report<\/a> revealed that 23.2 per cent of Canadian Black youth were unemployed, compared to a 14.4 per cent overall youth unemployment rate in the same month.\u00a0<\/p>\nAs securing a role becomes harder,\u00a0 those who are employed are now feeling pressure to stay employed.<\/p>\n
Now Toronto took to the streets to ask Gen Z, POC and LGBTQIA+ residents about their experience in the workplace amid this challenging job market.<\/p>\n
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Gen Z and Queer-identifying Toronto resident Seb M. shared her struggle in finding a job in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe workforce right now for Gen Z is really hard. I\u2019m actually struggling to get a job right now. I have had five, four jobs, and they\u2019ve never lasted, because it\u2019s all been temporary,\u201d they told Now Toronto.<\/p>\n
If they are able to get a job, they would work their hardest to stay in that role.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m gonna take whatever post-secondary [education] I need, whatever community hours I need. If that will show somebody that I\u2019m dedicated to work, then I will [do it] because I want to work,\u201d Seb said.<\/p>\n
As a Queer person, Seb said they haven\u2019t had bad experiences in the workplace (which they believe might be due to their femme presence) or felt an increased pressure to perform better than their peers.<\/p>\n
In contrast, Toronto resident Sally-Anne O. said she has felt more pressure in the workplace as a Black woman in the medical field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a family doctor, so I do get a lot of Black female patients coming to see me for that reason, which is lovely, but I guess sometimes I almost feel a bit of pressure to meet their expectations because they might have faced prejudice from elsewhere,\u201d she told Now Toronto.<\/p>\n
Toronto resident Aashna A. doesn\u2019t necessarily feel more pressure; rather, she feels her experiences in the workplace are different to those of her white colleagues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have definitely been situations where you\u2019re definitely the most different person in the room, or have had different life experiences than other people around you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Though she doesn\u2019t let the fact of being a POC dictate how she acts in the workplace, she says she does follow the \u201cwork smarter, not harder\u201d rule.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have to hustle our way and burn ourselves out in order to achieve productivity or do the work that needs to be done. There are definitely efficient ways of getting things done the way they need to be,\u201d Aashna said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t subscribe to the idea of just [being] logged on for more hours of the day to impress someone else. I think that perpetuates a very toxic work culture and environment.\u201d<\/p>\n