Vocational education and training - VET

In this research, we discuss the results of a survey of 221 Canadian start-ups and 17 interviews with company leaders and experts to understand how ventures are using or exploring using generative AI and the challenges they’re facing in adopting this technology.

How can generative AI help close Canada’s productivity gap? What barriers are Canadian businesses facing in deploying generative AI, and how are they overcoming these barriers? What are some ways that ventures can take advantage of generative AI’s potential?

Online learning can help re-energize the workforce, but simply shifting learning online is not enough. The province must plan strategically for it.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the future of work, the issue of lack of diversity and a skills gap in the workplace. We know that diversity and inclusion can improve organizational performance, can provide access to well-qualified talent and can help meet the changing needs of the global environment. But there's still room to understand how we can harness innovation, new approaches, and technologies to bridge the skills gap. A new urgency to adapt to the future of work - and to do it right - is imperative.

Industry will need to fill about 100,000 jobs in next decade

For the engineering sector to reduce its skills shortage, it needs to employ around 186,000 skilled recruits each year until 2024.

According to a recent report by The Manufacturing Institute, the number of unfilled manufacturing jobs in the US could reach 2.4 million by 2028. That’s an increase of nearly 2 million in just 10 years. Far from mass unemployment then, this suggests companies must instead contend with a shortfall of workers.

The theory here was that high unemployment reflected a structural shift in the labor market such that jobs were available, but workers simply didn’t have the right education or training for them.

Read this Bloomberg Next whitepaper analyzing the findings of a recent survey of 200 leaders in business and higher education to learn:
The most important “soft skills” for new recruits
What organizations can do to take advantage of emerging technologies
How businesses and academic ins

This article investigates skills gaps and mismatches of engineering graduates. Sustained growth of the Ethiopian economy has created demand for construction work, yet despite the labour demand and engineering graduates seeking employment, employers identify skills gaps hindering their ability to employ them.

In-demand jobs
46% of U.S. employers surveyed were having difficulty filling jobs. The 10 toughest jobs to fill, ranked in descending order: 

Skilled trades 
Drivers 
Sales representatives 
Teachers 
Restaurant and hotel staff 
Accounting and finance staff 
Nurses 
Laborers 
Engineers 
Technicians 

Students urged to fill gap expected to be left by thousands of retiring baby boomers

With the evolution of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the continued march of automation and the rise of the gig economy and remote work, businesses just need different skills than they did in the past. However, these essential skills are often hard to find within the workforce or being developed as we speak. This mismatch between skills employers demand and those that workers have to offer is known as the “skills gap.” This gap has real costs for businesses, with a potential economic impact of $2.5 trillion by 2028, according to Deloitte. 

Romania has experienced significant progress in recent years with its income per capita rising from about 50 percent of the European Union average in 2010 to about 70 percent currently. However, the country faces several skill challenges if it wishes to move its economy to the global economic frontier. Being at the frontier requires the right skills, as well as training models that allow individuals, firms’ employees, and countries’ workforces to update their skills frequently and efficiently to meet changing needs.

Unprecedented times have called for the future of work to become the present. Bridging the skills gap and upskilling employees and businesses will become imperative in not leaving anyone behind.

Entering the Canadian job market is challenging, and the school-to-work transition is no longer guaranteed to be swift, fluid or successful. According to RBC’s Humans Wanted Report, automation will impact at least 50 per cent of Canadian jobs in the next 10 years. Skills mobility – the ability to move from one job to another – will become a new competitive advantage.

We know that a skills gap exists, but how can we help young people better understand the skills they have, and how can we better equip them with the tools and resources they need to succeed?

The trucking industry plays a major role in the functioning of the Canadian economy. Virtually all goods that are delivered to consumers find themselves on a truck during at least one segment of their journey The industry employs in excess of 400,000 people.

The skills gap is currently one of the defining features of the labor market. There are hundreds of thousands of middle-skill jobs available but few individuals with the skills and education to fill them. These jobs need less education than a full degree program, and alternative providers like bootcamps have been active in helping to serve this market. Now, Google has entered the fray.

A community college’s key mandate is to provide education that prepares students for full-time employment. By aligning with local industry, community colleges can respond to real-time job market needs and ensure sustainable employment for its students.