Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market2

• Why does OSPE call it a crisis?

• Which sectors are having trouble getting experienced engineers.

• The underemployment level by profession and province.

• The impact of the supply/demand gaps since 1996.

• Problems specific to internationally trained engineers (ITE’s).

• Recruiting disconnects that affect ITE’s.

• Experience and training challenges affecting all engineers.

• Potential solutions.

• Supplementary labour market data (ITE’s, females, salaries).

• Q/A

Outline

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

PEO - Professional Engineers Ontario is the regulatory authority.

Governs license and certificate holders.

Regulates “professional engineering” in Ontario to serve and protect the public.

Membership is mandatory.

OSPE - Ontario Society of Professional Engineers is the voice of the engineering profession in Ontario.

Advances the professional and economic interests of all Ontario engineers.

Advocates on behalf of the profession with governments, industry and the public.

Membership is voluntary.

OSPE was created by PEO in 2000 to separate the “regulatory” and “self interest” activities similar to the medical and legal professions in Ontario.

Ontario’s Engineering Profession

3

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

• From 2011 to 2020 about 111,000 engineering jobs will become available in Canada mostly for engineers with over 10 years experience to replace retirees. Ref 1)

• From 2011 to 2020 about 182,000 engineers will enter the work force in Canada but most do not have sufficient sector specific experience to qualify for the available jobs. Ref 1)

• This disconnect (insufficient number of engineering jobs and the need for sector specific experience) is creating severe underemployment in the engineering profession. Ref 2)

Why Does OSPE Call it a Crisis ?

1) Engineers Canada report “The Engineering Labour Market in Canada: Projections to 2020, Final Report, October 2012”.

2) OSPE report “From Classroom to Career” based on Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey data.

4

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

3) Ontario Chamber of Commerce, 2013 Pre-Budget Submission.

Employers Can’t Find Experienced Engineers

5

Percentage of respondents who have had “difficulty finding people with adequate skills”. Ref 3)

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

“Underemployment” is defined as a university graduate working in jobs that do not require

a university degree (the RED bars in the charts below). Ref 2)

Engineering Underemployment Levels are High

6

2) OSPE report “From Classroom to Career”.

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Impact of Engineering Supply/Demand Mismatch

7

StatsCan 1996, 2001 & 2006 Census and 2011 National Household Survey data.

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

300000

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Ontarians With a Degree With Engineering as Major Field of Study vs Those Working in Engineering

Degree Working in Engineering

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

• Internationally trained engineers (ITE) could potentially meet the experience requirements of the vacancies, however,

• Employer recruiting processes and ITE job search practices make it unlikely an ITE will be matched to the job. Ref 4)

• ITE’s find that employers request a Canadian license even though the Professional Engineers Act in most provinces provide a personal exception to do engineering work under the direction of a licensed engineer to allow the ITE to acquire their 1 year of Canadian experience to obtain a license.

• These factors create a very high underemployment rate for ITE’s -approximately double that of new Canadian engineering graduates. Ref 2)

Complicating Factors for ITE’s

2) OSPE’s “From Classroom to Career” based on Statistics Canada 2011 National Household Survey data.

4) OSPE’s “From the World to the Workforce: Hiring and Recruitment Perceptions of Engineering Employers and Internationally Trained Engineers in Ontario”. www.ospe.on.ca/world-to-workforce

8

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Recruiting and Job Search Disconnects for ITE’s

Percent ranking specific soft skills as‘important’ or ‘very important’ on a 1-5 scale.

Spoken communication skills. 98%

Ability to relate to customers or clients. 98%

Ability to work in a team. 97%

Ability to work with diverse groups of people. 97%

Ability to work with opposite gender.95%

Written communication skills. 95%

Knowledge of Canadian business practices.78%

Employers place a high value on soft skills after technical and sector experience is satisfied. Ref 4)

Employers find that some ITE’s:

• Do not place enough emphasis on their soft skills at the interview.

• Over-estimate their English language skills.

