The University and Manpower Planning - A Re-Examination of the Issues in the Light of Changing Economic Conditions and New Developments in Labour Market Information

Oct 15, 2026

The paper re-examines manpower planning in the university sector, focusing on how higher education can be linked to evolving labour market needs. It reviews earlier debate in the 1960s and early 1970s against centralized comprehensive manpower planning, then considers new economic imperatives and new labour market information initiatives by Employment and Immigration Canada. It rejects conventional manpower planning and provides guidelines to strengthen university–labour-market linkages within existing institutional and policy structures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Current Interest in Manpower Planning

# The University and Manpower Planning: A Re-Examination of the Issues in the Light of Changing EconomicConditions and New Developments in Labour Market Information MICHAELL.SKOLNIK* ## ABSTRACT The search for effective public policy approaches for relating higher educationto the needs of the labour market was a subject of much attention in the 1960sand early 1970s,and the verdict was largely against centralized comprehensivemanpower planning.This paper re-examines the role of manpower planning in theuniversity sector,in light of new economic imperatives and new data productioninitiatives by Employment and Immigration Canada.It concludes by rejectingwhat is conventionally referred to as manpower planning,and offering,instead,a set of guidelines for improving the linkage between universities and the labourmarket within the framework ofexisting institutional and policy structures. ## RÉSUMÉ On s'est beaucoup préoccupe pendant les années 60 et au début des annees 70 detrouver des politiques efficaces pour mieux adapter le monde de Iéducationsuperieure aux besoins du marché du travail;a cette epoque on s'est prononcé engrande partie contre une planification centralisee et globale del'emploi.Cet articlereexamine le role de la planification de lemploi dans le secteur universitaire a lalumiere des nouveaux imperatifs economiques et des nouvelles initiatives de pro-duction de données de la part d'Emploi et Immigration Canada.Lauteuren arriveàla conclusion qu'il faut rejeter ce que l'on appelle communément la planifica-tion de I'emploi pour offrir a la place un ensemble de directives pour améliorerles liens entre les universités et le marche du travail dans le cadre des structurespolitiques et institutionnelles existantes. The Greatest of God's dispensations is that no one can prophesy thefuture in detail.' -George Grant The first few years of the 1980s have been marked by a renewed interest in man-power planning in Canada.The need for more effective manpower planning hasbeen emphasized in three major reports emanating from the Government ofCanada,as well as in a number of less publicized studies(Canada,1981;Employ-ment and Immigration Canada,1981;Economic Council of Canada,1982).While there is no generally accepted definition of manpower planning,the termis widely used to connote attempts through public policy to bring about a moreefficient matching of the skill mix of labour supply with that of labour demand(Holland and Skolnik,1975).Serious efforts at manpower planning are generallymotivated by a concern over existing or projected shortages of particular typesof educated or skilled labour,and policy initiatives are generally taken in amedium to long term perspective.On the other hand,policies which are directedtoward increasing the level of employment demand are generally referred to asemployment policies rather than manpower policies,and the corresponding plan-ning is referred to as employment planning rather than manpower planning. ## Current Interest in Manpower Planning It may seem surprising to witness so much attention being given to manpowerplanning at a time of unprecedented levels of unemployment.Four explanationscan be given for this seeming paradox.First,in spite of the high levels of un-employment which exist at present,there continue to be reports of vacancies incertain occupations,particularly those requiring high level technical training.The filling of such vacancies may not reduce unemployment substantially,butpolitical and moral tolerance of job vacancies is understandably low at a time ofhigh unemployment.Indeed,the simultaneous occurrence of unemployment andjob vacancies,in addition to challenging neo-classical labour market theory(Skolnik and Siddiqui,1976),appears to provide strong justification for govern-ment intervention in labour markets.A related argument is that while the numberof vacancies may be small,there are probably many people working at jobs forwhich they do not have the optimal t

FAQs

What is the paper’s main aim regarding manpower planning in universities?

To re-examine the role of manpower planning in the university sector in light of new economic imperatives and updated labour market information initiatives.

How does the paper assess conventional manpower planning?

It concludes by rejecting what is conventionally referred to as manpower planning.

What alternatives does the paper offer for linking universities and the labour market?

It offers guidelines for improving the linkage between universities and the labour market within existing institutional and policy structures.

Oct 15, 2026

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