Marie-Eve Harvey is where many young people in Squamish likely hope to be one day.
Harvey, 33, is well on her way in a career she loves, making good money and with room to take on new challenges in the future.
She works at the Sea to Sky Gondola as a millwright. “It gave me a lot of confidence to see what kind of business they are and what they are offering,” said Harvey of the opportunity to apprentice and then work at the gondola.
“Every day, you take people from the bottom to the top and you have to do checks and preventative maintenance, because if something happened it would be pretty major,” she said. “For me, taking care of people that way – to bring them from point A to Z safely – is my way to give back; I am sure you are going to get there and you are going to be safe.”
More than 43,000 people participated in apprenticeship or other trade programs in B.C. in 2015, according to WorkBC.
Harvey acknowledges she struggled in academics in high school and later college, but was at home working with machinery.
“I was always interested in welding, construction and mechanics,” she said.
Single mom to six-year-old Liam, Harvey said the position gives her stability and a job of which she can be proud.
She encourages youth to consider the trades for their future.
“It is so focused,” she said, adding compared to going to university for four years, a trade gets youth out working quickly. Often after seven weeks of class work, apprentices can get out into the field to gain experience.
Pursuing something with faith and persistence is also important, Harvey said. She was working on the ski lifts in Whistler but was interested in working for the gondola. First, she approached the company about working one day a week while she continued full-time in Whistler.
“I just stopped one day and said, ‘Hey, do you need any help?” Harvey said with a laugh. She later worked a week during the gondola’s shut-down period before eventually being offered full-time work.
Youth can’t expect to start in the perfect position, she noted, recalling her willingness to sacrifice and be flexible at first. “You have to look at the end result,” she said.
She also said that companies that don’t take on young, eager workers are missing out.
“When you take an apprentice you can form him the way you want him to perform. So you gain there for sure,” she said.
“You lose because you have to train and you have to pay more attention, but in the end, you are building somebody that will be the way you want.”
Squamish is experiencing a worker shortage for entry-level positions, according to Naomi Dunaway of the WorkBC Employment Services Centre in Squamish. Even those starter jobs can lead to a career for some youth, she said.
Dunaway said some employers “are savvy and going to recognize that investing in their employees and helping them to achieve their career goals is going to benefit them in the long run, because they are going to stick around.”
Dunaway added workers in entry-level jobs may have to speak up and say what they need.
“It may need to be driven by the young person saying… ‘Of this job, here is what I really love, can I do more of that and can we train in some of these other aspects?’”
Her best piece of advice for youth looking for work is to look at the market. The common refrain of telling youth to “follow their passion” isn’t really fair, she said. “Everybody wants to be a yoga teacher or a dog walker. We all want to follow our passion, but not everybody gets to do that,” she said. “There has to be some research behind it.”
An estimated 935,000 jobs will become open by 2024, according to data from WorkBC. Thirty-two per cent will be new jobs, and 68 per cent will be to replace retiring workers.
According to WorkBC, 80 per cent of total projected job openings over the next decade will be in the service sector, which includes health care, retail, professional and scientific services, recreation and accommodation.
Some local employers known for their mentorship, scholarship or support of youth are The Hotspot Community Resource Centre, the District of Squamish, Craig’s Your Independent Grocer, Starbucks, Royal Bank of Canada and Quest University, according to Dunaway. Sea to Sky Community Services also takes on youth.
“Sea to Sky Community Services summer student work placements offer youth hands-on program experiences and a taste of the rewards of working in the social services field,” said Laura Arason, human resources director with SSCS. “Several of these placements have led to other casual or regular employment opportunities with our agency.”
Four students will be working for the not-for-profit over the summer.
For more information on jobs for youth in Squamish, go to www.squamishesc.com.
Top opportunities in ext eight years
• Retail/wholesale trade managers – 27,400 openings – median wage $25.20/hr.
• Insurance/real estate/financial managers – 9,400 openings – median wage $43.27/hr.
• Software engineers/designers – 3,500 openings – median wage $39.42/hr.
• Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics –3,400 openings – median wage $30.14/hr.
• Retail salespersons – 33,000 openings – median wage $12/hr.
According to WorkBC
Programs for employers
• Get Youth Working – $2,800 wage subsidy for employers who hire youth.
• Canada B.C. Job Grant – up to $10,000 per employee for training
From WorkBC
