Ce phénomène s'appelle la surqualification et il est plus répandu qu'on pense. Lundi, une étude réalisée par les économistes Brahim Boudarbat et Claude Montmarquette est venue quantifier le phénomène. Les deux chercheurs du CIRANO se sont concentrés sur la région de Montréal.

Selon leurs conclusions, 31,5% des travailleurs de la région de Montréal sont surqualifiés pour le poste qu'ils occupent. Autrement dit, presque un employé sur trois a reçu une formation qui lui est peu ou pas utile, que ce soit au cégep, à l'université, au secondaire ou dans une école de métier. Cette proportion est légèrement plus élevée qu'à Toronto (29,2%) ou Vancouver (29,3%).

Physical constants are one of the cornerstones of physics ? sacred numbers which we know to be fixed ? but what if some of these constants are changing? Speaking at the Institute of Physics conference Physics 2005, Dr Michael Murphy of Cambridge University will discuss the “fine structure constant” ? one of the critical numbers in the universe which seems to be precisely tuned for life to exist ? and suggest that it might not be constant after all.

Dr Murphy has used the largest optical telescope in the world, the Keck telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, to study light from distant quasars. This light has been travelling across the universe for billions of years, and seems to show that the fine structure constant, often known as “alpha”, may be varying over time.

The fine structure constant governs the electromagnetic force which holds all atoms and molecules together. Scientists have known for many years that if its value was slightly different, life could not exist. Only the very tiniest changes over time could be tolerated, and most scientists believe that alpha today is the same as it always has been.