• Fail to tailor resumes and covering letters to the specific requirements of the job.

• Fail to describe how their experiences are relevant to the job.

• Do not respond well to behaviour-based interview questions.

9

4) OSPE’s “From the World to the Workforce”

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

• Recent graduates have difficulty acquiring experience and becoming licensed because of a scarcity of entry level engineering positions.

• Canadian experienced engineers wanting to move to another sector lack the sector specific skills required by employers and have no practical means to acquire those skills on their own.

• Only 14% of engineers in small companies and 35% of engineers in large companies have formal training and development plans. Ref 5)

Complicating Factors - for All Engineers

5) Prism Economics and Analysis, May 2011, “2010 Survey of Working Conditions for Engineers”.

10

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Potential SolutionsEngineers need to:• Improve their resume writing

skills.

• Improve their interview skills.

• Improve their English language skills (ITE’s).

• Improve their networking skills.

• Demonstrate how their knowledge and experience will meet job requirements.

• Use available government training and employment support programs.

• Use OSPE professional development and career services center at: http://www.ospe.on.ca.

11

Employers need to:

• Train & develop their own “experienced” engineers.

• Modify their candidate screening processes.

• Take advantage of government training & bridging programs.

• Work collectively within each sector to define job requirements and source training institutions to deliver sector specific training.

• Use OSPE engineering employer resource center at: http://www.ospe.on.ca/page/EERCHome.

Governments need to:• Partner with employers to

provide more entry level positions.

• Partner with industry sectors to provide sector specific training.

• Invest in research, development and innovation that stimulates engineering driven companies that create the high skilled jobs we need to employ growing levels of post secondary graduates.

• Develop special programs for ITE’s and female engineers that face unique labour market challenges.

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

SupplementaryData

12

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Supplementary Data

13

92% of engineering 4th year students want to work in an engineering job.

Ipsos-Reid Survey for Professional Engineers Ontario.

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Supplementary Data

14

ITE’s face a more difficult labour

market than Canadian

graduates.

Women engineers face a more difficult

labour market

than male

engineers.

StatsCan 2011 National Household Survey data.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

All

Degree In Canada - Male

Degree Outside Canada - Male

Degree In Canada - Female

Degree Outside Canada - Female

Comparison by Gender by Location of Study: As % of Total Engineering Degree Holders (225,490)

% Engineering % Normally Requiring Degree % Not Necessarily Requiring Degree

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Supplementary Data

15

Ontario Engineering Market is oversupplied with new graduates and ITE’s with insufficient sector skills that are required by employers.

Engineers Canada report “The Engineering Labour Market in Canada: Projections to 2020, Final Report, October 2012”.

Growth Replacement

New Graduates – Bachelors Degree Immigrants and TFWs

Oversupply = 4199

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Supplementary Data

16

Underemployment affects other Ontario university graduates also. The economy is not creating enough university level jobs !

StatsCan 2011 National Household Survey data.

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Supplementary Data

17

More money is not the reason engineers move away from engineering jobs.

StatsCan 2011 National

Household Survey data.

Covers the entire engineering community.

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market

Supplementary Data

18

Engineers make more than most other university graduates

but their salaries are not keeping up with inflation !

OSPE-Mercer Engineering

Employers Annual Salary Survey.

Covers major employers of

engineers. Does not cover the entire

engineering community.

Crisis In Canada’s Engineering Labour Market19

Questions ?

To access an electronic copy of the 2015 Underemployment report, go to: www.ospe.on.ca/resource/resmgr/DOC_advocacy/2015_REPORT

_Underemployment_.pdf

This presentation can be downloaded at:http://www.ospe.on.ca/?page=pres_lib#peo

Would you like to become a member of OSPE? Visit:http://www.ospe.on.ca/?page=JOIN

www.ospe.on.ca

4950 Yonge Street, Suite 502, Toronto ON M2N 6K1Tel: 416-223-9961 • Toll Free: 1-866-763-1654

20