| Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES) | Impact Study: Essential Skills and Food Sanitation and Hygiene Training |
Two years ago, Alberta's Training for Excellence Corporation (ATEC), together with Alberta Human Resources and Employment, conducted a series of strategic planning meetings with the Alberta tourism industry. Approximately forty (40) people from government, education, and the tourism industry participated in the investigation of human resources challenges and opportunities for the tourism industry. Two Alberta Workforce Essential Skills (AWES) consultants participated on this taskforce to raise awareness of workforce essential skills issues. The result of the taskforce is a five-year industry driven strategy for proactively addressing human resource challenges and opportunities in tourism in Alberta. One of the strategies that came out of the strategic planning is to increase the relevance and accessibility of education/training offerings.
In 2002, tourism employed approximately 166,000 people in Alberta. The overall growth projection for the tourism industry to the year 2010 is high. Although tourism is a high employer of youth, the future employee market, based on demographics, is shrinking. Recruitment and retention of workers is one of the biggest challenges facing the industry. Current labour force data indicates that service industries are going to have to dig deeper into the labour pool. The tourism industry must begin to recruit and hire from non-traditional markets to be able to provide service. To fill positions, the industry is looking to hire new immigrants, aboriginals (a group that is currently underemployed), older workers and seniors who wish to supplement retirement income. A resulting challenge that the task force identified will be meeting the needs of this "new" group of workers, including their literacy and language needs.
Alberta's food service industry, a significant sector of employment opportunities in Alberta, employs thousands of people who prepare and serve foods, and manage restaurant and fast food businesses. In the food services sector, employment turnover will increase as members of the baby boom generation retire over the next five to ten years with younger workers replacing them. The occupational groups specifically cooks, food and beverage servers, food service supervisors, chefs, restaurant and food service managers, bartenders, food services supervisors, food counter attendants, and kitchen helpers will expand in the next four years. With the changing population demographics, there will be more job opportunities but a smaller labour pool from which to draw on.
"It
is estimated that foodborne illness results in medical costs and
productivity losses of over one billion dollars annually to the
Canadian
economy."
– Health Canada, Policy Development Framework: 2001
There is an emerging emphasis on food safety training and certification as the food industry becomes more concerned about food safe practices. The province of Alberta through Alberta Health and Wellness is planning to increase the certification requirements for food operations. Business regulations for food operations with more than six employees, as of April 2005, will call for one employee per shift to be certified in food safety and sanitation, up from one employee per establishment. There is the potential that all food-handling employees may require certification in the future.