From Burnt Out to On Fire – Non-Profit Workforce Brief

Non-profit organizations and charities provide valuable services and products related to healthcare, education, shelter, and more. They also provide jobs; workplaces and meaningful employment to a large and diverse workforce.

Worsened by COVID-19 and rising costs of living, the sector is experiencing high demand. Employees within non-profits are working at or over capacity. Common issues within the sector include:

• High rates of burnout and resignation
• Cutbacks on programming, services, and the number of clients supported
• Increased wait list times

Many non-profits fight to address inequities in our communities and our workforce. Despite this fact, inequity is a major issue within the sector itself. Inequities within employment manifest in ways such as:

• Significantly lower pay rates in contrast to public and private sector workers
• Wage inequities for women vs their male counterparts
• Higher concentration of men in higher seniority levels
  
  And, in general, we continue to see majority of jobs in the sector held by women. Disproportionately, women who are also immigrants, Indigenous, and racialized.

We know that many non-profit employers are innovating talent attraction and retention strategies to sustain their workforce. They are offering non-compensation benefits such as flex work. However, to see real change within the system of work and employment in non-profit organizations, we need to see changes in the ways they are funded, to be treated as a valued partner in economic development, and wider adoption of decent work and anti-oppression practices.

Learn more in our latest brief, From Burnt Out to On Fire: Supporting the Non-Profit Workforce.