Canada's Best Careers Guide, 1995-1996,

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Frank Feather is well known in the Canadian corporate community as a
futurist, someone who looks at the past and present and follows what he
sees into the future. When he applies his methodology to careers, the
result, surprisingly, is optimism and a positive perspective lacking
from most material on the future of employment.

Like others writing on where the jobs will be after the turn of the
century, Feather sees the low-skill jobs disappearing and the high-tech
jobs growing. Jobs in the future, he says, will require higher education
levels and a commitment to lifelong learning. After reviewing the
dynamics of change and the change forces at work in the Canadian
economy, he looks at each employment sector and lists the occupations
that will be in demand over the next 20 years. He includes fascinating
tables showing the comparative salary and stress levels of various
careers, the percentage of growth for 120 jobs, the “dodo” jobs, and
the education level required for the growth occupations. He also
includes a 20-page stand-alone workbook designed to help the reader zoom
in on an appropriate career choice.

Feather’s work is full of insights on how today’s economic and
social situation will play out over the coming decades. Only in
retrospect will we be able to evaluate the accuracy of his assumptions.
Most seem logical, but his off-base view of part-time work opens the
door to scepticism; Feather suggests that both employers and employees
welcome the growth of part-time jobs, not acknowledging that many
employees in part-time jobs are there because of a shortage of
“real” employment.

Career counselors and anyone interested in the future of their own
career will enjoy this book.