Basic Workforce Requirements

There are a number of basic capabilities that are demanded of a modern manufacturing workforce:

• Employability skills – including discipline, reliability, timeliness, integrity, interpersonal skills, work ethic, and the ability to exercise responsibility with regard to personal health and safety and that of others;
• Practical business and technical experience;
• Flexibility in response to changing conditions and the ability to assume a number of roles in the workplace;
• The ability to learn and to solve problems in an innovative and creative way;
• The ability to communicate effectively in the language of the workplace;
• The capacity to work in other languages and cultures;
• The ability to work in teams;
• The ability to read and write increasingly sophisticated instructions and other communications;
• Project management skills;
• Numerical and computer skills; as well as,
• Business management and supervisory capabilities.

These capabilities will become even more important with respect to future workforce needs.

Yet, according to CME’s 2004 Management Issues Survey, 23% of manufacturers report difficulties in finding entry-level employees with the skill sets they require for further training. (See Tables 11, 12, and 13.) Over 15% of manufacturers say that the problem-solving, technical, teamwork, literacy, supervisory and project management, flexibility, creativity, and basic employability skills or their workforce is less than satisfactory. (Employability skills are defined as the ability to come to work on time on a consistent basis, responsibility for personal behaviour and the health and safety of others, and the discipline required to carry out tasks expected of the position an employee holds.)

A summary of survey results with respect to workforce skills in greatest need of improvement can be found in Tables 14, 15, and 16. Generally speaking, there is little variability across provinces as manufacturers assess skills deficiencies among current workers. However, some specific areas of concern are apparent – reading and writing skills in Ontario and British Columbia, verbal communication skills in BC and Quebec, learning and flexibility skills in Saskatchewan and Ontario, teamwork skills in BC, entrepreneurship in Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada, basic employability skills in the western provinces and Atlantic Canada, and supervisory and management skills in BC and Manitoba.