Quote:
Originally Posted by manny_santos
Spotted yesterday, from Emerging Leaders, funded in part by the City of London:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/21294621/DO...erspective.pdf
Of note, from the executive summary:
"Emerging Leaders believes that the single greatest deterrent to sustained growth is the loss of talent amongst the 20 to 44 year old workforce in London. We recognize, as do others, that there is an urgency around creating partnerships to keep and attract this critical demographic within London. Without this effort we will continue to under perform compared to other cities in our area."
This is timely based on my experience. Today I received my first job offer in Canada since returning from my work term abroad, but it's in Kingston. The good news for me is that it is a job in my field, something I never been able to find since graduating. Over the past six weeks I have been applying for numerous jobs, both in my field and related to my field, and the only bite I got in London was a commission-based sales job. In London, literally none of the companies I applied to or contacted are hiring. So, sorry London, but once again I am forced to take my talents elsewhere and contribute to someone else's economy.
So, I'm part of the problem, but I don't have a lot of choice. If only more London employers would take risks on young professionals (and not limit themselves to friends of the old boys network in Old North and Warbler Woods), more young people might consider staying in London.
It has been proven to me once again that the "City of Opportunity" slogan is false advertising...
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molsonexport said it best: "London is the city of flopertunity". Personally, I know what it's like to have to move to another city to find work. When I finished studies at Western in 1987, I had to move to Toronto to find anything resembling half-decent employment, since there was none to be had in London.
Through serendipity and a number of other fortuitous things that happened in my life, I eventually ended up finding work in the government sector and ultimately returned to London, where I expect to remain (at least until I retire in about ten years from now). My decision to return was based on wanting to be closer to family, and Toronto's generally outrageous housing costs.
Mind you, I haven't the foggiest idea about where I want to retire, I just know that it will likely be somewhere other than the Forest City.
I don't really love London. I find it to be a quiet, fairly bland city. The rash of anonymous big-box stores that has afflicted London lately isn't helping matters any. But I can get by here, even if I can't thrive. A long time ago, I gave up the hope that London would ever become anything approaching what a dynamic, lively city would look like.
Indeed, if there's anything that sets London apart from a lot of cities, it's the tendency to talk big plans and make lots of noises about making the city really modern and attractive, but not actually making good on any of that talk. That's the way it has been for as long as I've lived here, and will probably stay that way. There seems to be none of the political will or money needed to move forward with those ambitious plans, anyway.