Don’t blame the boomers for the economy

Happy New Year, readers! Welcome to Business Cycle’s very first edition of 2024 – a look at what The Globe and Mail’s business columnists are talking about this week as we kick off a brand new year. In the latest edition, we dive into unhappy workers and their return to the office, why boomers are not to blame for the economy and the gaps in Canada’s EV battery supply chains.?

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Companies indeed got workers back in the office – are you happy now?

By Gus Carlson ?

From back-to-the-office mandates to hybrid work schedules, many employers got their way in 2023 when it came to getting workers back to the office. But as Gus Carlson writes, employees are not happy. In fact, worker happiness is at an all-time low.?

“What executive leadership considers a win, however, may be a somewhat Pyrrhic victory. A growing body of research shows an increasing number of workers who have been called back to offices, even on hybrid models, are unhappy – the unhappiest they’ve been since the start of 2020.”

Heading back to the office might feel like a 2023 conversation, but a lot of companies are reinforcing their in-office policies this January. What are your thoughts about it? Let us know in the comments and check out the full opinion piece here .??

Don’t blame the boomers for the economy – they put in more than they take

By Thomas R. Klassen

For many millennials and Gen Zers, the blame for current financial challenges with the housing market or lower wealth overall is often placed on older generations. As York University professor Thomas R. Klassen writes, boomers aren’t wreaking havoc on the economy. Nearly all older Canadians, including many people’s parents and grandparents, are fending for themselves – financially and otherwise.?

“It’s unfortunate that a typical story has emerged about baby boomers, many retired, that they are ruining the economy, draining government resources and hoarding wealth. This cannot be further from the truth. Boomers continue to contribute more to the economy than any earlier generation. It is they who pressured governments some years ago to eliminate mandatory retirement at age 65. Today, they are working longer than the generation before them.”

How do you see older generations’ wealth and contributions? Let us know – and read the full opinion piece here .?

Gaps in Canada’s electric-vehicle supply chain start way earlier than we think

By Dayna Nadine Scott

Canada has been struggling to carve out supply chains for electric vehicle batteries despite tens of billions of dollars in subsidies. Why? Industry leaders often pinpoint materials processing and cell component manufacturing, but Dayna Nadine Scott, associate professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and York University, says the gaps start way sooner – perhaps before the extraction of raw minerals out of the ground even begins. Take Ontario’s Ring of Fire, for example.?

“The apparent gap in the supply chain that the industry leaders often identify is in ‘mid-stream minerals processing’ – cathode manufacturing, cell production and battery assembly. But actually our problems start much earlier than that. In Ontario’s Ring of Fire region, for example, the issue is access to the minerals themselves – who controls them, and who will decide if they should be mined at all?”

Want to read more? Check out the full opinion piece here .?

More business columns we’re following this week:?

• TD Bank’s racial equity audit offers lessons for other public companies
• Ottawa’s move to tax the rich more will backfire on charities
• Canada’s stalled economy signals 2024 won’t be great, but look ahead to interest-rate relief

The Globe's business opinion pieces are commissioned and edited by Ethan Lou. If you would like to write in this section, please send pitches to [email protected] .?

Thank you for reading our latest edition! We'll be back next Thursday with another Business Cycle roundup.

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