August 11, 2010

Western Canada looks to older worker program to help with future labour needs

ALLEN WARREN

correspondent

A new program is training older workers and retirees to help fill the gap in Saskatchewan’s tight construction labour market. The president of the Saskatchewan Construction Association said he sees the value of the initiative.

“Anytime you can access the skilled labour of people with knowledge of the construction industry, you want to do that,” Michael Fougere said.

“Any tool we can have in the tool box to fix these shortages is important.”

In the Construction Sector Council’s recent (CSC) industry outlook report, Construction Looking Forward 2010-2018, construction jobs in Saskatchewan are said to be at a 30-year high.

A non-residential building boom created 3,600 new construction jobs in Saskatchewan in 2009, more than offsetting the 1,800 jobs lost by the slowdown in the housing sector.

The demand for employees will only increase, too, in the near future as housing recovers slightly in 2010 and non-residential projects stretch into 2012.

The initiative, which intends to help bridge these shortages, is the $2.3 million Third Quarter program.

It is a two-year federally-funded pilot project that aims to recruit prematurely retired or underemployed workers between the ages of 50 and 65. The goal is to get them into part-time, full-time or volunteer positions, where there is currently need.

Funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) and managed nationally by the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce in Winnipeg, the pilot will run in 16 communities spread out over British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Atlantic Canada by November 2010.

At present, the program is active in Arborg, Thompson, and Winkler, Manitoba, as well as Humboldt, Saskatchewan. It is driven by community co-ordinators at the local level.

As a partner in the Third Quarter program, Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce head Steve McLellan said that while the program may be best suited for part-time service sector jobs, Third Quarter can help employers find new workers in any field, including manufacturing and construction.

Employers shouldn’t sell the Third Quarter participants short based on age, McLellan said, due to the demographic’s reputation for loyalty, work ethic, maturity, and mentorship potential.

According to the CSC’s Market Rankings for Trades and Occupations in Saskatchewan, the availability of workers is limited in most trades, but the shortage for electricians is most acute.

It called competition for workers “intense”.

Over the next two years, managers, supervisors and contractors will also be hard to come by, listed as “generally not available”, but that hasn’t stopped Ice Energy office manager Lisa Bilinski from using the program.

“We thought we’d try the Third Quarter hoping to find someone in the mature age range with the background and experience in the industry to replace a retiring manager,” she said.

“We haven’t had any hits yet, but we’re waiting and Third Quarter seems like a good fit for us.”

The key component of Third Quarter, said national program director Michael Stewart, is its online skills and networking website, where companies and job-seekers register their interest.

He explained that instead of submitting a resume, job-seekers answer a self-assessment questionnaire and build a profile based on hobbies and personal experiences.

“We’re focused on trying to match based on essential skill level,” he said. “As we move forward, we’re moving to a recognized-prior learning system, building that system so that it’s easy-to-navigate with a minimal amount of barriers.”

At the end of the two-year pilot, which wraps in April 2012, the Manitoba Chambers will present the research to the HRSDC, which will decide if a second phase gets the go-ahead. If it gets the green light, the project would expand into more communities across Canada.

“Ultimately, everything we’re trying to do is in a manner that would make it sustainable beyond two years,” Stewart said.

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