If anyone needed proof of the value of a job in the trades, it鈥檚 right there on social media. On 91原创 Island, the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association is turning to social media to try to attract construction workers.
With major projects all over the Island, companies are hungry for trained workers. The B.C. Construction Association says that its surveys suggest 94 per cent of the province鈥檚 construction employers plan to hire this year. And that鈥檚 just a slice of the one million job openings the provincial government expects by 2025.
If those jobs are going to go to British Columbians, young people (and even not-so-young people) have to sign up for trades training.
鈥淭his is an opportune time for construction work on the Island and it doesn鈥檛 look like it will slow down any time soon,鈥� John Knappett, head of Victoria鈥檚 Knappett Projects Inc., said in a statement.
鈥淲e haven鈥檛 seen a boom like this in a while,鈥� said Philip Hochstein, ICBA president.
But with the need for workers now, contractors have to look further afield for tradespeople. The BCCA says that this year, 45 per cent of employers hired at least one worker who came from Alberta鈥檚 oil and gas sector.
While B.C. is happy to make those workers welcome, our young people are looking for meaningful, long-term employment. The trades should be high on their list of options. Yet only one B.C. high school student in 70 goes directly into the construction trades after graduation.
Getting that number to one in five, needed to fill the employment gap, will take more than social-media campaigns. Parents and teachers have to help young people see the trades as an option long before graduation.
Schools on the Island are stepping up. INSPIRE is a program for Grade 7 students that introduces them to the skills and concepts of trades and technology jobs.
The Secondary School Apprenticeship program gives high school students a chance to work as student apprentices while they are still in school, getting some of the work-based experience they need toward their apprenticeship training. That program allows them to register with the Industry Training Authority, which co-ordinates the skilled-trades training system in the province.
Employer groups also have programs to encourage apprenticeships and support people during their training.
There are hopeful signs that the message is filtering through. The figure of one student in 70 going into the trades is about 20 per cent better than the number in 2014.
If you鈥檙e considering a career, here are some other numbers that are worth pondering:
The B.C. Construction Association says 215,000 people are employed in construction, but it estimates that by 2024, the industry will have 15,000 unfilled jobs. About $81.7 billion worth of construction projects were under way in the province in January; the total cost of proposed projects was estimated at $296 billion, up $26 billion from 2014.
Pay is steadily rising, and unemployment in the construction sector is 3.4 per cent, 45 per cent lower than the B.C. average. In spite of all the work that is and will be available, two-thirds of B.C.鈥檚 skilled trades workers are over the age of 45, which leaves an obvious gap.
Filling that gap will be good not only for young workers, but for everyone in B.C.
