Youth Employment

The following items were brought forward at the Youth Town Hall event held at Devonshire Mall on August 24th, 2006.

• Barriers to getting the job is getting your first one
• Can’t get experience if you don’t have experience
• Youth can get work-related experience through volunteering
• Creating a volunteer database related to job specific careers
• Jobs are being lost to technology
• Outsourcing of jobs have left lower paying jobs than our parents
• Very difficult to find a job other than fast food
• More courses in school on day to day life
• A youth venue or mall could incorporate lots of youth jobs to gain experience
• Youth can’t be picky in choosing jobs at this age
• Area on website for people to post ‘youth jobs’ (Job Bank was mentioned)
• More awareness of what services are offered to youth to help looking for a job
• MYAC should work with Windsor companies in getting internships or summer placements
• Conference on all youth to discuss job trends and other realities related to employment
• Tuition costs hinder the ability for youth to attain a post secondary degree
• A degree/diploma has become a standard for many jobs
• Make it easier for youth to get loans
• So hard for students to balance a minimum wage job and school
• More scholarships for students in Windsor

General Consensus: Youth know our economy is shifting into a more knowledge based economy. Tuition is set too high when a diploma/degree is now minimum requirements for jobs, let alone the experience needed. More volunteer positions related to careers need to become available (maybe they are, but we just don’t know about them). A youth venue could incorporate a job training placement to help students get experience to move on to other jobs. As well, there needs to be a central location to find all the services that offer to help teens find jobs in Windsor.

REPORT ON YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

An increasing concern for youth and recent graduates from high school, university and college are the available employment opportunities existing in Windsor.

In the Mayor’s Youth Town Hall ‘Sequel’ held in August of 2006, many comments were made in regards to the issue of youth employment, those including:

• Can’t get experience if you don’t have experience
• Youth can get work-related experience through volunteering
• Creating a volunteer database related to job specific careers
• Very difficult to find a job other than fast food
• A youth venue/mall could incorporate lots of youth jobs to gain experience
• More awareness of what services are offered to youth to help looking for a job
• MYAC should work with Windsor companies in getting internships or summer placements
• Conference for all youth to discuss job trends and other realities related to employment

The general consensus at the event was: “Youth know our economy is shifting into a more knowledge based economy. Tuition is set too high when a diploma/degree is mostly now a minimum requirement for a job, let alone the experience needed. More volunteer positions related to careers need to become available (maybe they are, but we just don’t know about them). A youth venue could incorporate a job training placement to help students get experience to move on to other jobs. As well, there needs to be a central location online to find all the services that offer to help teens find jobs in Windsor.”

In response to this, a special public forum was held on the individual topic of youth employment. Some comments made throughout the evening included:

• Take our Kids to work day to include other grades than just grade 9
• That a regional career fair be held to showcase the available opportunities that exist in Essex County to secondary and post secondary students
• Resume and writing skills should be taught at earlier stages in life

It was also noted here by a handful of representatives from L’essor High School that employment opportunities for Francophones need to be created and or advertised better for those graduating with bilingual capabilities. It was also requested that MYAC communicate to the University of Windsor and St. Clair College in a request to help find more employment within the region for francophones.

Furthermore, Vincenza Mihalo, Executive Director of Human Resources was present to answer questions in regards to employment opportunities within the City of Windsor. During this meeting, Mihalo pointed out that on average, 400 students are hired annually. Many positions are available to youth such as paid and unpaid co-ops, internships and a student lottery. However, the information on these opportunities is currently not present on the Work for Windsor website. In further consultation with the Human Resources department, the following recommendations are suggested to be acted upon:

RECOMMENDED that Human Resources Department add a "Youth Employment" section to its 'Work for Windsor' website.
This recommendation is done - you can visit www.citywindsor.ca and click on work for Windsor and click on Student and Youth Employment Opportunities.

RECOMMENDED that Human Resources Department post information in regards to youth employment opportunities within the corporation such as co-ops and internships as well as pay rate, types of jobs available, union information etc. under the section "Youth Employment."
This recommendation is done - you can visit www.citywindsor.ca and click on work for Windsor and click on Student and Youth Employment Opportunities.

RECOMMENDED that Human Resources Department in conjunction with MYAC develop a pamphlet with the available opportunities for youth employment within the corporation to be distributed in local school boards, libraries, career fairs and accessible via the Human Resources "Work for Windsor" website as well as www.windsoryouth.com .
The pamphlet has been created and will be distributed to area High Schools and Employment Resource Centres.

RECOMMENDED that Human Resources Department identify departments within the corporation of the City of Windsor where growing retirement trends will be contributing to gaps in required skills. This will provide youth an insight into future career opportunities within the municipal sector as a career option.

RECOMMENDED that Human Resources Department outline a detailed description of what departments do what within the City of Windsor and make that available through www.citywindsor.ca as well as www.windsoryouth.com.

RECOMMENDED that Human Resources Department notify MYAC when summer student advertising begins so it can also be published on www.windsoryouth.com and e-mailed out to MYAC's online mailing list.

MYAC is also working with the South Western Ontario Industry Education Council in offering their expertise from a youth’s point of view for the development of a youth-oriented group encouraging community attention and action related to youth employment and retention. (This committee to form sometime in February 2007). MYAC has heard repeatedly that youth want a say at the table and this is just one step in achieving that.

MYAC also plans to work with community agencies in building a list of employment resources for youth in the City and to help develop a centralized location for the information. During the 8 month term, MYAC also met with a Connecting Windsor-Essex representative in achieving the development of a regional ‘Youth Web Portal’ for Windsor-Essex County which will include a ‘Youth Employment’ area featuring local resume/employment help links, placement information, and links to government information. The committee plans to research other ‘youth employment’ activities as they arise.