Promoting the Electrical Industry as a Career Destination
February 15, 2022
By John Jefkins, VP Member Engagement & Corporate Partnerships, Electro-Federation Canada
The consistent message echoed from all corners of our industry is the need for talent. This need has been expressed by executives at EFC member engagement meetings and the EFC Human Resources Network. Most recently, Carol McGlogan, EFC President & CEO, shared in the January 27th edition of Canadian Electrical Wholesaler that “Talent has been consistently identified as one of the top two issues that keep industry executives awake at night. Of the 40,000 employees that EFC members employ, 10,000 are over the age of 55 and are on the road to retirement. There is a scramble to find new talent while also dealing with the challenge of a compressed time window for young leaders to develop to assume senior leadership positions.”
Our industry is experiencing the tsunami of retirements, ensuring diversity, inclusion, attracting more women and young high-tech talent. Talent pipeline concerns are significant, spurring the need for creating appealing attraction and retention strategies.
Communicating the electrical sector as a great career destination is paramount at the university and college levels. The competition is fierce with other sectors in the mix competing for the same talent. The pandemic is driving more competition and opportunities with remote working and unique employee perks never before envisioned.
EFC members have banded together as one voice to strengthen the promotion of our sector as a viable and fulfilling career destination for university and college students to embark in through the EFC Scholarship Program. This year a record-breaking amount of over $160,000 has been raised to support students across Canada, with 63 scholarships available for a wide range of professions.
In 2021, the program awarded 52 scholarships attracting students across Canada. Students communicate the program’s impact on their career planning and decisions through the acceptance videos. Watch the Scholarship impact video: https://youtu.be/nyeLf2vCTFs
A few excerpts from the video:
“…this scholarship is given to a woman in the STEM field related field to help support women in a predominantly male industry.”
“I would have never imagined that I could get to where I am today, but now, I have a clear vision of where I want to be in the future.”
“Receiving this scholarship is encouraging, and it proves to me that I’m on the right path. Being a girl in engineering can be lonely and challenging at times, which motivates me to keep going.”
“Anything electrical has always fascinated me, and I think these EFC scholarships show that the electrical industry is a strong and quickly growing field with a great support system.”
“.. the scholarship shows my work is recognized, meaningful and propels me to achieve even more.”
Join the momentum by promoting the Scholarship Program to your employees, vendors, customers, family, and friends. Your network will know of students to apply before the May 31st deadline. https://www.electrofed.com/about/efc-scholarship-program/
The EFC Vision “Powering a Changing World” resonates with students. I am confident our industry will continue to see an influx of great new talent now and in the years to come.
