This information will be discussed at a labour market planning consultation at the EARN meeting on Thursday, January 26/12. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please email your answers to the questions at the end of the document to cyndi.ingle@workforceplanninghamilton.ca. Thanks!
Workforce Planning Hamilton’s Labour Market Planning Process
• Every year Workforce Planning Hamilton (WPH) creates a Labour Market Plan, in consultation with the local community.
• We use census, Labour Force Survey, and Canadian Business Patterns data and provide an update on Hamilton’s labour market situation by highlighting key industry sectors and workforce issues.
• Each plan that is completed builds on the work of the prior year.
• You may be familiar with the previous name of the planning process: the Trends, Opportunities and Priorities Report (TOP).
The aim of the plan?
• To align education, training and employment programs with local labour market needs and establish local commitment to help implement the plan and guide continued planning efforts.
It is important to keep in mind that this Labour Market Plan is a community plan.
• WPH completes four core projects each year, and it is hoped that other organizations in the community take the information presented and use it as a launching pad for their own initiatives.
The community owns the plan, not WPH.
• Our most recent report: Labour Market Plan 2011 can be downloaded from our site:
• http://workforceplanninghamilton.ca/publications/202
• This report includes: the 2010 Action Plan Update, Hamilton’s labour market context, industry profiles on healthcare and the supply chain sector, workforce sector challenges, and the action plan for 2011-12.
• Workforce challenges that were noted in our last plan include: the changing manufacturing job market; the perception of high unemployment rates amongst youth in Hamilton, and the prevalence of immigrants and newcomers ending up in entry-level jobs.
2011 Labour Market Plan for Hamilton: Key Priorities
These four key priorities were developed by studying a variety of data sources.
• Key Priority #1: Understanding Hamilton’s Business Development Strategy. It was noted in the 2010 Labour Market Action Plan that the larger Hamilton community could benefit from increased knowledge of the key clusters noted in the City of Hamilton’s Business Development Strategy. These include: Advanced Manufacturing, Agriculture and Agri-business, Clean-Technology (Green economy), Creative Industries, Goods Movement and Life Sciences. Over the next couple of years WPH will develop labour market profiles of all clusters.
• The action that developed from Key Priority #1 was a report called: Make it, Move it, Ship it: Careers in the Goods Movement and Supply Chain & Logistics Sector in Hamilton, which will be released by March 31/12.
• Key Priority #2: Increasing and evolving skills requirements. The work completed in 2010 in the Clean Technology area reiterated that evolving and increasing skills requirements are growing in construction, manufacturing and other sectors. The healthcare sector will also be under pressure, as workers retire.
• The action that developed from Key Priority #2 was a skills assessment and consultation with the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing employers in five key sub-sectors were interviewed and labour market profiles were developed. The report, Spotlight on Manufacturing: Understanding the Evolving Skills Requirements in Manufacturing in Hamilton, will be released by March 31/12, and a networking forum for manufacturing employers will be held on April 19/12.
• Another suggested action was to undertake a project looking at labour market transitions in manufacturing workers. A further suggested action from key priority #2 was to undertake a skills assessment and consultation with the healthcare sector.
• Key Priority #3: Youth Attraction, Retention and Integration. The data in the report highlights that Hamilton’s youth unemployment rate is lower than other communities, and some youth are finding quality jobs. Can a strategy be developed to better engage youth in the local labour market so they don’t leave the area?
• The action that resulted from Key Priority #3 was the development of a Youth Attraction, Retention, Engagement and Development Strategy. An advisory group helped to identify gaps and areas that require further development during strategy sessions in late October and early November 2011. The advisory group continues to meet and has started work on a six month plan. The final project report will be released by March 2012.
• Key Priority #4: Immigrant Skills Integration. Challenges and barriers to employment for immigrants have been noted in previous labour market reports by WPH. Despite all the programs and work completed to rectify this issue, close to 50% of recent immigrants in Hamilton live in poverty.
• The action which resulted from Key Priority #4 was the development of an Attraction and Retention Resource for Immigrants. A labour market profile of Hamilton and occupational analysis on promising sectors for newcomers will be presented in a user-friendly guide to Hamilton’s labour market. The guide will include employment tips and advice, and labour market and employment supports available in Hamilton.
Today you can be part of the Labour Market Plan for 2012! Here are the questions we’d like you to consider.
Questions
1. What are your organizations’ key challenges regarding the different workforce sectors that make up our community (ie. youth, older workers, immigrants, aboriginals, disabled, etc.)? Do these challenges remain the same from year to year, or are you seeing any new issues arising?
2. What are your key challenges in working with employers? For instance, are there jobs that you can’t fill, or jobs that have an abundance of people applying for? What do you hear from local employers?
3. What should be the labour market priorities for our community, and why?
4. What helpful information can Workforce Planning Hamilton provide to your organization? Is there a more efficient way to present our materials, products, etc.)?
News & Events
Comments