Latest news with #skilledtrades
CTV News
7 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Women's Skilled Trades Workshop provides opportunity to explore future career path
WEST Inc. of Windsor in partnership with UNIFOR Local 444 is hosting a week-long skilled trades workshop for women at the union HQ on Turner Road in Windsor. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) An in-depth look at learning a skilled trade is the focus of a week-long workshop in Windsor for women. It's a free event this week for women aged 18 and up allowing participants to get an idea of trades training, apprenticeship opportunities and career paths. This project is a collaboration between Women's Enterprise Skills Training of Windsor Inc. (WEST Inc.) and UNIFOR Local 444. On Tuesday, students were writing tests on some of the hands-on instructional work. 071525 WEST Inc. of Windsor in partnership with UNIFOR Local 444 is hosting a week-long skilled trades workshop for women at the union HQ on Turner Road in Windsor. (Gary Archibald/CTV News Windsor) Stephanie Allen is the program manager of skilled trades at West Inc. Allen is pleased with the turnout so far and excited to see women interested and engaged in this opportunity. 'So they will be with other women that might want to pursue this and build a community of women in the trades and how they can support each other,' said Allen. 'And they can work together to help break down that barrier of what has been seen for a long time as a male dominated workplace, and how to create a safe space for women to do that.' So far this year, WEST has celebrated a milestone, helping 376 women gain technical skills and empowering them to pursue careers in the skilled trades locally and abroad. WEST Inc. has been educating, mentoring and supporting women in Windsor Essex. Their programs aid women in enhancing skills and securing employment. On average each year WEST Inc. assists over 3,000 women in preparing for the labour market. The organization's programs are funded in part by the government of Canada and the government of Ontario.
Forbes
11-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Widening Efforts To Address Labor Skills Gap
Close up stock photograph of a black man conducting a seminar on Python computer coding in an open ... More plan work arena. America's most critical economic resurgence is being forged not in boardrooms or coding boot camps but in workshops, construction sites, and, increasingly, high-tech control rooms. A powerful convergence of soaring college costs, a widening skilled labor gap that threatens to drain trillions from U.S. GDP, and a generation demanding meaningful, accessible careers is fueling an unprecedented revolution in skilled trades education. The message is clear: hands-on skills provide for lucrative careers. The Coalition Closing the Chasm The demand for electricians, plumbers, welders, cybersecurity technicians, advanced manufacturers, and HVAC specialists is dramatically outpacing supply. The Skilled Careers Coalition (SCC), atempting to merge a traditionally fragmented ecosystem. Their high-energy presence at the recent SkillsUSA National Conference in Atlanta is prefacing a potential paradigm shift. "We've reached a crossroads," declares Mark Hedstrom, SCC's Executive Director, in a press release. "The skilled trades are the backbone of America's economic engine, but the widening gap could cripple industries. We must elevate the trades as a viable, lucrative third path to career success alongside traditional four-year degrees and service roles." By deliberately bridging the gap between industry giants, educators, policymakers, parents, and, crucially, youth themselves (as seen in their innovative SKILLS JAM YouTube series hosted by Ty Pennington), they're fostering collaboration and breaking down traditional barriers. Their research pinpointed the core issue: a lack of knowledge, not a lack of interest. A staggering 43% of students would consider a skilled career if they had better information and guidance. The SCC is flooding that zone with content, mentorship initiatives, and modernized recruitment technology backed by influential voices from the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as local legislators. Cutting-Edge Pathways Emerge While traditional trades remain vital, the definition of "skilled trades" is expanding into high-tech, digital frontiers. Witness Champlain College's groundbreaking CyberStart program. Targeting Vermont high school juniors and seniors (with a model suitable for national scaling), CyberStart delivers a synchronous, 12-credit cybersecurity certificate before graduation. "We saw a need, especially for rural students, for something between isolated online courses and full campus access," explains Adam Goldstein, CyberStart's Program Director. "Our model combines rigorous, faculty-led synchronous learning with a flipped classroom and, crucially, dual internship experiences – one academic, one directly with industry partner NuHarbor Security." This is workforce development meets career exploration. CyberStart provides: The results? Students are enrolling in college STEM programs and eyeing careers in cybersecurity immediately. Goldstein views this as a replicable blueprint for fields such as data science, advanced manufacturing, robotics, and digital humanities. Building the Ideal Skilled Trade Ecosystem: From Reality to Vision Existing programs like apprenticeships (long the gold standard) and SCC's initiatives are foundational, but the ideal future requires bolder steps: The Bottom Line: An Economic Imperative This isn't just about fixing leaky faucets or building houses (though those are essential). It's about securing America's competitive edge in infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and cybersecurity. High school students and their parents are increasingly questioning the value of four-year degree, seeking faster and more affordable paths. Programs like SCC's coalition-building and Champlain's CyberStart are a beginning. With the recent Higher Education Act renewal allowing for Pell Grants for short-term or certificate programs, students will have the funds to pay for vocational programs at accredited programs. For young people, this is a path to prosperity without paralyzing debt. For America, it's nothing less than rebuilding the backbone of its workforce. The tools are ready. The training is evolving. The future is skilled.
