Businesses face shortage of skilled workers and young employees: report
February 3, 2022
By The Star Vancouver |
Canadian executives say the biggest challenges facing businesses right now are a shortage of skilled workers and finding young employees, according to a recent survey.
The poll, conducted by Environics Research Group on behalf of CERIC, an organization dedicated to advancing career development in Canada, found that 75 per cent of executives are finding a shortage of skilled workers to be challenging compared to 68 per cent who cited this as a problem in 2013.
Sixty-six per cent also say a struggle to find young workers is a challenge, up from 51 per cent who said the same in 2013, when the survey was last done. The age demographic of young workers was not defined in the survey.
While industries like education, hospitality, agriculture and manufacturing are facing the biggest difficulties finding young workers, Environics said it was a cross-sector issue.
The cause is likely a mix between young workers not applying for certain jobs and employers not being satisfied with the applicant pool, said Candy Ho, vice-chair of CERIC and assistant professor of Integrative Career and Capstone Learning at the University of the Fraser Valley.
When young people look to apply for jobs, they might see a skills gap issue where there’s really a “skills awareness gap” issue, Ho said.
Young people would benefit from reflecting on the transferable skills they’ve gained from education and other life experiences outside of direct work experience, but they don’t always do so, she added.
“Sometimes they overlook the holy grail of positions thinking that they don’t qualify but in fact they have a ton of experience they can offer employers.”
Source: Star Vancouver
