Full steam ahead!

We could spend our time worrying about the economy, or we can stay focused on the business at hand.

A lot of us are concerned about the economy. More specifically, we’re all wondering about a recession. Are we in one now? Should we expect one in the near future? What are the economists saying?

Our very own economist (and columnist) Rebekah Young is the Director of Fiscal & Provincial Economics at Scotiabank. In this issue of Autosphere Mag, she writes about the alleged recession and provides much-needed perspective and insight for those of us running businesses in Canada.

She admits that there’s a lot of anxiety at the moment about a possible recession, but then she points out that “we have buffers, especially in Canada.” In other words, despite the doom and gloom in news headlines, a business-crushing recession is not a given. In fact, she explains that, “We’re really seeing more of a slowing expansion, rather than a contraction.”

A mixed bag

While the classic definition of a recession is two back-to-back quarters with negative GDP, experts agree that we have to look beyond that definition in 2022 when the world seems to be upside down.

For instance, as Young explains in her column, despite a slowdown in the economy, job numbers are superb with unemployment at a 50-year low of 4.9%. Then there’s the fact that many Canadians are sitting on piles of cash—money they would have spent on vacations and other goodies, but didn’t because of COVID-19. Young explains that the average Canadian household has $12,000 more in bank savings now vs. prior to the pandemic.

Execute your business plans

So what are Canadian business leaders supposed to do with this mixed bag of news? We could just sit by, cut spending, and watch as the fear of a recession becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or we could do what Alexandre McCabe, Network Operations Advisor for Point S Canada talks about in his column in the French edition of Autosphere Mag.

McCabe is clearly focused on the future and eager to see Canadian businesses succeed. In his column he explains that the auto industry is facing a shortage of skilled workers. That’s not really news, but his solutions are.

McCabe writes about a conversation he overheard recently where a company was putting the brakes on expansion plans because they couldn’t find the right people to fill the necessary positions. His solution is different, but very logical: If you can’t find talent within Canada, why not try to recruit beyond our borders?

This demonstrates the “can-do” approach to solving problems today, rather than sitting around and wondering about a recession.