Fox News
07-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Business Rundown: How 'Generation Toolbelt' Is Reshaping Blue-Collar Work
Experts are projecting a huge need for skilled trade workers in America, and Gen Z folks happen to be showing a growing interest in those jobs. Could 'Generation Toolbelt' bail us out from a shortage of electricians and plumbers? FOX Business anchor Dagen McDowell is joined by a panel of guests who emphasize the value in returning this nation to its blue-collar roots and how skilled trades will prove AI-proof in the future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Ford's CEO is the latest exec to warn that AI will wipe out half of white-collar jobs
The CEO of Ford warned that AI could eliminate half of white-collar jobs. He emphasized the importance of skilled trades amid a slowdown in tech hiring. Some CEOs have sounded the AI alarm, while others are more skeptical of mass job displacement. Jim Farley, the CEO of Ford, pumped the brakes on opting for an office job in the AI era. Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival on June 27 about what he coined the "essential economy," Farley reflected on his own family's journey. His grandfather, he said, was an orphan in Michigan and built a career at Ford from his early days as an hourly employee. "Look around the room," he said in his opening remarks. "At some point, almost all of your families came from these kinds of jobs." Farley warned, though, that the American education system focuses on four-year degrees instead of the trades, while hiring at tech firms is falling rapidly. "Artificial intelligence is going to replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the US," Farley said. That's why, he said, more people are looking to the skilled trades. Representatives for Ford did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment. Farley isn't the only executive sounding the alarm. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei said in May that AI could eliminate half of entry-level office jobs within five years. Companies and governments, Amodei said, should stop "sugarcoating" the risks of widespread job replacement in fields including technology, finance, law, and consulting. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees in June to expect corporate job cuts because of generative AI (people weren't thrilled about the memo). Jassy didn't offer many specifics, but said in a later interview that the new technology will create jobs in robotics and AI. Other leaders have a different view. Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar told BI that he thinks AI will create more jobs for college graduates, particularly when it comes to human labor. Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, also disagreed with Amodei's warning, and said AI will change everyone's job but could also crate creative opportunities. White-collar job postings dropped 12.7% over the year in the first quarter, compared to a 11.6% dip for blue-collar jobs. The tech industry in particular has slowed down hiring. Big Tech firms' hiring of new grads fell around 50% from before the pandemic, according to venture capital firm SignalFire. Some of that has to do with AI, the report said. GenZ is turning increasingly to blue-collar jobs, which some AI whisperers think is the safest spot in the labor market, at least for now. Read the original article on Business Insider
CBC
28-06-2025
- Business
- CBC
To 'build, baby, build,' this country is going to need a whole lot more shop teachers
To meet the federal government's promise to "build, baby, build," the country is going to need a whole lot more skilled trades workers. But a shortage of shop class teachers in Canadian high schools might make them hard to find. "We have a massive shortage of trained teachers," said Andy Strothotte, who has been a shop teacher for 31 years and is president of the British Columbia Technology Education Teachers Association. His counterparts in other parts of the country report the same. About 700,000 skilled trades workers are set to retire between 2019 and 2028, according to federal government numbers, and shop classes are a key tool for getting students interested in pursuing those careers. The number of new tradespeople needed may even be higher than that, given the Liberal government's promise to build 500,000 homes per year, and to undertake various — yet unspecified — "nation-building" infrastructure projects. There's a shortage of all teachers in British Columbia, but Strothotte told Cost of Living that it's particularly challenging to recruit people to teach woodworking, metal work or other tech classes. Those jobs are so specialized — plus, a teacher's starting salary is less than people typically make in the trades. "We're working on trying to get salary equality recognized, so that people who have a trades background who have this Red Seal, have