abstract: 'The Labour Force Survey Microdata of Statistics Canada have been used as

  part of an approach centered on professions, which itself rests upon an

  employment regime approach. The authors have constructed a typology of

  occupations into eight classes. Based on the relative share of

  occupational classes in wage employment, it appears that professionals

  and technicians, both in the natural sciences and the new technologies

  of information and communication and in the social and health sciences

  have recorded the largest growth; low-skilled workers in interpersonal

  services have also grown, while blue-collar and white-collar workers

  have declined and senior managers and the finance professionals are

  mired in stagnation. The latter, however, have proved to be the real

  winners of income distribution during the period. In terms of job

  quality, as measured by the relative growth of occupations grouped into

  income quintiles, an asymmetric polarization can be observed: the

  highest quintiles, bringing together the good jobs, have experienced

  higher growth than the lowest quintile, associated with bad jobs, while

  intermediate quintiles declined. We can also observe growth in wage

  inequality in the sense that wages in the highest quintile increased

  more quickly than in other income quintiles. Finally, Quebec and Canada

  belong to the neoliberal regime. Quebec is certainly a more egalitarian

  society but, unlike the country''s social democratic model, this

  ``distinct{''''} character is not the result of more progressive social

  policy and a more inclusive trade unionism, which would have raised the

  lowest quintile wages; it rather reflects the employment stagnation, or

  even decline, in the highest quintile and wage stagnation, or even

  decline, in the fourth quintile.'
affiliation: 'Lapointe, PA (Corresponding Author), Univ Laval, Dept Relat Ind, Quebec
  City, PQ, Canada.

  Lapointe, PA (Corresponding Author), Univ Laval, ARUC Innovat Travail \& Emploi,
  Quebec City, PQ, Canada.

  Bach, C (Corresponding Author), Univ Laval, ARUC Innovat Travail \& Emploi, Dept
  Relat Ind, Rech, Quebec City, PQ, Canada.

  Lapointe, Paul-Andre, Univ Laval, Dept Relat Ind, Quebec City, PQ, Canada.

  Lapointe, Paul-Andre, Univ Laval, ARUC Innovat Travail \& Emploi, Quebec City, PQ,
  Canada.

  Bach, Catherine, Univ Laval, ARUC Innovat Travail \& Emploi, Dept Relat Ind, Rech,
  Quebec City, PQ, Canada.'
author: Lapointe, Paul-Andre and Bach, Catherine
author-email: 'paul-andre.lapointe@rlt.ulaval.ca

  catherine.bach@rlt.ulaval.ca'
author_list:
- family: Lapointe
  given: Paul-Andre
- family: Bach
  given: Catherine
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.7202/1035900ar
files: []
issn: 0034-379X
journal: RELATIONS INDUSTRIELLES-INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
keywords: professional classes; employment schemes; pay inequalities; polarization
language: French
month: WIN
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '34'
pages: 3-32
papis_id: 2dfc68c327576fbcb62bb893dfd7c3e8
ref: Lapointe2016upgradingpolarizatio
times-cited: '3'
title: Upgrading or Polarization? The Evolution of Employment Structure and Quality
  in Quebec and Canada, 1997-2013
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000372571000001
usage-count-last-180-days: '1'
usage-count-since-2013: '79'
volume: '71'
web-of-science-categories: Industrial Relations \& Labor
year: '2016'