Aerospace and Defence Industry Training Planned

A new human resources board, made up of industry and education leaders, will focus on attracting and training youth for Nova Scotia's aerospace and defence industries.

The new board was announced at the Partners for Prosperity (P4P) meeting at the Shearwater Air Force Base, today, May 13. P4P includes members of the Aerospace and Defence Industries of Nova Scotia (ADIANS), the Department of Education, universities and Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC).

"Young people can look forward to better careers and well paying jobs in a vibrant and growing aerospace and defence industry," said Hal Davies, one of the new human resources board members and chair of the human resources sector council. "We now have the framework to work together better and create solutions for the benefit of people, business and the province as a whole."

Industry leaders, educators and students discussed industry trends at today's meeting. The goal of the partnership is to strengthen the links between educators and employers, so that training programs produce graduates who are ready to step into available jobs.

"This partnership will create more job opportunities for Nova Scotians," said Education Minister Jamie Muir. "As part of Skills Nova Scotia, the provincial skills agenda, we will now have better, more accurate information for people to make informed career decisions about work in the aerospace and defence industries."

There are currently 5,200 aerospace and defence workers in Nova Scotia. The Department of National Defence employs another 2,000 civilians in similar fields. It is estimated that within the next two years about 30 per cent of these jobs will be vacant, due to a shortage of skilled workers.

"Supplying skilled college graduates is an important role of NSCC, and when we talk about human resource development, we need to be creative and initiate other ideas as well," says Jeff Somerville, vice-president, business development, NSCC. "Specifically, I believe we need to support industry learning needs on a customized basis, promote the potential of education and careers to the next generation, and ensure a collaborative effort so the industry, educators and government work together to achieve human resource development goals and economic prosperity for Nova Scotia."

Industry involvement has been a key part of the success that the ADIANS Human Resources Partnership has achieved since its inception in October 2003. Industry provides training aids and works with educators to ensure that training meets national certification standards. This also includes increasing the employability of graduates and developing a common language used by industry, educators and career councilors to attract and retain youth to careers in aerospace and defence.

In October 2003, the Department of Education and Nova Scotia Economic Development provided $25,000 to ADIANS to develop an implementation plan to address skills issues.

Creating more job opportunities and better labour market information are part of Skills Nova Scotia, the province's co- ordinating strategy for developing a skilled and competitive workforce. It involves working with partners to upgrade people's skills and training to further their personal and professional success.

The Aerospace and Defence Human Resources Partnership is a non- profit association created by the Aerospace and Defence Industries Association and the province of Nova Scotia.

A copy of the Human Resources Partnership report is available on the ADIANS website at www.hrpartnership.adians.ca .