developers.

The site reports:
Because of this, the high volume of startups makes the city of particular interest to investors.

Forbes adds: “Not everyone has to move to the Bay Area to be a successful tech startup entrepreneur, investor or worker.”


Read the full article here. 
Source: Forbes

A new survey ranks Toronto 15th globally when it comes to the city’s concentration of millionaires, with one in 44 people—or just over two per cent of our population—considered having net assets of at least $1-million. The figure, the director of the University of Toronto’s Martin Prosperity Institute Richard Florida told the Toronto Star, points to Toronto’s place among world class cities such as New York and London. 

“This is just another indication that Toronto is in the ranks of the most affluent global cities in the world,” he said.

Conducted by WealthInsight, a British think-tank, the survey considered net assets, “excluding the value of one’s primary residence,” the Toronto Star reported. Toronto placed above Venice (16th) and Brussels (17th). At the top was Monaco, followed by Zurich and Geneva. 

But, says Florida, whose work focuses on social and economic theory, this report does not paint a full picture of Toronto as it stands right now. 

“It’s good that Toronto’s developing, it’s good that there’s more millionaires, but we have to take care of the bottom not just the top,” he says. “That’s where we’re not putting enough effort.”

The Toronto Star also interviewed Les Jacobs, director of the Institute for Social Research at York University, who echoed the sentiments. 

“I think that having that wealth is important in terms of competing in the global economy. The real question I guess . . . is the reason that you, the provocative policy issue is really about redistribution and the sharing of that wealth. That’s a trickier question,” he said. 

Still, Jacobs said, the report is indicative of Toronto’s wealth of opportunities and its strength as a city. 

Read the full story here.
Original source:  Toronto Star

On Monday, Toronto's MakeWorks announced a partnership with Indiegogo Canada that will help the co-working maker studio expand their programming and potentially finance a second location.

MakeWorks is the first coworking space of its kind in Toronto, providing support to both digital and physical-focused startups. The 10,000 square-foot space houses some 30 different startups, prototyping tools and maker tools such as 3D printers, and acts as a large event space for community and hackathon events alike. 

"Toronto needed a new kind of shared workspace catered to the next generation of startups, products, and services. We built MakeWorks to serve a more diverse group of startups, and the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive,” MakeWorks founder Mike Stern said in an article that appeared in Tech Cocktail. 

The partnership with Indiegogo Canada will allow the studio to enhance their community workshop programming and expand their in house equipment offerings. MakeWorks has been working to increase the number of startups involved in the space. As such, Indiegogo will move its Canadian headquarters into the space as part of the deal. 

Read the original story here. 
Original Source: Tech Cocktail

A group of significant Toronto startups including Wattpad, Shopify, InteraXon, Bionym, and Freshbooks have teamed up with Toronto Homecoming to launch an event designed to attract Canadians living abroad back to Toronto's "thriving technology startup ecosystem," a release stated. 

"Returning to Toronto was the best career move I've made, giving me the opportunity to join Bionym at such an exciting time," said Andrew D'Souza, President of Bionym, in the release. "The current wave of startup technology companies emerging from this ecosystem have enormous potential and represent trajectory-shifting career opportunities for those looking to take the next step as technology leaders. All of these companies have attracted capital, customers and partners from around the globe -- now they're looking to add world-class talent to build their businesses."

Toronto Homecoming's startup event will feature 10 to 15 startups looking to expand their employee base and entice homegrown talent back to the city. It is estimated some 300,000 Canadians live and work in the Bay Area alone. 

"Toronto Homecoming is excited to partner with startups that have significant momentum, funding and great leadership teams. We believe this new startup stream will attract more talent to Toronto, and Canada," said Andrew Graham, Toronto Homecoming's Co-Chair, in the release. "Toronto Homecoming shows Canada's next generation of world-class companies."

The event takes place October 9-11. Applications are open until August 1. 

Participating startups include:

•    Bionym
•    Shopify
•    WattPad
•    500px
•    Wave
•    Freshbooks
•    Achievers
•    Ecobee
•    WealthSimple
•    FinMaven
•    Soapbox
•    Shoebox
•    Interaxon
•    Tab Payments

For more information and registration click here. 
Original Source: Market Wired 

"We need Entrepreneur Barbie so little girls can have a role model and can see someone who looks like them in the future and to know that when they grow up, they can become an entrepreneur," said Erica Diamond, Barbie Canada’s chief inspiration officer, in an article that appeared on Yahoo.ca. 

Entrepreneur Barbie is cloaked in a pink sleeveless dress with black accents and comes complete with a briefcase (which resembles a designer purse, the article notes), and a tiny tablet and smartphone accessories. 

Mattel Canada argues Entrepreneur Barbie was created to inspire young girls to "dream big and perhaps one day be their own boss," the article reports.

