business
Bridging the Skills Gap
STUDENTS AND GRADUATES HAVE A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON
THEIR PERFORMANCE THAN PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYERS
Jobs without people and people
without jobs” is a challenge in
many industrialized countries.
Unemployment and under-employ-ment
rates are high – particularly among
youth, immigrants, aboriginal people and
people with disabilities – while many busi-nesses
report they cannot find the skills they
need. For example, a recent survey by the
Ontario Chamber of Commerce indicated
more than one-third of small to medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) in Ontario have
positions they cannot fill. While part of this
is a result of a skills mismatch – the jobs
available do not match the profile of those
seeking employment – it is more complex.
The 2012 Commission on the Reform
of Ontario’s Public Services noted labour
market projections are no easy task.
The furor about the “skills gap” isn’t new.
In 1997, a Globe and Mail article wrote,
“Canadian advanced technology business-es
(88 per cent) believe they face a skills
shortage. Many jobs remain open because
of this shortage.” Employers projected a
high demand for engineering and comput-er
science graduates and demanded that
governments “double the pipeline” to pro-duce
them. Post-secondary institutions
listened but market conditions changed
and the jobs disappeared. The very same
employers began calling for more focus on
soft skills. Part of the challenge is that, his-torically,
universities have not been very
agile in responding to demands – approval
processes for new degree programs often
mean that it could be at least six years be-fore
the first graduates appear.
There is also evidence to suggest that
more considered job analysis is warrant-ed
– that employers may demand skills
or qualifications that are not essen-tial
for the task. For example, one study
of the information communications
technology sector noted a significant
difference between the skills demand-ed
in job advertisements versus the skills
required to perform the jobs. Often, en-gineering
or computer science degrees
were demanded even though graduates
in other programs – for example, from
information science, information tech-nology
management, informatics, digital
media or other hybrid degrees – could
perform the job. The study found that
engineering and computer science tend-ed
to want to hire in its own image,
By Wendy Cukier
Sergey Nivens/Shutterstock.com
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ JULY/AUGUST 2016 ❚ 35