Ontario’s advanced manufacturers say they’re still having trouble filling jobs – but a new initiative is showing them signs of hope.
At Linamar in Guelph, executives estimate that the company currently has 200 positions sitting unfilled.
“One of our biggest issues … is finding people,” said Shaun Scott, the company’s director of human resources.
“We used to run career fairs in the 90s and have 1,000 people show up. Now … maybe 80 people show up.”
While Guelph’s peculiarly low unemployment rate may be part of the issue at Linamar, so too are issues affecting the entire manufacturing sector – including a lack of training and a lack of interest on the part of potential workers.
Enter the Ontario Manufacturing Learning Consortium.
A non-profit founded by a number of industry associations, with an assist from the provincial government, the OMLC takes people aged 18 to 29 and trains them to become CNC machinists.
“Getting people to be able to do that work is critical,” said Rod Jones, the program’s co-director.
In addition to training, OMLC participants are matched up with jobs.
Linamar has hired seven of them, and plans to increase that number to 30 in short order.
Scott says the training component of OMLC is part of what made it appetizing to Linamar.
“It gives people skills that allow them to hit the ground running for us,” he said.
“We’re bringing people in who have maybe never been in a manufacturing environment before.”
Jordan Nolan could be considered a strong example of what the program hopes to accomplish.
A 24-year-old student at the University of Guelph, Nolan had been pursuing a career in social work before deciding it wasn’t for him.
Despite having no background or family history in the manufacturing sector, he saw an advertisement for the OMLC online and thought it might be for him.
Three weeks into a placement, he says advanced manufacturing seems to be the right path to learn.
“I use my hands every day, and I feel like I’ve actually done something at the end of the day – which is nice,” he said.
Managers at XL Tool in Kitchener say hiring has been an ongoing challenge for them – and the OMLC might have the solution they’ve been looking for.
“Kids and parents don’t understand the opportunity in manufacturing, in Ontario, close to home,” he said.
“These kids are hungry and ready to learn – they just need the opportunity.”
So what makes a good prospective OMLC enrolee?
“They need to have a bit of a math brain. They need to be able to think in 3D. They need to be reliable,” said Jones, adding that attention to detail is also an important trait.
Educational and work experience backgrounds don’t matter, Jones says – but program organizers do work with an industrial psychologist to gauge applicants’ capabilities.
Like others who have gone through OMLC training, Eli Corbin saw it as an escape from the uncertainty of temp jobs.
He says he’s been impressed enough in his first few weeks that he now plans to seek an apprenticeship position.
“If you ever get the opportunity, you should take it. It’s really helped me,” he said.
