Labour-intensive manufacturing industries, from automotive parts to construction, will be forced to look overseas for employees in order to drive their expansion projections.
Like the IT industry, traditionally low-tech industries will have to look outside the shrinking domestic pool to fill that gap. But that default means satisfying a long-term need with a short-term fix, says Charles Brimley, executive director of the Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists.
“It doesn’t solve the basic problem. It just shifts where the shortage is,” says Brimley.
In a report released earlier this month by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (formerly the Alliance of Manufacturers and Exporters Canada), the majority of the 524 members who responded reported greater skill shortages this year compared to other years. The greatest shortages were reported in the areas of engineering, tool and die making, machining, design, marketing and information technologies.
Other research concurs with CME’s findings. The automotive parts industry predicts the same shortfall in the coming years, according to reports by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA).
The APMA reports that between 1998 and 2007, more than 34,000 tradespeople will be needed with only 20,000 available. Thirty-six per cent of manufacturing companies in Ontario reported slowed growth as a result of missing technological expertise.
And employees are working an average of 50 hours a week to compensate for the shortfall, says Gerry Fedchun, APMA president.
The greatest need, according to the APMA report, will be for industrial electricians, millwrights, and tool and die makers. The same trades were in deficit positions last year and will continue to be in the greatest need over the next three years.
Those numbers also reflect the fact that 50 per cent more people are retiring in the coming year compared to last year. APMA is currently working with the government to bring in temporary skilled labour from overseas for a fixed period of time.
“It’s a Band-Aid solution but a Band-Aid will also keep you from bleeding to death. It’s that bad,” says Fedchun.
Taking the brunt of the shortage are smaller companies, says Fedchun, because unlike the larger manufacturers, they don’t have the money to hire apprentices or go overseas to recruit labour.
“It’s difficult for them and apprentices are expensive because they don’t earn their keep right away,” says Fedchun.
With the majority of CME companies reporting that access to skilled labour is the number one motivating factor when considering where to invest, if the skilled-labour shortage persists, investments may go elsewhere.
One explaination for the shortage of skilled labour is that it hasn’t been able to keep up with the velocity at which technology has infiltrated the traditionally low-tech manufacturing industries, says Brimley.
“As manufacturing becomes more high-tech, they are experiencing the same problems as the IT industry are facing,” he says.
Labour won’t be able to meet the demands of these industries — especially with the infiltration of technology — until they start to project their skill need and work with colleges and universities to make sure people can get those needs.
“It’s going to require a change in how we look at supply and demand. These industries will have to start looking further than this year’s bottom line.
They need to be projecting and looking down the road to what their need will be so they can have the labour when they need it,” says Brimley.
Investment in training was also high on the list for CME member companies, with 54 per cent indicating they plan to boost their training budgets next year and 45 per cent planning increased expenditures on training in 2002.
Training employees, rather than the current climate of pirating employees from the competition, aims at tackling the long-term objectives of having a ready supply of skilled labour.
Apprenticeship programs further that end as well, says Fedchun and are key to ending the persisting shortage of skilled labour.
Like the IT industry, traditionally low-tech industries will have to look outside the shrinking domestic pool to fill that gap. But that default means satisfying a long-term need with a short-term fix, says Charles Brimley, executive director of the Canadian Council of Technicians and Technologists.
“It doesn’t solve the basic problem. It just shifts where the shortage is,” says Brimley.
In a report released earlier this month by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (formerly the Alliance of Manufacturers and Exporters Canada), the majority of the 524 members who responded reported greater skill shortages this year compared to other years. The greatest shortages were reported in the areas of engineering, tool and die making, machining, design, marketing and information technologies.
Other research concurs with CME’s findings. The automotive parts industry predicts the same shortfall in the coming years, according to reports by the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA).
The APMA reports that between 1998 and 2007, more than 34,000 tradespeople will be needed with only 20,000 available. Thirty-six per cent of manufacturing companies in Ontario reported slowed growth as a result of missing technological expertise.
And employees are working an average of 50 hours a week to compensate for the shortfall, says Gerry Fedchun, APMA president.
The greatest need, according to the APMA report, will be for industrial electricians, millwrights, and tool and die makers. The same trades were in deficit positions last year and will continue to be in the greatest need over the next three years.
Those numbers also reflect the fact that 50 per cent more people are retiring in the coming year compared to last year. APMA is currently working with the government to bring in temporary skilled labour from overseas for a fixed period of time.
“It’s a Band-Aid solution but a Band-Aid will also keep you from bleeding to death. It’s that bad,” says Fedchun.
Taking the brunt of the shortage are smaller companies, says Fedchun, because unlike the larger manufacturers, they don’t have the money to hire apprentices or go overseas to recruit labour.
“It’s difficult for them and apprentices are expensive because they don’t earn their keep right away,” says Fedchun.
With the majority of CME companies reporting that access to skilled labour is the number one motivating factor when considering where to invest, if the skilled-labour shortage persists, investments may go elsewhere.
One explaination for the shortage of skilled labour is that it hasn’t been able to keep up with the velocity at which technology has infiltrated the traditionally low-tech manufacturing industries, says Brimley.
“As manufacturing becomes more high-tech, they are experiencing the same problems as the IT industry are facing,” he says.
Labour won’t be able to meet the demands of these industries — especially with the infiltration of technology — until they start to project their skill need and work with colleges and universities to make sure people can get those needs.
“It’s going to require a change in how we look at supply and demand. These industries will have to start looking further than this year’s bottom line.
They need to be projecting and looking down the road to what their need will be so they can have the labour when they need it,” says Brimley.
Investment in training was also high on the list for CME member companies, with 54 per cent indicating they plan to boost their training budgets next year and 45 per cent planning increased expenditures on training in 2002.
Training employees, rather than the current climate of pirating employees from the competition, aims at tackling the long-term objectives of having a ready supply of skilled labour.
Apprenticeship programs further that end as well, says Fedchun and are key to ending the persisting shortage of skilled labour.
