Skilled Trades Shortage needs attention

When encouraging high school students to focus on their careers and plan what they feel is best in the long run, the skilled trades sector seldom enters conversation. Many children have expressed the sentiment that parents are not likely to promote the skilled trades in the household with more focus being put on unverisity degrees. ”Of the 10 jobs business owners found hardest to fill, the most serious gap was in trades- ranking ahead of engineers, teachers and nurse” (Entrepreneurs, 2012).  Skills Canada is expecting the skilled trades worker shortage to reach a whopping one million people and there is little being done to prevent this.

Adrian Schut, a recent graduate says the best way to avoid this issue is to fight for programs such as co-op work terms that give young people more hands-on experience in the fields they like. Stand up against the belief that the best must go to university and promote the skilled trades sector as a viable career option. Another skilled tradesman advises that it’s important to hone those that are willing to become tradesman in a way that there will be a less dire need for quantity and the focus will become quality. Just like in every other career, employees need to be given positive reinforcement and need to be trained sufficiently. Brad Hollman works with his team at jobsites, teaching them all he knows, reinforcing their work ethic and ecnouraging them to learn from each other. He creates a positive atmosphere for his employees and in turn, gets the results that he desires from them.

This is what the Apprenticeship Career Connections 2013 fair is trying to do. Get you in touch with the right players in the industry; those who are passionate about having you learn more about how you can have a brighter future. Our passion for the skilled trades has resulted in four amazing events and we’re working towards making the fifth one even bigger and better!