1 Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment LABOUR MARKET STUDY 2010

1

Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment

L A B O U R M A R K E T S T U D Y2 0 1 0

2010 Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment2

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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


2 0 1 0 P R O F I L E O F C A N A D I A N

E N V I R O N M E N T A L E M P L O Y M E N T

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

Defi ning 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

Demographic Group Environmental Workforce Total Canadian Workforce

Women 40% 45%

Aboriginals 2.5% 2.8%

<30 years of age 24% -

>55 years of age 14% -

Bachelor degree or higher 36% 22%

Recent immigrant* 5.5% -




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.

Effective but less commonly used• Co-op programs• On-campus recruitment

Effective & commonly used• Internal recruitment• Referrals• Online job banks

Less effective & less commonly used• Acquire another company• Recruitment Agency• Newspapers

Less effective but commonly used• Posting on corporate websites


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

Factors in Effective Recruiting

Use of diverse recruitment techniques

Effective HR department

Speed of hiring process

Clearly explained recruiting processes

Use of existing employee network

Competitiveness of wage & benefits package

Strong corporate brand

Reputation as an employer of choice

31%

38%

40%

42%

46%

52%

52%

64%




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

Better benefits at another company

Better work life balance at another company

Higher salary at another company

Better opportunities for career advancement at

another company

13% 14%23% 25%

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

Engaged Employees

• Fully understand roles/responsibilities

• Give full effort• Highly motivated• Bring passion &

energy to their work

Enrolled Employees

• Fully understand roles /responsibilities

• Give some effort• Lower levels of

motivation, passion & energy in work

Disenchanted Employees

• Lower level understanding of roles/responsibilities

• Low level of emotional connection with work

Disengaged Employees

• Rationally & emotionally disconnected from work

• Not motivated & poorer performing


Employee Engagement Strategies

Rewards for performance

The challenge of greater

responsibility & variety of tasks

Team building activities

Professional development opportunities

Corporate goals

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:

Ownership options

Retention training for managers

Opportunity for career

advancement

Unexpected rewards

Successful strategies for all employees:

Better benefits

Strong HR department

policies

Management feedback tools

Strong leadership from

management




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.

12%

27%61%

Experiencing difficulties filling vacant positions (during economic downturn)

No difficulties filling vacant positions (during economic downturn)

No vacant positions in the past 12 months

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

High demand skills:

1) Green construction

2) Manufacturing

3) Agricultural sectors

High demand jobs:

1) Environmental engineer

2) Engineering technologist

3) Operations manager, project manager


Global Employment Trends

53% 46% 44% 40% 39% 37%

% 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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Documents

1 Profile of Canadian Environmental Employment LABOUR MARKET STUDY 2010