In addition to the Barbie, Mattel also announced a new Barbie Business Bursary Program which will award three Canadian entrepreneurs under the age of 18 with $2,500 each to help fund their winning business idea. 

Of course, Entrepreneur Barbie and Barbies in general are not complete without controversy. 

"I think both Entrepreneur Barbie and their $7,500 bursary fund trivializes the issues women in business generally face, and female entrepreneurs in particular," says business professor Wendy Cukier, who teaches at Ryerson University’s management school, in the article. 

She is doubtful that Entrepreneur Barbie will make much of a difference, referring to a recent Oregon State University study that found girls who played with Barbies were less confident and believed in fewer career options than girls who played with other toys.  

"…the research really suggests that if you want to build confident, enterprising and risk-taking girls, they’re better off playing with Lego or [Mrs.] Potato Head."

Mattel was quick to note that lots of successful women played with Barbies as children, and many children view them as friends and sources of great imagination. 

Read the full story here. 
Original Source: Yahoo

Joanna Griffiths, the Toronto-based entrepreneur and founder of innovative underwear company Knix Wear, sat down with Entrepreneur magazine recently to discuss something she knows quite well—building a successful crowdfunding campaign. 

Griffiths turned to crowdfunding in 2013 with the launch of an Indiegogo campaign to test the market for her moisture-wicking, odour-absorbent underwear. 

"It was the last test in a series of tests I conducted before launching the business," she told the magazine. 

It worked. She surpassed her goal and raised more than $50,000 from some 518 backers. But it didn't come without its challenges. Still, Griffiths persevered and learned a few lessons along the way.

For starters, she says, you need to have a plan. "You can't launch a campaign, go on autopilot and expect money to come rolling in," she says in the article. She studied successful campaigns before launching one of her own, determined to mimic their results by following their approaches. 

She makes eight recommendations from making your campaign personal ("People fund people, not just ideas") to taking things offline ("You want to build excitement, get people excited about backing the project…Don't ignore offline opportunities to build engagement.")

A worthwhile read for anyone considering launching a crowdfunding campaign of their own—or for those looking to pick up a few smart business practice tips. 

Read the full story here. 
Original Source: Entrepreneur.com 

A new report recognizes Toronto as the best city to be a woman in Ontario, and the sixth in Canada overall.

The report, entitled the Best and Worst Places to Be A Woman in Canada, was issued by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and provides an Index of Gender Equality in Canada’s Twenty Largest Metropolitan Areas. It takes "a closer look at how women are faring in their communities," the report says, focusing on the gap between men and women. 

Toronto's positioning as sixth overall shines both a positive and negative light on the discrepancies between women and men in Ontario's largest metropolitan area. 

Where we shine the brightest is in the realm of education. Both women and men were found equally likely to hold high school or university degrees. When it comes to the trades and apprenticeships, however, men outnumbered women two to one. 

When it comes to employment, our employment rates were consistent with national averages, at 66 per cent for men and 58 per cent for women. However, women's access to full-time employment was significantly lower than men's, and 44 per cent versus 58 per cent respectively. The report indicates that the wage gap is smaller than average, but still it women were found to earn 77 cents on the male dollar. 

And when it comes to women in leadership, there's nothing we didn't already know. Men outnumbered women, with three out of four positions held by men. We fare slightly better in municipal politics, with women representing one in three elected city councillors.  

Some good news for the city: Torontonians were found to have higher than average life expectancies regardless of sex, and men and women were equally likely to perceive their health as good or excellent. 

Read the full report here. 
Original Source: Policy Alternatives

IBM has announced plans to open 18 new mobile application development studios internationally, including one here in Toronto. 

The company made the announcement at its Impact conference, which took place in Las Vegas last week. 

"The mobile lab will be part of the new Interactive Experience Lab for creating apps for the Web, kiosks and other multi-channel outlets in downtown Toronto and expected to open in a few months, said Warren Tomlin, IBM's North American labs leader. It will focus helping customers creating mobile applications based on industry-specific, pre-configured Ready Apps created by IBM," Computer Dealer News reports. 

The MobileFirst studios are designed, in part, to widen IBM's consumer base and attract new business—including startups—that are looking to move into or further develop their mobile platforms.

For IBM, one of the goals of launching the portfolio is to widen its customer base and to appeal to companies both large and small.

"We are transforming ourselves in the context of where the market is going," Nancy Pearson, vice-president of IBM’s cloud category marketing, is quoted as saying in the article. "It's the whole channel of IBM as a service."

Although IBM has announced the studio will open within the next few months, details on the location of the studio and the number of jobs this will create was not yet available.

To read the full article, click here. 
Original Source:  Computer Dealer News