years of experience, get a bump up on the pay scale," said Strothotte, who teaches at Westview Secondary School in Maple Ridge, B.C. High cost to retrain as a teacher Even worse, prospective shop teachers give up those good salaries to take on several years of school expenses. In B.C., the main pathway to becoming a tech-ed teacher is to spend two years at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) doing a technology education teaching diploma, followed by one year at the University of British Columbia in general teaching education. "That's a huge hit for a family to take, to be three years out of the industry, out of work," said Strothotte. The training used to take just two years if you already had trades experience. There are some lobbying efforts underway to try to reinstate that accelerated program, he says. Ontario also has a tech education teacher shortage, in part because what used to be a one-year teacher's college program became two years in 2015, says Christine German, executive director of the Ontario Council for Technology Education. "This two-year teacher's college is really creating a barrier for all teachers, but also us," said German. Though some of the tech education teacher training programs are 16 months, with online components to add flexibility, candidates are still paying double the tuition they used to, and often incurring travel costs as well, she says. Documents obtained by the Canadian Press in April revealed that Ontario is considering shortening the teacher training to address the problem of plummeting admissions to teacher's colleges. Cost of Living reached out to every provincial and territorial government, asking for the number of vacant tech education positions and plans to address the problem. Among the eight that responded by publication time, most said they do not tabulate the number of vacancies, and that individual boards would have that data. But Nunavut, B.C., Alberta, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador all pointed to various initiatives to recruit and retain teachers, including tech educators. Strothotte says issues like burn-out, injury or working conditions might bring some tradespeople into tech ed. "Or they're just tired of lying under a diesel cat at minus 60 degrees in the tundra, and they'd rather be working in a heated shop with students and sharing their passion with them," he said. Maryke Simmonds worked in theatre for two decades, building props and sets, but went back to school at BCIT to become a shop teacher. She graduated last August, along with 21 others. "At school, they told us that Surrey [School District] could take all of us — right away after graduation — and still need more shop teachers." That doesn't surprise Strothotte. B.C. currently has around 55 open jobs for shop teachers and if those don't get filled, classes will get cancelled, he said. Sometimes that means the shops themselves will get shuttered — in some cases, never to reopen again, he says. WATCH | This college event introduced female high school students to the trades: 'Jill of All Trades' introduces female high school students to the skilled trades 1 month ago Duration 2:19 Facilities and materials often in short supply That's another limitation for provinces looking to bolster their ranks of tradespeople — not every high school has a shop, and some that once did have been converted to other kinds of classrooms when interest in and funding for tech education classes waned. In Ontario, the provincial government made it mandatory for every student to take at least one tech education credit as of the 2024-25 school year. "This is our government saying it's really important for our students to explore technological education — skilled trades and technology — as early as they possibly can because it's a fantastic thing for students, [and] very, very needed in our country," said German. Stotthotte says the funding for materials hasn't "hasn't really changed" in the last 15 years. He canvasses local businesses for donations of scraps, or jumps in his pickup when he sees listings on Facebook for free plywood or other supplies. In Calgary, there's a new partnership called Adopt-a-Shop between high schools and the Calgary Construction Association, in which home builders, plumbing companies and others donate money, materials and expertise. That kind of initiative supports students like Tayah Kilb, who just finished Grade 11 at Central Memorial High School in Calgary, to explore the possibility of a career in the trades. Kilb says she had never considered it before she took a woodworking class this year, first making a table for her family room, then some custom furniture for her bedroom. "I have a completely pink room and I couldn't find any bedside table that matched it … so I just made one in construction and painted it pink." The experience has her set her sights on working in construction as a framer.
