It has often been said to me by EMC Members that there is a huge disconnect between what kids in High School are told about a career in Manufacturing and what one really entails. A career in Manufacturing has not been something that Guidance Councillors would traditionally encourage their best and brightest to pursue.
To help change this perception the London Consortium of Excellence in Manufacturing along with the Elgin Middlesex Oxford Workforce Planning and Development Board and the London Region Manufacturing Council set up a day of tours for about 75 local London area high school guidance councillors at 5 local EMC Member facilities.
The five EMC Member facilities that opened their doors for the Guidance Councillors were Attica Manufacturing, OES Inc., Transform Automotive, Hanwha Canada and Trojan UV.
High-school guidance counsellors got a glimpse into 21st-century manufacturing plants where their impressions of what goes on in a modern manufacturing facility and what types of employment opportunities there are in manufacturing were changed!
As anyone in manufacturing knows gone are the days when workers toiled away at dirty plants doing a single job. Instead, manufacturing plants today are clean, high-tech places employing a variety of people.
At plants such as Attica Manufacturing, general machinists, mechanical engineers, skilled trades, safety engineers and material handlers are some of the employees who make the precision plant what it is.
"All those are part of the symphony of manufacturing," said Andy Mavrokefalos, president of Attica in a quote to the London Free Press who covered this event.
Young people's confidence has fallen in manufacturing, he said, leaving the sector scrambling to fill some of those roles.
Guidance Councillors picked two facilities to tour. After the tours a representative from each member facility participated in a "panel discussion" at Fanshawe College which was facilitated by EMC. This panel allowed Guidance Councillors to ask any questions they may have and provided an opportunity for the manufacturers to detail the position available at their facilities. Also the manufacturers were able to tell Guidance Councillors why they should encourage their best and brightest to look at manufacturing career. They also detailed the skills those coming into work force need to have successful careers in manufacturing....both soft and hard skills.
Those on the panel made it very clear that local manufacturing needs the best and brightest students coming out of high school. Guidance counsellors were urged to promote manufacturing as a first-choice career.
The day was illuminating for people such as Jerry O'Conner, head of guidance and co-operative education at John Paul II Catholic high school. Jerry was quoted as saying in the London Free Press...
"This was a real eye-opener for me today," he said. "I'm stuck in a 'free-trade, good-bye manufacturing' mindset, so this is good to hear."
The perception, he said, was that with free-trade agreements in place, manufacturing jobs were being lost to countries such as Mexico.
"It was a meaningful opportunity for guidance (counsellors) to see manufacturing in the 21st century," Michelle Boughner curriculum co-ordinator at the London District Catholic school board told the London Free Press.
The day was a big success with positive reaction from both the education professionals and the representatives from manufacturers. Hopefully this will start to change the perception of manufacturing, getting young people excited to work in this dynamic industry!
Jason Bates
EMC Canada
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