Ontario’s Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton recently told delegates attending The Buildings Show there is a major knowledge gap preventing young people from considering skilled trades careers.
Research conducted for the ministry indicated many young people surveyed did not know where to start looking to gain access to information about the trades, McNaughton said during a CEO Breakfast address at the show in Toronto on Dec. 5.
“Many are not even aware what constitutes a skilled trade,” McNaughton said, relaying one anecdote in which a young person said, “It is easy to become a doctor, everyone knows what to do” but added they didn’t know how to become a construction worker.
McNaughton highlighted the results of research conducted by Ipsos, saying it would inform future policy as the ministry and other stakeholders strive to recruit hundreds of thousands of workers to the skilled trades in the next 10 years. Ontario alone will need to train and hire about 104,000 skilled trades workers over the next decade and across Canada the recruiting challenge is said to be 300,000 new trainees required to replace retiring boomers.
“We can’t sit idly by knowing this,” he said.
McNaughton told the delegates that of the 200,000 unfilled jobs reported in Ontario recently, 13,000 were in the construction sector.
“I am on a mission to get more young people into the skilled trades. It is important for Ontario’s future,” McNaughton said in an interview. “This research is important. It will shape how we get more kids into the skilled trades by understanding their values and what they are looking for in a career.”
A ministry release that coincided with McNaughton’s address noted that the research indicated young people prioritize independence and want to feel confident they have some control over their lives. Fifty-five per cent of young workers in construction feel safe at their current workplace, but, McNaughton noted, that means 45 per cent do not feel safe.
We need to make it easier to be an apprentice,
— Monte McNaughton
Ontario Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development
The same proportion of young workers, 54 per cent, believe safety is more important than speed or profit.
Sixty-six per cent of the young workers, aged between 18 and 24, felt pressure to complete tasks above all else, and 60 per cent agreed they break the rules due to pressure from management and colleagues.
“Through health and safety, employers have an opportunity to show young workers they care,” said McNaughton. “If we empower young people to be able to speak up on issues of safety, if we provide them with the right mentorship and we give them all the tools, including new technology, this will go a long way towards meeting their needs.”
Armed with the results of the attitudinal research, the ministry will engage in three activities to help the construction sector meet its recruiting targets, he said.
“The solution is clear,” McNaughton said. “We need to end the stigma around the skilled trades, make the apprenticeship system easier to navigate, and find better ways to convince businesses to participate. That is my mission.”
“We need to make it easier to be an apprentice,” he added, noting the ministry will be touring the province to obtain input from stakeholders on how to achieve that goal.
Further laying out the preliminary results of the ministry’s research, McNaughton said that despite the stereotype that young people obtain most of their information from the internet, it was found that the most trusted source of information at work is a supervisor, with face to face relationships the best way to learn. Next were organizations such as health and safety associations.
Thus, he said, construction employers are encouraged to develop mentorship programs where young people working at a job site will lean on mentors to develop trust in the workplace. Young employees who trust their supervisors will feel free to speak up on health and safety concerns, which is especially important in high-risk careers such as construction.
This is a sensible business argument in that it will lead to less lost-time injuries and better productivity, said McNaughton.
“A strong workplace culture saves you money,” he said.
McNaughton noted the government announced Nov. 22 that it has established the Supporting Ontario’s Safe Employers program through which safe employers will be awarded an estimated $140 million for excellence in occupational health and safety.
McNaughton said the ministry is still analyzing the results of the research it has obtained.
Among other initiatives to be announced, McNaughton said the ministry would be engaging in an “ambitious” marketing campaign aimed at recruiting young people and it will also establish a single portal through which young people and stakeholders from all sectors, including unions and non-union groups and educators, can access program information.
The CEO Breakfast was co-hosted by ConstructConnect and the Toronto Construction Association.
Follow Don Wall on Twitter @DonWall_DCN.
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