Different Times, Different Needs

As we enter a new century, the pressures on the labour market in industrialized countries are very different from the recent past.

• Markets continue to change at an accelerating pace.
• Clients expect, and demand, quality from vendors.
• Employers want potential employees to have a variety of skills.
• Students want to know that training programs will provide a job or career possibilities.
• 'Just in time' production reduces the need for large inventories of products and for a full-time commitment to staff.
• Diversity of the workforce creates new challenges and opportunities for employers and trainers.

Different Needs, Different Responses

If the Canadian labour market is going to meet these needs and expectations, it must function with increasing effectiveness. It must create a context:

• where firms can easily hire the people they need when they need them;
• where people can improve their employability and move from one job or career to another with ease;
• where government intervention in the labour market, if necessary, is cost effective;
• where equal access is provided to training and employment opportunities;
• where learning institutions are assisted to adopt internationally recognized core competencies to support Canadian suppliers in the global market.

How Can We Respond?

No single player in the Canadian labour market or economy is capable of creating a context to improve global competitiveness. This challenge can only be achieved through a cooperative effort - a strategic alliance of all the players in the Canadian labour market - individuals, company owners, corporate leaders, labour, government, and educators. Together, these groups can create the conditions necessary for individual Canadian firms to be competitive, and for all Canadians to be able to participate more effectively in the labour market. Every day, the value of strategic alliances is being proven in more than twenty sectors of the Canadian economy. Sectoral cooperation can improve international competitiveness for all sectors.

The Canadian approach to sectoral cooperation has been developed by concerned labour and management volunteers from a number of industries, frequently with support from Human Resource Development Canada.

Three components define the sectoral approach:

• Companies, managers, or workers that provide common products, services, or technologies come together on a voluntary basis to explore common concerns related to human resource development, and to identify possible solutions.
• A strategic management framework is used to identify the current and future requirements for human resource development that will enable the sector to become more globally competitive.
• Stakeholders may choose to establish a permanent structure (a Sector Council) to address these human resource issues on a continuing basis. Sector Councils are usually run by volunteers, often with support from Human Resource Development Canada.

What Do Sector Councils Do?

In January of 1997, twenty-three sectors or cross-sectoral groups of the Canadian economy had Sector Councils in operation. Their overall goal is to improve the quality of the Canadian labour force, and to assist firms to be more flexible in meeting changing competitive demands. By bringing together corporate executives, owner-operators of smaller firms, employees, union leaders, educators and interested government representatives, Sector Councils provide a practical perspective on change.

Sector Councils address a wide range of issues related to technological change, quality standards, planning, and human resource development. They do not expect a single approach to address all the potential issues for all sectors of the economy - the demands are far too varied. Instead, Canada's twenty-three Sector Councils have focused on what works for their sector. They have implemented programs as diverse as the sectors themselves.

Key issues addressed by Sector Councils include:

• how Canadian companies and plants operate to meet international quality standards;
• how individuals are hired, and how careers are managed as firms strive to meet international quality standards;
• how training is viewed, developed and delivered to a diverse workforce to ensure that it prepares new employees and existing staff to meet international quality requirements;
• how employment in seasonal industries can be extended to improve the stability of employment and to use existing buildings and equipment more efficiently.