environmental employment in canada

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Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment

LABOUR MARKET STUDY2010

2010 Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment2

Download the full report for free at

www.eco.ca/publications


IN THIS PRESENTATION

1.Understand the composition of professionals in the environmental workforce

2.Learn human resource strategies for recruiting, retaining and engaging staff

3.Discover future labour market needs, challenges and opportunities


2010 PROFILE OF CANADIAN

ENVIRONMENTAL EMPLOYMENT

Defining Environmental Employment


environmental employment1: employed individuals who spend 50% or more of their work time on activities associated with environmental protection, resource management, or environmental sustainability

2: individuals employed to conductwork in one or more of the threesubsectors defined by theECO Canada 2010 NationalOccupational StandardsModel (right), within one or more industries

3: employment in new emerging areasincluding Alternative/Renewable Energy& Eco-efficiency and Carbon & ClimateChange Mitigation

Defining Environmental Employment




Profile of Environmental Employment


Employment Fast Facts

There are 682,000 environmental professionals in Canada.

2,000,000+Canadian workers conduct some environmental activities.

318,000 environmental employers are found in Canada.

91% of environmental employees are multi-disciplinary*

*involved in activities in more than one NOS category


40% of professionals are skilled in Environmental Health & Safety

28% of professionals are skilled in Waste Management

20% of professionals are skilled in Site Assessment & Reclamation

19% of professionals are skilled in Communications & Public Awareness

11% of professionals are skilled in Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting

7% of professionals are skilled in Construction

6% of professionals are skilled in Administration & support

5% of professionals are skilled in Professional, Scientific & Technical

Professional Skills Breakdown

Top Occupational Areas Top Industries


Comparing Demographic Distributions

Environmental workers are

• more highly educated, • of a similar age distribution, and • are under-represented by women and aboriginals

when compared to the rest of the Canadian workforce.

* within the past 5 years




Recruiting Environmental Employees


Effectiveness of Recruitment Methods

Environmental employers consider internal recruiting to

be the most effective recruitment method.

Other effective methods include referrals, Co-op programs, on-campus recruiting, & online job banks.


Reputation, Brand, & Compensation are the top 3 factors influencing recruiting success.

Factors in Effective Recruiting




Employee Turnover


Reasons for Employee Turnover

2X as many employers have lost workers due to retention issues than due to downsizing during the recession.

Causes of employee turnover from survey responses:

Retirement of employee

8%

Downsizing of workforce

19%

Worker fired for poor performance

26%

Employee found better benefits, salary or career opportunities elsewhere

42%


Survey results indicate that many employers face retention problems that can be addressed through HR policies.

Top Retention Issues

25%of retention issues stem from the perception that there are better opportunities for career advancement with other companies.




Employee Engagement


*Employee Engagement definitions by Towers Watson, New York

2/3 of environmental employees are engaged workers.

Level of Employee Engagement


Employee Engagement Strategies

Successful strategies for highly engaged employees:

Overall, employee engagement can best be increased through

high leverage engagement strategies.


Employee Engagement Strategies

Less successful engagement strategies for all employees:

Successful strategies for all employees:




Hiring during Economic Downturn


Hiring during Economic Downturn

Even during the economic downturn of 2008, nearly 40% of environmental employers have hired or attempted to hire environmental employees.

1/3 of employers who were hiring experienced difficulties finding workers, mainly due to lack of appropriate job skills.

Difficulty experienced in hiring:




Future Hiring Expectations


Canadian Employment Trends

61% of employers did not have vacant positions during the economic downturn.

Nearly 1/2 of environmental employers plan to

hire workers over the next 2 years.

The future of Canadian Environmental Employment is bright.


The Impact of Retirement

100,000 retirement vacancies will be created over the next decade.

Environmental education

Waste management

Water quality

Retirement will create job opportunities in:

Research & development

Environmental health & safety

Site assessment & reclamation

14% of the environmental workforce will reach retirement age.


Future Environmental Skills & Jobs


Global Employment Trends

% of employees with a Bachelor Degree or higher

High levels of education will be needed in high growth areas.


1) Strong global growth across the sector

2) Increased career opportunities in high- growth sectors of the industry

3) Worker transferability between multiple disciplines, industries & environmental sectors

4) Continuous learning through an evolving & changing sector

5) Rising employment opportunities as baby boomers retire

Future of the Environmental Workforce


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