The Trades

.Have
We Sold
Ourselves

short?

The

Challenges
'Employers say they don't
have enough skilled
tradespeople to fill
vacant positions.
>

Employers also say that the young people
they want to hire into entry-level trade
positions don't seem to have the right
attitude, work ethic and teamwork skills.
When you add this challenge to a
shortage of skilled tradespeople, it's easy
to see why some employers feel they are
getting squeezed.

It's easy to see why

some employers
feel they are

getting squeezed

>

For the last 40 or 50 years, our society has placed
a higher value on college and university training
rather than on apprenticeship training. Yes, we
need engineers, medical doctors, scientists and
technologists. However, many of our young
people are not really interested in these career
choices. Often, they would rather pursue careers
that would provide them with relevant work skills
and the academic studies to support those skills.
These are the teenagers who need to hear more
about the rewarding careers that await them in
the trades.

>

Our society needs tradespeople, technicians,
supervisors, and other highly skilled front-line
workers. The world runs on their efforts.
However, according to a survey of successful
tradespeople, many of them did not realize this
type of employment suited them until they were
27 years old! That's far too late and we are
selling ourselves short! Imagine what we could
accomplish if our youth, who have a real interest
in the trades, were ready to enter the workforce at
a much earlier age than they are now, say age 18.

The Pay-off
Here's what you'll likely realize
for your time and effort — at
an age when these teenagers
are the most eager to learn:
•

•

•
•

The ability to grow your own employees
from a much larger pool of talented young
people. By doing so, you are helping to
ensure that in the future you will have access
to the tradespeople you need with the right
mix of skills.
The ability to hire the workers you need
locally rather than having to import them
from other places.
The good chance that they will have a higher
level of loyalty to you and your business.
Stronger links and respect from your
community because of your sense of
corporate responsibility and citizenship.

Need More
Information.
Call - Advanced Education and
Career Development
Career Information Hotline

1-800-661-3753.
In Edmonton call 422-4266.
OR
Call - Careers: The Next Generation
(403) 426-3414 or 420-1031.

Alberta
ce

ADVANCED EDUCATION AND
CAREER DEVELOPMENT

* You Can Start Now
usiness and educators in a growing number of
Alberta communities are beginning to take part in
a number of school to work pilot programs. We
invite you to join us as a partner! There are several
ways to participate:

B
>

Call your local high school principal. Explain your interest in attracting more
young people into the trades. Request the principal's support in helping you
identify those students. Then choose one of the following options.

>■

Become a partner in Alberta's Registered Apprenticeship Program (RAP).
This program provides a way for high school students to become apprentices
while they are still in high school. This is where you really get a chance to
grow your own employees and provide an important opportunity for a young
person. Since you are taking on additional part-time employees, the Alberta
Apprenticeship and Industry Training Board has added more wage flexibility.

>

Participate in a Work Experience Program with your local high school. This
program provides a flexible way for a student to get a look at the trades
before making a commitment to a specific trade. Wages for students

participating in this program are
optional. The time they spend at the
workplace is flexible and related to
their curriculum.
>-

Call, Careers... The Next
Generation sponsored by the Alberta
Chamber of Resources and many
others. This is an innovative
community-driven program that
makes the workplace an extension of
the classroom. It is an enhanced
co-operative education model that has
special benefits for employers and
student participants.

>

Participate in the province's full Apprenticeship Program. Hire a young person
as an apprentice when they either decide to leave or graduate from high school.
Alberta Advanced Education and Career Development and its partners have
consultants located at Career Development Centres throughout the province
who are ready to assist you.

We invite you to
join us as a
partner!

ISBN 0-7732-1 706-1
© 1995, Her Majesty the
Queen in right of the
Province of Alberta, as
represented by the Min
of Advanced Education
and Career Developments

Printed

on
recycled paper

Help a Students
Understand
t the present time, the average young
person holds about seven jobs in the first
ten years after high school.

A
>

That's because they're not able to find challenging work or because
employers simply don't believe young people are responsible
enough to take on real work assignments. Employers often prefer to
wait until these prospective employees are in their mid-to-late
twenties before hiring them for the good jobs.
>■

’ Grow Your Own
Tradespeople
ince business is the engine of our economy,
our young people need to see it in action so
they can understand their contribution to
your success.

S
»-

However, there is a downside to this kind of
logic. You hear it when people say that
students lack employability skills

which they describe as attitude,
work ethic and the ability to keep
their eyes and ears open. It appears a
large part of the problem is that high
school students don't understand the
connections between knowledge,
learning and work. Since they're
studying at school every day, they
come to understand the world of
school. With involvement from.
business, they could learn to
understand the world of work. They just need your help to make
the necessary connections!

>

Our overseas competitors have been helping their teenagers make
the transition to the world of work for many years. They know that
when their students understand their connection to the economy
they begin to study and to understand the value of mathematics,
science and other important subjects. They also know that their
young people are more skilled, more responsible and more stable
than their peers in countries without effective school-to-work
programs. They know that a student ready to enter the workforce at
age 18, rather than age 17, provides them with a big advantage over
their competitors.

You become a leader
in expanding our
society's skilled

labour pooL

>

Everyone benefits when you help them obtain this level of
understanding.
•
You get the chance to show them what it means, how it feels
and what it takes to succeed.
•
Students get to hear what you will expect of them as
employees.
•
Students have the chance to see what it will take to get their
career on a solid footing. They get the opportunity to look at
other career options outside the professions that traditionally
require a degree or a diploma.
•
Both you and the students have the chance to check each other
out. The students get to explore their interests. You get the
chance to evaluate their talent and the feelings they have
toward your business.
•
You become a LEADER in expanding our society's skilled labour
pool.
When you consider the number of young people that are not really
interested, at this particular time in their lives, in going to college,
technical school or university, the potential you have to grow your
own tradespeople is enormous.

business
involvement