Anyone from Canada to comment?

Also this one:

In Canada You Can Get a PhD, But Maybe Not a Job...

I'm in the UK, not in Canada, but I was really struck by the similarity between those two pieces and this one about the UK academic jobs market:

http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/blog/2014/may/23/so-many-phd-students-so-few-jobs

Another interesting article: Science PhD: New Track to Unemployment
http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2013/02/26/science-phd-new-track-to-unemployment/

A interesting survey on the various things that might help in this situation (humanities focussed but some of the issues apply across the board).

Interesting links!

I also found this one long time ago but still interesting to read:

And here is a response to it:
and here is an interesting weblog on the subject:

Well I'm currently working in Canada but from the UK and my PhD is from the UK. Let me tell you at least in my field it is much much easier to get a job in Canada than it is in the UK; the pay/benefits etc.. are much higher here as well. I read that article but to be honest the writer has no experience of the PhD job market elsewhere especially in the UK and Europe. Another one of my mates (also a Brit) is currently in Ottawa teaching at two universities (slightly different field from mine but also in the social sciences). I wouldn't say the situation is so rosy but for all you PhD graduates who are struggling to find a job (let alone a decent paying and intellectually-challenging one) then Canada is a good place to come (whether to work in academia or elsewhere). That being said, I miss the UK like crazy and I'm not a big fan of the culture here and the people are not friendly.

I do agree with this quote from one of the articles: "Higher education creates a more knowledgeable, civic and mature society with many unquantifiable non-economic benefits. Its advantages are multiplied in today's complicated, fast changing and globalized world", and for this reason I think more people with PhDs is a good thing... but only to a point.

Obviously more jobs are needed for people with PhDs and in order to change this, firstly employers need to be better educated on the advantages of employing someone with a PhD. Pay intelligent/better educated people twice as much as you would pay an average employee and I bet you they will be more productive and in turn the company will generate more profit. I would be interested to see some research on this anyway, but from previous experience, I have found people with an undergrad degree were much better employees than those without one and I expect this increases with people with MScs or PhDs.

Secondly, PhD students need to realise their worth if they don't get that coveted postdoc position and seek better employment (maybe gain experience in other work environments if they lack this). Thinking outside the box really helps here. I've already been thinking about other jobs that I could do that are still 'high profile' and well paid but nothing to do with research. The mindset of PhD students really needs to change, and yes, that does start with the universities and supervisors.

So, if I can't find a suitable postdoc, I think I will be able to still get a decent job, and I think my PhD should only enhance my prospects because I will use it to my advantage in interviews, by talking about the skills I have developed, not the research I have done. It will also be interesting to see how this pans out in a few years for me...

I used to think like that until I actually got the PhD and saw how things are in real life. This idea of positive externalities from education is not really true- you still need a framework to channel those externalities into productive use. This is where public policy comes in. One thing I noticed is that in Canada employers (especially the public service) are indeed more keen on hiring PhDs just for their ability to think outside the box and perform high level research. I find myself doing a lot of the things I did during my PhD; in that sense Canada is superior to the UK.

Completely agree with TreeofLife about thinking outside the box- PhD does not mean academia/post-doc. I couldn't find a postdoc so thought outside the box and it served me well. Agree with everything else you said it all comes to how you market your skills and being versatile these days is a lot better than sticking to one sector/line of work for years especially in this volatile job environment.