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t
he
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,markets are in turmoil, and newspapersare churning out daily tales o gloom anddoom. But until the recession catches upwith you, it’s easy to turn the other cheek.Until, that is, you hear that dreadedrumour or ofcial announcement thatlayos at work are pending. Will you becaught on the back oot? How up-to-dateare your skills?It may come as a surprise, but i your lastdegree or program o study hasreached its fth anniversary, it’salready out o date, accordingto industry proessionals. Andthat liespan alls to as shortas one and a hal years in thetechnology sector, says HamidRahbar, president and chairmano Vitesse Re-Skilling Canadaand president o the OttawaTalent Initiative.“At the end o that (period),it means reskilling. I you don’treskill, you’ll be out o the workorce,” hesays.Unlike “up-skilling,” which typically reersto the process o updating and expandingexisting skills, “reskilling” involves learningwithin a completely new area.“People need to reconsider their careersand skills development and accept the actthat in the new economy, people need toexperience dierent career paths duringtheir career lie,” Mr. Rahbar advises. While not everyone needs to makea dramatic career change to fnd a job,the concept o re-skilling becomes moreimportant during hard economic timeswhen there’s a mismatch between supplyand demand.“We need to take care o this oversupply,(and) what we can do (about that) is seewhich other sides o the economy aregrowing.”Some industries are expanding rapidly,despite the downturn: clean technology,biotechnology, nanotechnology, mobiletechnology, video gaming, social networkingand social media to name a ew, he says.But people shouldn’t wait on these andother industries to grow by themselves. “It’snot just one-sided. We should create theskills they need to grow,” adds Mr. Rahbar.The market or reskilling and careertransition has grown more than 60 per cent inthe last ew months, Mr. Rahbar says, addingpeople need to actively take responsibility orkeeping their skills updated and learning newareas o specialty – particularly as employersdemand more knowledge and competenciesrom employees.“Employers expect,or example, mechanicalengineers to be designerstoo. To be amiliar with theend-to-end process, not just one area.”But it’s not enoughor employees simplyto update their skills ontheir own. Some thinkemployers should supportreskilling and up-skillinginitiatives, as well. But thanks to the recentshorter job lie cycle, many say employers nolonger invest in their workers to the extentthey once did.“I companies will not invest in up-skillingor re-skilling, they will suer … this will resultin losing our technological and economiccompetency and consequently (cause) joblosses rom one side and business declinerom the other side,” says Mr. Rahbar.Travis Lindgren, president and generalmanager o Learning Tree InternationalCanada, agrees. “For the relationshipbetween employers and employees toimprove, employers must invest a longertime in people and people must committo a longer time in the company,” he says,adding research in the U.K. has shown frmsthat don’t make meaningul investmentsin training are two-and-a-hal times morelikely to ail than those who do.The problem is that the recession hascaused, in many cases, knee-jerk penny-pinching measures.“Specifcally, companies are more
Uncertain times call for…
reinvention?
By Tina Barton
If your lastdegree or program of studyhas reached its fifth anniversary,it’s alreadyout of date.
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| OTTAWA HR | SPRING 2009 | OTTAWA BUSINESS JOURNAL
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