As Director of Urban Futures Incorporated, Andrew carries out strategic management assignments for a wide range of private and public sector clients. Andrew has worked with many of Canada's leading developers, investors, and retailers as well as public sector clients, including many of Canada's most rapidly changing municipalities, public agencies and crown corporations.

Andrew Ramlo is a contributing author to over 40 of the Urban Institute's research reports and participates in many of its public presentations. These assignments have included a wide range of topics ranging from labour force, human resource and membership management to external market analyses of demographic and economic growth and change. Research topics of note include: "The Context for Change: Demographics," "Life Cycles, Economics, and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia Over the Next Four Decades, Changing People, Changing Participation: Demographic and Behavioural Trends as a Context for the Future of the Canada Pension Plan, 2001 to 2050" and "A Decade of Jobs and Pay in Canada: A Perspective on Canada's National and Regional Economies."

Because of his profound ability to relay difficult material with enthusiasm and clarity, Andrew is regularly quoted in various media and his presentations are informative, animated and lively, incorporating specifically customized information for each client. With a focus on the dimensions of change—demographic, societal, economic and environmental—Andrew shares the results of his research and outlines strategies designed to address the challenges and opportunities organizations and individuals will face in the decades to come.

With his extensive knowledge of various aspects of demographic and economic change, Andrew Ramlo can help you know your customer. We have all heard that the age of mass marketing is over; in this compelling talk, Andrew explains the dimensions of an ever changing and diversified consumer base and future approaches of marketing to tomorrow’s consumer. Tailoring his research and discussion to your particular organization, he explains how and why consumers are fragmenting into niches that seek individualized products and services. In a fragmenting market it is not enough to know about broad demographic changes; to succeed you will need to focus on the demographic, lifecycle and lifestyle shifts within your target markets. Other experts can give you the background; Andrew takes the time to provide the information you need for your business.

Over the coming decades the thirty percent of Canada’s current population born between 1946 and 1965 will age into the third (and final) major stage of their lifecycle, one that is dramatically different from the first stage – the twenty years of childhood that was concerned with getting through school and entering the workforce – and from the second stage – the forty years of establishing homes, families, and careers. No part of Canadian society will be unaffected by these changes, directly or indirectly, as Canada enters its third great demographic transformation.

A major challenge facing employers today has become managing issues of labour supply. For the third year in a row the national unemployment rate has fallen to historic lows, moves driven not by an economic boom in Canada per se, but relatively slow growth in our labour force. So what does all this mean for future generations of employees? In part it signifies a world of potential opportunities. It also signifies a world increasingly characterized by change. With both product and business lifecycles shortening, the range of jobs (and increasingly careers) that the next generation of workers will be exposed to will continue to grow. Even within a particular job or career path, increasing social, cultural and economic diversity will require the next generation to have a growing range of skills and dexterity to adapt to this new demographic and economic paradigm.

The slogan "the end of work" is as false as it is catchy. Canada’s demographic and economic future is already here. With these seismic changes, workforce and HR related issues will continue to dominate the discourse surrounding the country’s third great demographic transformation. The reality is that there will be an abundance of work in the future, in both the traditional and the new economies but without unprecedented changes in productivity, participation and immigration, the nation will be faced with the realities and challenges of accommodating both an aging population and a shrinking workforce. Strategically balancing the interests of a rapidly growing older population with those of a shrinking younger one will continue to be a core concern for employers, and organizations will continue to struggle to identify ways to strategically recruit and retain qualified workers. Retirement of the war babies and the baby boom generation guarantees significant replacement demand for employees in all sectors, while economic growth and overall change will translate into increased net demand for workers. What will be different in the future will be the nature of work, the skills workers require and the places they work in.

Andrew Ramlo helps audiences better understand the positives and negatives of Canada’s demographic and economic future. Each employer will be forced to find creative ways to adapt to these changes and Ramlo's highly-customized presentations offer invaluable information and analysis designed to assist in preparing for the challenges of this changing economic and demographic landscape.

Andrew Ramlo's extensive database of research and his network of contacts in industry, government, and academia allows him to develop and deliver customized presentations on virtually any industry, profession, or region. From financial services, to consumer goods, to health care or philanthropy, Andrew has the skills and the resources to make you change the way you think about the future of your business.

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