Workplace Challenges
Threat #1: Labour shortageTrade up your careerWondering which work path to wander down? A career in skilled trades may increase your options. By Jennifer McFee |
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 [ 2009-03-03 ] |
With a shortage of skilled workers across the country, job opportunities in the trades are abundant.
According to Statistics Canada, the trades industry has grown steadily by 2.2 per cent per year since the early ’90s, with over a million people employed in the trades in 2007. This trend is expected to continue.
“If you’re prepared to go where the work is, there are ample opportunities. Electricians, steamfitters, welders, plumbers – [people in] those professions are having no difficulty getting employment opportunities,” says James Loder, principal of Academy Canada - Trades College in St. John’s.
Big bucks
Loder’s students also report they bring home big bucks.
“The salaries are very nice for people who pursue that line of training,” he says. “They work hard for their money, but it’s a good living.”
Last year, the average wage of a tradesperson was $22.36 per hour, higher than the combined average of $21.02 in other occupations, according to Statistics Canada. Best paid were electricians ($25.26), crane operators ($24.61) and plumbers ($24.10). Trades work also provides people with the potential to start their own business, particularly for construction workers, masons and plasterers.
Ten years ago, nine per cent of tradespeople were self-employed. Today, that number has jumped to 15 per cent.
As the trends indicate, a career in trades can offer stability, flexibility and autonomy in the workplace.
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