A new report by two Business Administration professors at Memorial University explores the employment, education and location challenges facing rural Newfoundland youth – but it is not as simple as young people going away to chase jobs and the lure of the big cities on the mainland.
Gordon Cook is an Associate Professor of Industrial Relations with the Faculty of Business Administration at MUN. He is the co-author of the report, “A Typology of the Employment-Education-Location Challenges Facing Rural Island Youth”.
Cook says it’s more complicated than young people going away to chase money, or those who wish to stay but cannot.
He says there are people who are absolutely tied to their communities.
Cook says whether it’s family, friends or lifestyle, or even if they’re risk-averse people, they are happy where they are. However, he says you get another group of people who will get up and go, no matter where they are living.
Cook says there is also another group that will look around at employment options and what they want to do in the future.
He says people look to see if they can get the training or see a path to their desired occupation. For example, if someone wants to be a dentist, they’re considered to be a program-focused person and will have to move to a larger city.