"Regrettably, the information just isn't available. The knowledge gap means that decisions, in regards to policy development, curriculum planning and strategic hiring for example, are made without a complete and accurate picture of the current state of the aftermarket. "
Researchers already are working to outline the state of the current labor market, as well as provide a gap analysis to identify the missing labor market data. The end result will be an online bilingual interactive tool, expected to launch in the last half of 2018, that will track significant labor information in the industry.
"Tracking job market information and make it more accessible to workers and employers will grow our middle class and help those working hard to join it," said Patty Hajdu, minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.
"This investment will create more jobs and opportunities in the $21 billion automotive aftermarket industry," John McKay, a member of Parlament and parliamentary secretary to the minister of National Defence, said. "The Labor Market information collected will provide a bridge between employers, the close to 400,000 workers, and post-secondary institutions — such as Centennial College — to identify the skills necessary to meet the demands of an industry experiencing unprecedented growth."
The automotive aftermarket employs nearly half of the occupations in the automotive industry, equal to more than 388,000 individuals. AIA Canada and project stakeholders believe that the ALMI tool will make a significant impact in supporting access to functional and timely labor market information for the industry, and will be essential for industry employees, employers, job seekers and students.
"Right from the start we've had the support of both the mechanical and collision sectors, colleges and other learning institutions, as well as from the government at all levels," Mr. Champagne said. "The project has a lot of ground to cover but the support is there. As the project progresses, it'll be interesting to see how the tool will grow and help change how we understand labor in the automotive aftermarket."
AIA Canada is the national trade association that represents the entire automotive aftermarket, supply and service chain. Follow coverage about the labor market project using #cdnAutoLabour.
