Government renews focus on worker retraining
A career change at age 46 might be intimidating, even scary, for most people. For Robin Taylor, it’s exciting.
With a layoff pending, the Edmonton IT worker has a choice to compete for jobs in a saturated market or find a new industry with growth potential and re-train for it. Taylor said the smart choice is to look for a fresh start.
“I’m excited; I’m always excited about learning new stuff,” said Taylor.
He’s decided to work in renewable energy, viewing the province’s winds and long hours of sunlight as an advantage, but that could mean a few lean years while he makes the transition.
“When I was younger and making less money, I had a lot more opportunity to pivot and make changes to chase an opportunity I had interest in,” said Taylor, who is married with grown children.
“Now, it’s going to have severe impacts on our quality of life, because it’s a reduction in income.”
Taylor’s story is a common one in Alberta these days, especially after the downturn, and governments are looking to help people adapt to a changing economy.
Last week’s federal budget earmarked an extra $1.8 billion to expand programs that help workers upgrade their skills or start a business and it also boosts student grants for part-time students by 50 per cent. That means about 16,000 part-time students will receive an extra $600 each year.
Students loans will also be more accessible for adult students. The old system took into account income and financial assets, so some adult students would be disqualified based on the previous year’s income. The government is bringing in a three-year pilot program that will test new approaches to providing loans to adult students.
The government is also changing the employment insurance program to allow recipients more time to learn new skills. Taylor said he will definitely be taking advantage of that, when the time comes.
“I think it’s really important that we do have those re-training options available. The labour market is constantly changing,” said Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray.
Gray said the changes to the EI program are a “very important step” and shift the focus to building skills for different opportunities, rather than just encouraging people to look for work in their existing profession. The province also has a host of programs that help workers re-train or improve their skills. It’s something businesses have been lobbying for, too.
“Training is always a good thing. The biggest barrier businesses face, small businesses especially, is a lack of skilled labour,” said Corinne Pohlmann, the senior vice-president for national affairs for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
“I think workers always need to think about how they can continue to grow... and continue to make sure they’re relevant in the work they’re doing,” she said.