Older generation heads back to class
Frank Light was 50 years old when he became a machinist, completing his classroom education and on-the-job hours for his second trade.
“It was a good experience being a mature student,” said Light, who had already worked for many years as a millwright.
Now 59, he said his return to the classroom was in some ways easier than his first apprenticeship.
“I think it’s easier because you have more life experience. When they speak on certain subjects, you can relate it to something you’ve seen or worked on, but when you’re younger you’re maybe not exposed to those things,” he said.
Millwrights install, maintain, repair and troubleshoot stationary industrial machinery and mechanical equipment, while machinists set up and operate precision metal cutting and grinding machines to make and repair products.
Light’s career in the trades started after he completed high school in Brockville, Ont. He worked at a local factory and then decided to enter the trades, inspired in part by the exposure he had to shop class during high school.
“I started my apprenticeship in the millwright trade in Ontario and when the economic downtown of the 1980s hit I heard, ‘go West young man,’ so that’s what I did in 1983,” Light said.
He completed his millwright apprenticeship at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology and eventually settled in Peace River, working as a millwright at DMI Peace River Pulp.
Light said he entered his second trade many years later, thanks to an employer who encouraged employees to pursue dual tickets in the trades. Light felt becoming a machinist would be a complementary skill set to his work as a millwright.
According to Krista Uggerslev, an applied research fellow at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, mid-career moves such as Light’s are becoming more common.
“If we look at 60 years ago, people on average had one career and stuck with that career their whole lives. Ten years ago, we’d say people have three careers, and now we’re talking about people having nine careers in their lifetime,” Uggerslev said.
She researches labour shortages, including the projected shortfall of 114,000 workers in Alberta by 2021, and how employers and government can address the challenges associated with a deficit of workers.
For many employers that means looking beyond the traditional sources of labour.
Uggerslev said more emphasis is being placed on targeting “potential underutilized groups of individuals,” including people with disabilities, people living in remote northern communities, immigrants and women who are re-entering the workforce after having children.
“We’re seeing more of a focus on mid-career women entering trades,” Uggerslev said.
While some people turn to the trades right out of high school, others make the switch later in life.
“We’re seeing much more re-education, so education not just for people coming out of high school but for people at all ages,” Uggerslev said.
For Light, his return to the classroom later in his career has served him well. After finishing his apprenticeship he continued working at the pulp mill, then took a teaching position in Thunder Bay.
“It was very rewarding to have an opportunity to pass on the experience and knowledge I’d gained,” Light said.
When he returned to Peace River he was ready to try something new. After a conversation with his brother, a business owner in Edmonton, Light decided to start his own company. Channico Machine and Millwright Services Ltd. began in 2006.
“My brother was my silent business partner. He had the business savvy side of it and understood how to get a new business off the ground, and I had the technical side and past experience,” Light said.
His company is a repair facility that employees millwrights, machinists and welders. He has 10 employees, including a student in the Registered Apprenticeship Program. Light also serves as a board member on the Alberta Apprenticeship and Industry Training board.
“I firmly believe in the apprenticeship system and the apprenticeship program.”
He said the work at his shop is varied, from repairing rotating equipment for companies in the oilfield to farm equipment for local farmers.
“It’s awesome. It’s challenging some days, but to have the independence and be your own boss is really good. I’m still enjoying what I’m doing,” Light said.
“It’s lifelong learning and usually always different everyday. The work is not monotonous.”