Green Worker Shortage Could Hurt B.C.'s Economy
British Columbia could be facing a growing shortage
of skilled and experienced “green” workers that could limit
economic productivity and result in missed business opportunities
over the next decade.
class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst”>This is the main conclusion of a
research report released today by the GLOBE Foundation of Canada,
based on a survey of CEOs and human resource directors of leading
green and clean energy companies in BC.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>Over the last year, the GLOBE
Foundation has carried out an in-depth study on BC’s emerging green
economy and has developed a framework to measure contributions to
the province’s “green” gross domestic product (GDP) and employment
in all regions of the province.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>The GLOBE Foundation found that
the green sectors of BC’s economy contributed $15.3 billion to the
province’s GDP in 2008 - equal to 10.2 per cent of the province’s
total GDP for that year. The number of direct jobs in BC’s green
economy was estimated at more than 117,000 in 2008 - equivalent to
5.1 per cent of provincial employment.
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class=”box”>BC is actively pursuing a greener,
lower-carbon economy based on significant new investments in
renewable energy, a mandated “carbon neutral” public sector, a
progressive tax on carbon, and communities large and small looking
to become more sustainable through initiatives to increase food
security and energy efficiency.
This extensive research
endeavour, which involved an analysis of more than 350 secondary
sources on current low-carbon economies, led to the release of a
widely-received report in February 2010 entitled “
Economy: Building a Strong Low-Carbon Future”
class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>Since the first report was
released, the Foundation has carried out further research looking
at opportunities and challenges facing BC’s green work force,
including in-depth interviews with more than 70 CEOs and directors
of leading green and clean energy companies, as well as the leaders
of major industry associations, government representatives, and
presidents, deans, and instructors from many of BC’s post-secondary
and trades training institutions.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>A series of focus groups were
also held throughout the province with community and business
leaders, academic experts, First Nations representatives, and
municipal officials, to examine regional issues affecting BC’s
transition to a greener economy.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>As well, an extensive online
survey was initiated in March 2010 that reached out to 650 green
businesses to identify some of the challenges they are experiencing
at present in securing qualified workers. The 104 green companies
who completed the comprehensive survey questionnaire represented
the full spectrum of “green” sectors in the province.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>The responding companies were
fairly well established for the most part and were relatively
similar to BC’s small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) profile.
Approximately two-thirds (68 per cent) of the companies have had
operations in the province for more than 5 years and three-quarters
(75 per cent) of companies employ fewer than 25 full-time
staff.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>The survey results revealed
that while many business owners and human resource specialists in
BC are optimistic about the opportunities associated with a greener
economy - especially in the areas of renewable energy and clean
technology - many reported they were already having difficulties
finding the experienced and skilled workers they need.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>This was especially true with
respect to engineers, technicians / technologists, business
development professionals, and environmental consultants. And
despite the recent recession, 33 per cent of respondents had job
vacancies at the time of the survey - a sign that green jobs may be
particularly difficult to staff.
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Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, and its new Clean Energy Act
with a proposed feed-in-tariff (FIT) program are all helping to
drive behavioural changes and spark investment in clean
technologies and BC green businesses with the hopes of creating a
skilled, productive, and more sustainable work force in the
province.
The top staffing challenges
identified were the shortages in the availability of qualified,
experienced workers (with more than one-third of respondents
identifying this issue). To make matters worse, the survey results
suggest green employers expect this problem will get worse over the
next decade with nearly half of the respondents (47 per cent)
predicting continued shortages in the availability of qualified and
experienced workers.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>For 60 per cent of the green
employers surveyed, shortages in staffing results in missed
business opportunities for their companies. It also requires staff
and owners to work longer hours, curtails expansion plans, and
limits production levels.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>To address this problem,
respondents stressed the importance of developing more relevant
education and training programs. Increased partnerships between
post-secondary institutions and the business community - including
through applied research project collaboration, co-operative
education experiences, internships, and apprenticeships - would
help match education and training curricula with private sector
needs and realities.
Others commented on the lack of
availability for certain training programs in some regions of the
province - especially with respect to renewable energy installer
and clean technology-based programs.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>Feedback on current training
programs revealed a need for a combination of skills to be
emphasized, such as combining business skills with technical
training. Several respondents indicated the need to integrate
management and business skills with traditional trades training to
help improve opportunities within their industry sectors.
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>One respondent commented that a
“better understanding of the financial requirements needed to bring
research projects to a commercial reality” is needed for recent
graduates. Another indicated that there should be courses available
in construction management so that a person can “move forward from
being a tradesperson to learning how to run a company.”
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>Many respondents cited policy
related issues as a key factor affecting the transition to a
greener economy, including irregular public policies and programs,
a lack of incentives, weak regulations and/or a lack of their
enforcement, and low public awareness and understanding for the
green initiatives already being undertaken within their
industries.
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with the City of Vancouver looking to become the Greenest City in
the World by 2020 through 10 specific goals and plans to double its
number of green jobs over the next decade.
As summed up in one open-ended
survey response “government support in the form of capital grants,
loan guarantees, and speedy approvals is absolutely required for
the clean technology industry to jump that initial capital
hurdle.”
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class=”MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle”>Next week, the GLOBE Foundation
will share the findings from its regional focus group sessions that
looked at the opportunities and barriers for the transition to a
greener economy in BC. Full findings from the study will be
released in a detailed summary report made available by the
Foundation later in October.
Source: GLOBE-Net
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