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Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, October 30, 1996 - 9 New Logos On Ice Resurfacer Jamie Cowan of the Orono Firefighter's Association stands with Orono Athletic Association President Ray Bester and Sam Jeeter, Superintendent of Dufferin Aggregates' Mosport Plant. Both the Orono Firefighters and Dufferin Aggregates donated money to help pay for the new Olympia ice resurfacer for the Orono Arena. Their logos now adorn the resurfacer, along with the Newcastle Lions Club. Ftom Parliament Hill Alex Shepherd, M.P. Durham The director of human resources for Newbridge Networks told the Industry Committee last week he needed to hire over 1000 people next year. "But I can't find half that many in Canada I will have to get them from China an Europe", he said. Newbridge is one of many Canadian success stories. The company began making net- work connections for compa- nies, at home and for export, in 1986. By 1990 sales soared to $121 million. This year Newbridge will approach $1 bil- lion in sales. The many strategic alliances they have entered into world- wide reflects their understand- ing of the global economy. But the director of human resources' comment illustrates a side of the employment prob- lem in Canada job counsellors and student counsellors fail to talk about. Simply put we produce a for- est's worth of paper publishing unemployment stats. Yet, we rarely explore what our institu- tions are doing to produce skilled people for the jobs that need to be filled. We have to ask ourselves why unemployment hovers at 9.5 per cent when there are thousands of jobs needing trained people. My answer is that we have totally misrnatched education, employment qualifications and the job market. In Ottawa for example - and that's just one university cam- pus in Canada - 2000 people are being trained as teachers but there aren't that many jobs. In a country which spends, per capita on education, the second highest of any OECD nation, this is nothing short of scandalous. People want to blame some- body for unemployment. I understand that. But when the provincially funded education system fails to recognize, and act upon, the mismatch f have just pointed out how can you blame the fed- eral government? It has no jurisdiction over training and education. Education is like manage- ment ignoring an assembly line that is now out of control churning our product for a market which has disappeared. It is astonishing how poorly informed graduating students are about the changes in the job market globally and in their own backyard. GM regularly hires skilled tool and die makers from Europe and I have spoken with other employers in Durham who do the same. Students without some kind of post-secondary education are going to be in for a hard time. And even those who are ade- quately educated will need to be retrained three or maybe four times. How many students are attending university taking a BA? This is paid for by the tax- payer to the tune of $8,000 a year. I've heard many students say they paid for their own edu- cation but this isn't factual. Employmrent counseliors as well as those guiding students, and yes the students them- selves, have got to take some responsibility for unemploy- ment. How much of the unemploy- ment statistics is a direct result of the failure to train people for the jobs that exist as opposed to the economy's inability to create jobs? Eleven thousand net new jobs were created in Durham over the last three years. Most of those require a high level of skill. It scares me watching grad- uation ceremonies these days. Even teachers tell students their job prospects are bleak before they send them off to study four years of political sci- ence. Isn't it time to stop the assembly line, retool, and pro- duce a better product? (905)623-7027 or (905) 427-8605 905-427-8605 1-800-305-6849 60 years of being Orono's Community Newspaper Orono Weekly Times e- 1 1