CSTEC Steel Industry Human Resources Study Peter Warrian PhD University of Toronto
Mar 29, 2015
CSTEC Steel Industry Human Resources Study
Peter Warrian PhDUniversity of Toronto
Summary
Steel Employment Trends: Sector Definition Globalization and NAFTA Steel Market Demographic Bubble New Steel Workforce Production Workers Knowledge Transfer New International Steel Management Themes
Continuous Improvement Maintenance Steelworker of the Future
Steel Sector Employment Trends
Steel Definitions
Broader Steel Industry Independent Pipe Mills Rolling Mills and Drawing Mills Foundries Construction Fabricators Metals Service Centres
Differential Sector Impacts
Steel Trade & NAFTA
Canada Steel Shipments
Impacts of Globalization
Ownership Changes Changes to Competitive Environment
Single NAFTA Steel Market Restructured Supply Chains: Value
Added Migration Steel HR profile shift
More skill-intensive Higher value-added production
processes
Demographics
New Steel Workforce Challenges
Broader Steel Sector will need to recall or hire between 19,000 and 29,000 workers over the next five years.
The Sector will need to hire or recall a minimum of 5,000 skilled tradespersons between 2011 and 2015
Knowledge Transfer
The transfer of undocumented skills from older workers to younger workers. Knowledge Transfer has emerged as a new human resources planning challenge
Technology Factors
Automation of production processes, changing skill needs of both production workers and skilled tradespersons Increase the importance of technicians
and technologists Gaps in essential skills will exact a
greater cost on both workers and employers Nature of essential skills will also change
New International Steel Management
Internationalization of ownership structures. This is most evident in Primary Steel
Adoption of international managerial norms and the international flows of talent Productivity benchmarking, new
approaches to work organization Distinct strategies related to training and
human resources development
Impacts on Canadian Steel
Dramatic rationalization of production underpinned the increased integration of international markets.
In Canada, this rationalization of capacity drove a step-function increase in productivity Reduced overall employment Reshaping the skill needs of the
steelworker of the future
Primary Steel Productivity
Types of Training
Theme: 1 No Big Technology Change
No Step Function change in Technology Incremental Improvement on Shop Floor
the philosophy of ‘kaizen’ – which achieves results through the cumulative impact of small changes – has become central to management strategy in the primary steel industry.
Implications for upgrading the skill requirements and responsibilities of equipment operators and for introducing flexible work structures
Theme 2: Total Productivity Maintenance
Historical importance of Maintenance in the Primary Steel industry
TPM To achieve and maintain optimal
utilization of machinery and equipment Premise of TPM is that machine
operators develop tacit knowledge through active management of the machinery
Steelworker of the Future Minimum 2 year Community College
degree Long-term strategy to ensure an
adequate and appropriate supply of technicians and technologists with the requisite industry experience
Mismatch between the supply and demand for persons with technology skills pertains to internationally trained professionals
Production Workers
Impact of Continuous Improvement Change in attitude that is required, on
the part of both managers and shop-floor workers, for implementation to be successful.
Flattening of job hierarchies and an expansion of scope within jobs
Increased reliance on sensors and computer control systems will make basic computer literacy an essential skill for the majority of production workers
Skilled Trades
Impact of Information Technologies The line between the technology skills
of technicians and technologists and the trade skills of a skilled tradespersons will become blurred
The normal trades school curriculum and training standards for apprentices will fall short of meeting the Primary Steel industry’s needs.