Training and Common Sense Key to Success in BC's Future

There’s never been a better time to get into a trade in British Columbia.

At least one million jobs are expected to open up in B.C. over the next ten years and three out of four will require some post- secondary education or skills training.

The provincial government is on a job-creation rampage, streamlining regulation and protocol in every which direction and throwing down training funds in active industries faster than you can say “mineral exploration” three times really fast.

The mining industry in northern B.C. alone is looking at $90 billion in investment, and that doesn’t even cover the supplemental contracts that have yet to go to tender. Other current northern projects amount to something in the neighbourhood of $3 billion in construction activity with a proposed $62 billion in the works, $34 billion of which is almost certain to come down the pipe.
Not bad, for a province perceived to be on shaky ground just 14 months ago.

The question that arises from B.C.’s one-way trek to stardom is, “Who is going to do the work?” The industry has been predicting a skilled labour shortage since the beginning of the decade, and here we are: a day late and thousands of workers short.

Industry Training Authority’s (ITA) CEO Kevin Evans says a “training culture” is B.C.’s solution and the time to move on it is yesterday.

Evans says B.C. needs to continue to invest in training facilities, spread education about the trades to young people, and, most importantly, create highly trained communities by focusing the efforts on the people who live closest to where the work is taking place.

Two recent announcements from the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism, and Innovation said skilled trades training will see nearly $25 million over the next few years, and the province already invests more than $100 million annually in the ITA to support over 140 training programs, including more than 40 Red Seal trades.

“The promise of significant prosperity and employment is currently within our reach, but how we respond to it will determine whether we meet this opportunity or let it slip through our hands,” writes Evans in an editorial for the Terrace Standard. “There’s a lot of room for upward growth, so now we have to talk about how we engage employers.”

And that is the tricky part.

The global economy, rumblings from our neighbours to the south, and an all-around cautious optimism—the emphasis being on the “cautious” part—are creating a hiring climate that is a lot like a six-year-old standing at the door of his first soccer practice—it looks inviting so you want to get out there, but you also don’t want to get hit in the face with a ball.

Sure employers receive an average of $1.47 for every dollar they invest into hiring an apprentice, but the promise of giant contracts in other sectors can make wary the employer not excited about losing his newly sponsored protégé to a head hunter with a fatter payroll.
Here’s the good news.

A study on apprenticeship retention by the Industry-Education Council of Hamilton says apprentices ranked wages sixth in their list of reasons for sticking with an employer for the long haul.

More than 85% surveyed expressed satisfaction with their career choice, but nearly half said their employers didn’t do enough to express the recognition and appreciation they thought they deserved. The study says being thanked and receiving financial or training incentives were only half the issue—what they really wanted was a positive working environment and to be let in on what was happening in the company.

“Apprentices were resolute in their desire to be given feedback, but not just when there are problems,” says the report. “They want to have things explained to them in a meaningful way and they want to have input.”

Nearly 74% said loyalty increases with job satisfaction. “Apprentices wanted to make a commitment to an employer, but that attachment would be based upon their job satisfaction, not a blind obligation to the ‘boss’.”

So there you have it: statistical, experiential proof that sometimes nice guys do finish first.

There’s never been a better time to get into a trade in British Columbia—or to motivate one.