Canada’s green transition is reshaping the workforce and shaking up the traditional career path. While workers’ personal motivations for career advancement and development have largely remained the same, the expected career cycle of the average worker in clean-growth industries has changed largely due to technological advancement and decarbonization. The image below seeks to illustrate these career path trends.
Addressing skills and labour needs in clean-growth industries like zero-emissions vehicles, plant-based protein and mass timber requires a focus on people. They have the skills, do the labour and are the ones whom the skills ecosystem exists to serve, train and employ.
While workers may have previously expected to finish learning in school and enter the labour market, with the changes in expectations and technology, they should now be prepared to be continuous ‘learners’ well beyond their academic careers. This continuous learning takes many forms over one’s career, ranging from co-operative programs, work-integrated learning and apprenticeships in the development stage to continuing education courses or employer- and union-led certification, as individuals establish and peak in their careers. As workers accumulate knowledge moving into their career peaks and near retirement, they can be expected to take on trainer/mentor roles to junior or incoming workers. They may even be encouraged or welcomed to remain after retirement if there is a skilled labour shortage or low worker replacement ratios.
For more insights and research about worker needs, green skills, jobs, and clean growth, please follow the Smart Prosperity Institute, visit our webpage on Canada's green skills transition and subscribe to our newsletter for updates.
