Drivers of the Economic Change
According to the Neptis report, the major drivers of the change in economic bearing of the GGH region include agglomeration economies, access to labor and innovation.
Innovation has particularly accelerated the development of various industrial sectors such as software technology that has seen the creation of new tools for website and app design. Additionally, it has boosted traditional industries. In the auto industry, General Motors announced 1000 additional employment opportunities in auto-software and engineering jobs.
Automation is another significant driver of the growing GGH economy. Routine tasks like robotics in the assembly industries, PCs taking over clerical and accounting systems and ATMs in place of bank tellers have changed as new automation systems emerged. Non-routine tasks such as cleaners, caregivers, attorneys, engineering personnel, etc., have been rigid to automation in recent years. However, with the advancements in computing tech and increased employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is a high likelihood that the non-routine and cognitive industries will experience a widespread use of automation systems.
A Drawback in Employment Opportunities Elsewhere Within the GGH
Other regions within the GGH [outside downtown Toronto] experienced a slowdown in employment opportunities growth. Within the same decade, three of the five Suburban Knowledge-Intensive Districts [SKIDs] neither experienced growth or loss in jobs despite previously ranking as attractive to the core jobs. They include Markham, Waterloo, and Sheridan. The other two, Meadowvale and Airport, experienced positive job growth with the former adding close to 7,000 jobs
