Trades steady on job market

The aviation and aerospace maintenance industry in Canada is facing a massive shortage of skilled workers.

By 2017, one expert predicts the field will see a shortage of skilled workers equal to the size of the workforce today — approximately 150,000.

Despite air travel numbers falling during the first half of 2008 because of high fuel costs, the executive-director of the Aviation Maintenance Council says it was a short-lived blip and aviation and aerospace production continues to grow.

“Everybody’s projecting somewhere between four- and six-per-cent growth in the industry,” said Robert Donald.

The aviation maintenance industry is not alone in its projected shortage.

From trades such as carpentry to electrical technicians to plumbing, Canada is in dire need of skilled employees.

Julien Mayr, an aircraft maintenance engineer for a private, aircraft charter and leasing company, says he’s barely felt the impact of the current economic downturn.

While Canada’s unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage points in November after 71,000 workers across the country lost their jobs, Mayr says there never seems to be enough licensed technicians in his field.

He went into aircraft maintenance and repair after completing an undergraduate degree in psychology at the University of Calgary. He couldn’t figure out what to do with his BA, and always enjoyed mechanical work.

“The nice thing about the trades is that you’re taught to do a specific job,” he said. “You have an immediate occupation.”

He completed two years of schooling, followed by two years of apprenticeship training in order to get his Aircraft Maintenance Engineer licence.

The Government of Canada plays a central role in ensuring Canada’s economy is equipped with a highly skilled workforce, says Jason Bouzanis, spokesman for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.

The Apprenticeship Incentive Grant, for example, is a taxable $1,000 cash grant available to apprentices registered in a Red Seal trade who have completed their first and/or second level of their apprenticeship program on or after January 2007.

As in many trades these days, the money in aircraft maintenance is good and jobs are full time with benefits and sometimes full pension plans.

Donald says licensed technicians can pull in a salary ranging from between $60,000 to $100,000 a year with overtime and benefits.

And there’s certainly no concern of losing one’s job in this industry, he said.
“I project that young people with the right skills will have their choice of any number of jobs and the competition for those employees will only increase as time goes on.”