A new survey seeks to better understand the skills and training needs of local residents.
The Workforce Skills and Training Survey hopes to determine if residents feel they have opportunities to build skills they need to be successful in their jobs, and if additional community support is needed to help.
The survey is being conducted by the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie, with support from community partners and the Ministry of Labor, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
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“There’s a lot of talk about the general need to upgrade people’s skills, but we rarely hear how the workforce thinks and feels,” said Danette Dalton, the planning board’s executive director, in a news release. “This survey will help fill that gap in knowledge in our community.”
The survey is a vital tool for understanding the challenges and opportunities faced by workers in Grand Erie, said David Piccini, minister of Labor, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
“By hearing directly from individuals on what skills they need to be successful in their jobs, the Workforce Planning Board will be in a better position to provide effective supports to help them achieve their career goals and build stronger communities.”
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Questions cover people’s experience looking for work, the hiring process and what happens once hired, including if they are encouraged by their employer to develop their skills or told of opportunities.
Other questions ask people what skill development opportunities they wish their employer offered, and how training can be made more accessible. That includes everything from whether training can be taken online, at different times of the day or week, or if the training is accessible by transit.
The 10-minute-long survey is for residents age 15-plus who are either employed, looking for work, or not currently in the labor force who live in Brantford, Six Nations, Mississaugas of the Credit, and Haldimand, Norfolk and Brant counties .
The survey can be found at: https://workforceplanningboard.org/2024SkillsAndTrainingSurvey
The workforce survey is being held at the same time as the planning board’s EmployerOne survey, which asks employers questions with a special focus on skills and training.
“We’ll be able to get the perspective of both employers and employees,” said Dalton. “Skill development is an ongoing priority. We want to identify if there is a skills mismatch and see if there are opportunities to work together to bridge those gaps.”
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