Jobs, a shortage in skilled trades, and education will be the focus of the federal and provincial labour ministers as they gather today in Charlottetown. Looming behind the scenes is a difficult and intransigent issue facing most developed nations: How do you re-inspire and re-engage large segments of the unemployed?Canada remains a land of great opportunity and in many parts of the country the economy is booming with an abundance of job openings. Yet for many Canadians, the promise of a fulfilling and rewarding-job remains elusive. This seeming contradiction is in fact one of the great challenges of our time, how do we get the unemployed back to work?The numbers really don't paint an inspiring picture. An alarming number of the unemployed in Canada, 39 per cent according to a recent Express Employment Professionals/Harris Poll survey, say they have completely given up looking for work. Four in 10 of the unemployed in this country believe they are out of options. In very stark, real terms, they are falling dangerously behind with little or no hope for a job.Left unchecked, these unemployed individuals could fall into a trap of prolonged unemployment and risk being left out of the workforce entirely. Eighty-six per cent of those surveyed agreed with the statement, “I'm becoming more discouraged the longer I am unemployed.”These numbers should be a wakeup call to policymakers that status quo cannot stand.To put the Canadian numbers in perspective, the numbers in the United States are even worse. A companion poll in the U.S. showed that 47 per cent of the unemployed have given up looking for work. The U.S. also has an all-time record low workforce participation rate, which means a large portion of the unemployed have permanently given up on getting a job. A sluggish economy, heavily burdened with new laws and regulations is making things worse. The U.S. is unfortunately a valuable lesson in what Canada could become if leaders don't act decisively.The solution to this grim state of affairs should be a laser focus on efforts to secure economic growth and jobs. Policymakers must take note. Their singular goal should be creating employment opportunities. It should top the agenda and be the focus of every meeting of labour ministers. Similarly, we need to take a hard, honest look at what policies are acting as unintended disincentives for the unemployed to seek out new opportunities.What should someone who is unemployed do? The Harris Poll showed that 36 per cent had not gone to an interview in the last month. Not one interview in a month. Among those unemployed for more than two years, 61 per cent reported not going on an interview in the prior month. Sixty-two per cent of the unemployed Canadians said they were unwilling to move to a different province. Fifty-one per cent have no plans to go back to school to become more marketable.The unemployed need to treat being unemployed like a job and work at it every day. They need to go to a community college or a trade school and get a skill. They need to be willing to move. And the one thing they can't do is give up.We can't let unemployment become a way of life. It deprives many Canadians of a rewarding and fulfilling life, it's harmful to the economy, and it could represent a permanent weakening of the nation. There is nothing more unjust and unequal than being unemployed. There is no better social program than a job. Nothing creates jobs like sound economic fundamentals and new growth. Now let's get to work.Robert A. “Bob” Funk is chairman and chief executive officer of Express Employment Professionals, the largest franchised staffing company in North America with 700 franchises in Canada, U.S. and South Africa. Under his leadership, Express has put more than five million people to work worldwide.