SkillsTrader Briefing: November 23, 2020

Awareness and recognition

Lola Hynes and Katelyn Wheeler are a mother-daughter duo who recently completed the Women Building Futures program in Alberta. The Back to School Again podcast interviewed them about their journey and why the trades can be a great place to build a career.
Barbie the Welder is a skilled trades advocate who is using TikTok to inspire the future of welders.
The Construction Foundation of B.C. featured tradeswomen Amanda Steiner and Rebekah Ray who entered the trades following high school. "I always wanted to do something hands on," said Ray.
A recent episode of the Blue is the New White podcast featured Bethany Locke, an apprentice powerline technician in Nova Scotia who "was actually presented with and educated on the skilled trades as a viable career option while she was still in high school."
"We're seeing a graying workforce in the skilled trades ," said Rep. Steve Stivers (R-Ohio), ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Housing, Community Development, and Insurance in a recent interview with the National Association of Home Builders. "We aren't training enough people in the trades."

A new program offered in both English and French at Ontario's Kemptville Campus Education and Community Centre will provide experience and training in the truck and coach technician, heavy equipment technician, and agricultural equipment technician fields through the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program.
According to the American Association of Community Colleges, one in 12 students at community colleges - or more than 940,000 - previously earned a bachelor's degree. In many cases, they're returning to school to learn skilled trades , says The Hechinger Report.
Through 2021, the National Housing Endowment and the Skilled Labor Fund are providing $578,000 to 90 home builder associations to sponsor or support workforce development initiatives such as skilled trades training.

Construction is a $1.3 trillion industry in the United States with a workforce that is aging faster than the younger population that joins it , "resulting in a shortage of labor particularly for skilled trades that may require years of training and certifications," reports TechCrunch in a story about tech startups aiming to shake up the industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the talent shortage facing West Michigan's construction industry, with about 5% of the workforce sidelined due to the virus. Firms are now ramping up recruitment and training efforts with a number of organizations working together to "expose students to the possibility of a career in the skilled trades and construction."
The Auto Care Association is hosting a State of the Aftermarket Town Hall on Dec. 3.
The Future Skills Centre is hosting a webinar on Dec. 7 that will look at "alternative models of documenting and assessing apprenticeship competencies."

Immersive learning startup TRANSFR VR has secured $12 million in Series A funding to scale training programs that prepare job-seekers for roles in automotive manufacturing, construction, and other skilled trades.
QuickHire is a hiring platform focused on the skilled trades and service industries that launched in September 2020. The app is now approaching 2,000 users with 70% being millennials and Gen Z'ers, reports Forbes.
HeroWork , which helps charities renovate by bringing together skilled tradespeople, volunteers and companies, has done over $4 million of renovation and is already booked well into 2021.