Change is needed in societal attitudes to blue-collar jobs if trades are to attract today’s youth, experts say
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Major+projects+retirements+make+apprenticeships/7967105/story.html#ixzz2LNHb8IQA
Iain Adams (left) and Graeme Herman (right) work in the carpentry program, Jan. 16, at Burnaby’s BCIT campus. Trades need apprentices as the baby boomers and economic boom in northern BC is creating a shortage.
Photograph by: Ward Perrin , PROVINCE
Rod Goy
remembers a time when it seemed like there were always more apprentices
looking for work in the trades in B.C. than there were jobs. And that
had been the case for years and years. It is no longer the case,
says Goy, dean of the School of Construction and Environment at the
British Columbia Institute of Technology. And the trend worries him a
little.
“There’s going to be continued growth in the Vancouver area, but there’s going to be huge growth in northern British Columbia,” he said.“That’s where the jobs are.”
The boom from projects such as liquefied natural gas plants, pipelines, shipbuilding, and a flourishing mining industry are driving that demand for labour. From the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in Kitimat, to the development of liquid natural gas export facilities, to the construction of the Site C Dam on the Peace River, the opportunities for construction workers, welders, industrial mechanics and electricians in B.C. seem endless.
Until recently, the apprenticeship model in B.C. seemed to be meeting industry’s needs for workers, said Goy. But he says a huge labour shortage is expected as early as 2015. The government projects that of one million job openings expected by 2020, 43 per cent will require skilled workers.
“Even if all our young people go into trades training today — they all want to become construction workers, which isn’t likely — we’re still going to need 20,000 more in order to get the projects built that are on the books today,” said Abigail Fulton, vice-president of the BC Construction Association.
“There’s going to be continued growth in the Vancouver area, but there’s going to be huge growth in northern British Columbia,” he said.“That’s where the jobs are.”
The boom from projects such as liquefied natural gas plants, pipelines, shipbuilding, and a flourishing mining industry are driving that demand for labour. From the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in Kitimat, to the development of liquid natural gas export facilities, to the construction of the Site C Dam on the Peace River, the opportunities for construction workers, welders, industrial mechanics and electricians in B.C. seem endless.
Until recently, the apprenticeship model in B.C. seemed to be meeting industry’s needs for workers, said Goy. But he says a huge labour shortage is expected as early as 2015. The government projects that of one million job openings expected by 2020, 43 per cent will require skilled workers.
“Even if all our young people go into trades training today — they all want to become construction workers, which isn’t likely — we’re still going to need 20,000 more in order to get the projects built that are on the books today,” said Abigail Fulton, vice-president of the BC Construction Association.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/Major+projects+retirements+make+apprenticeships/7967105/story.html#ixzz2LNHsCVOO
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