Manufacturing Day in Windsor-Essex is back after a three year absence
Over 700 local secondary school students toured 18 Windsor-Essex manufacturing facilities across the region today to learn about careers in the sector.
Manufacturing Day, or MFG Day, is held annually on the first Friday in October and is intended to show the reality of future and modern manufacturing careers.
“People are desperate for new employees and this is a really interesting career option for new students,” said Workforce WindsorEssex intern Kal Fakhreddin. “Equipment and tech has come a long way and we're showing these students that this is an accessible job.”
Fakhreddin continued, “It's no longer dangerous. It's not a bunch of heavy lifting. You don't have to be a 6’5” man to do this job. We've been seeing women all over the company and it's amazing to see.”
Workforce WindsorEssex and Invest WindsorEssex joined forces with area school boards to take part in the North American-wide initiative aimed at sharing technology and career opportunities in modern manufacturing with high school students.
Windsor-Essex was the first community in Canada to participate in MFG Day in 2013 with six companies hosting 150 students.
Officials note manufacturing is the region’s largest sector employing 36,536 workers locally in 2021.
“Workforce WindsorEssex is proud to be part of bringing Manufacturing Day back to our region again this year,” said Tashlyn Teskey, manager of projects and research, Workforce WindsorEssex. “After three years, it’s great to see the interest from local companies to showcase their businesses with students with the goal of increasing their interest in a career in the sector. The best way for students to gauge their interest is to really get inside a facility and see what their future could look like.”
According to Statistics Canada’s August 2022 Labour Force Survey, it is estimated that the region has 33,500 people employed in manufacturing, or approximately 20.3 per cent of the region’s 165,300 employed workforce.
Teskey added, “Talent development is a key component to building a strong labour force and economy. Windsor-Essex has always been known as an advanced manufacturing powerhouse. Encouraging partnerships between education and industry, through events like Manufacturing Day, helps to address the skilled labour shortage and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the region’s largest industry.”
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