Recruiting women for industry
Steelworks Design vice-president first female chair in 146-year history of the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters group
A Peterborough-area manufacturing leader is playing a national role in helping to support, promote and inspire women to pursue careers in the industry through a initiative launched at Queen’s Park on Tuesday.
Steelworks Design vice-president of finance Rhonda Barnet is also the chairwoman of the national board of directors for the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), which launched the Women in Manufacturing Working Group on theeveofWednesday’sInternational Women’s Day.
The leader at the Cavan Monaghan Township-based engineering firm that builds machines for manufacturers, the first female chairwoman of the CME board in its 146 years, is keenly aware of how women are needed to grow the domestic labour pool in Canada.
“Men alone cannot fill the need,” she said, pointing out how many opportunities exist for women, who are critical to Canada’s competitiveness.
It’s time to stop accepting women’s role in history of pursuing careers that are “traditionally feminine,” stated Barnet, who has been involved with the CME for about five years.
“We need to develop a national Steelworks Design vice-president of finance Rhonda Barnet (right), also the chairwoman of the national board of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, seen with Premier Kathleen Wynne as a Women in Manufacturing Working Group was launched at Queen's Park on Tuesday. strategy that fosters women to study and work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields,” she stated, adding that a plan is expected to be rolled out in Ottawa this October.
Women account for 47.5 per cent of the labour force but only 28 per cent of the manufacturing workforce, the CME stated.
There has also been no increase in the share of manufacturing jobs held by women over the last 15 years. In comparison, only 5.6 per cent of employed women in Canada have a job in manufacturing compared to 13.1 per cent of all men.
CME president and CEO Dennis Darby said skills and labour shortages rank as the single largest concern facing Canadian manufacturers today.
“Roughly 40 per cent of businesses face labour and skills shortages today,” he stated. ”Five years from now, close to 60 per cent anticipate such shortages. To build a stronger skilled workforce in Canada, we must engage youth and women in manufacturing.”
Part of the issue is that the old stereotype that manufacturing is old and dirty needs to be changed, Barnet said. “We need to change the image and perceptions.”
Many Canadians may still believe that a manufacturing job is one filled with monotonous assembly-line tasks in a dark, dirty and dangerous environment, Darby stated.
“These lingering perspectives bear little resemblance to modern-day innovative and technologically advanced manufacturing operations. They do, however, deter women from pursuing careers in manufacturing-related fields. We want to change that perspective, and we are committed to work with government at all levels to advance women in manufacturing.”
The working group, driven by leading manufacturers from across Canada, held its inaugural meeting Tuesday in Toronto to discuss the highly skilled workforce with Deputy Premier Deb Matthews and Education Minister Mitzie Hunter.
“Our government recognizes that the skilled trades are the backbone of our province’s economy. My colleagues and I are proud to support more Ontarians – including women and young people – to enter the skilled trades and contribute to a stronger economy. We want to make sure that anyone who wants to pursue a trade can put their skills to work, and help to keep our manufacturing sector at the leading edge,” Premier Kathleen Wynne stated in a message to working group members.
The new working group is part of the CME’s Industrie 2030 initiative which aims to double manufacturing output by 2030.
The CME is a member-driven association directly represents more than 2,500 companies who account for an estimated 82 per cent of manufacturing output and 90 per cent of Canada’s exports, officials stated in a press release.
The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters website is at www.cme-mec.ca/.