The British Columbia Road Builders & Heavy Construction Association will use heavy equipment simulators and virtual reality to showcase highway maintenance careers
By Jill Harris
Construction has an image problem – and it’s putting the industry’s future productivity at risk.
An industry perceived as tough, physically demanding, technologically inept and “old school” in its management practices can’t attract the talent it needs to perform in today’s modern marketplace. This perception of construction – which often doesn’t reflect the reality of working in the industry – is creating a barrier when it comes to attracting newcomers to pursue construction careers. As more and more current workers retire in the next five, 10 or 15 years, it’s critical that new workers come on board.
This skills gap is not something that construction companies can solve on their own – collaboration and a widespread effort from industry groups is key.
An innovative recruitment program in B.C.
The British Columbia Road Builders & Heavy Construction Association (BCRB&HCA) understands the industry’s need to attract new workers and that opening new eyes to the possibilities in construction will require strategies designed for modern society.
“We were in conversations with provincial representatives at the end of last year, and there was potential grant funding available for creative talent outreach programs,” said Matt Pitcairn, vice president of BCRB&HCA. “We submitted an application for a technology-based program to expose people to the opportunities in our industry and hopefully pique their interest [in construction careers].”
Pitcairn says that construction isn’t immune to the generational shift that all industries inevitably experience, and the future workforce needs help to realize the opportunities waiting for them.
“Construction is embracing technology more and more,” said Pitcairn. “It’s not this ‘old-school’ industry but many people still have this perception.”
Combatting this perception is critical, and BCRB&HCA has a plan.
The association received a $3.9-million grant to help jobseekers across B.C. learn more about highway maintenance occupations. The three-year grant will provide funding to BCRB&HCA’s talent attraction program, which involves leveraging innovative training technologies to showcase key jobs in the industry.
BCRB&HCA is using simulators that will place prospective jobseekers in the driver’s seat of snow plows and other types of heavy equipment, with the goal that people will realize the multitude of engaging, well-paying and fulfilling jobs they can have in construction, often right out of high school.
The “roadshow” will include a 34-foot customized trailer with five different simulators that replicate different models of heavy equipment and attachments.
“In addition to that, we have a number of virtual reality headsets and will set up stations outside the trailer,” said Pitcairn.
The simulators will travel across B.C. to provide hands-on opportunities for participants, setting up at immigrant settlement services, veterans organizations, high schools and more, inviting as many people as they can to try operating heavy equipment on the simulators.
“Our plan is to criss-cross the province and go to as many communities as we can, promoting weeks in advance [of] setting up shop,” said Pitcairn. “The industry has jobs in Cranbrook, Prince George, Quesnel, Langley – you name it. We want to put construction careers front and centre for [groups currently underrepresented in the industry]. There are opportunities all over B.C.”
BCRB&HCA saw the success that similar programs achieved and wanted to replicate and expand on the idea to suit heavy construction applications.
BCRB&HCA is using simulators that will place prospective jobseekers in the driver’s seat of snow plows and other types of heavy equipment, with the goal that people will realize the multitude of engaging, well-paying and fulfilling jobs they can have in construction, often right out of high school.
“We heard of other jurisdictions doing this very successfully,” he said. “Our partners in Prince Edward Island were using virtual reality technology to go into high schools and promote job opportunities, and similarly in Ontario. But nothing was touching on the snow plow or heavy equipment side. We took best practices from here and there and tried to put them together into one program.”
BCRB&HCA has ordered the trailer and the equipment to arrive this fall, with the aim of getting on the road in 2024.
“We’re going to cover as many kilometres as we can,” said Pitcairn. “We’re going to identify regions of the province and figure out when we’re going to be there, [likely in various] tours – a Vancouver Island tour, a northern tour, etc. We’ll talk with as many stakeholders as possible to map out the tour and stop in as many communities as possible.”
Pitcairn says that the program will have a robust social media strategy along with proactive outreach to local media and companies to make sure that everyone knows they’re coming to town and gets excited to jump in one of the program’s simulators.
BCRB&HCA will also invite its members on the program’s tours, encouraging them to be part of each event.
“We’ll be looking for volunteers and experienced snow plow and equipment operators to join us at the various stops along the way,” said Pitcairn.
The association’s plan is to put an online portal in place to facilitate future employment relationships. When people participate in the program, if they like their experience on the simulators, they can access the portal to see job opportunities in their neighbourhood.
BCRB&HCA will track participant data along the way, analyzing metrics of how many people participated in the program and, of those people, how many successfully began construction work.
“We’re going to do our best to attract successful engagement that leads to employment within the industry,” said Pitcairn.
“Construction is embracing technology more and more. It’s not this ‘old-school’ industry but many people still have this perception.”
– Matt Pitcairn, BCRB&HCA
Made in Canada
When the British Columbia Road Builders & Heavy Construction Association (BCRB&HCA) was researching simulator technology for its industry talent acquisition program, the ability to support Canadian companies became an added bonus.
“I had no idea before I started this journey that some of the leading global technology in the [simulator] space comes from Canada,” said Matt Pitcairn, vice president of BCRB&HCA.
As it turns out, Montreal is a global hub in simulator technology, something that Pitcairn was happy to learn.
“I thought it was really neat
that we could use our grant dollars to give back and keep those dollars here in Canada,” said Pitcairn.
The snow plow simulator that BCRB&HCA purchased is coming from Virage Simulation in Montreal.
“From our research, they’re the number one company in the world for snow plow simulators,” said Pitcairn.
The other heavy equipment simulators that BCRB&HCA purchased are also coming from Montreal, from a company called CM Labs, which counts organizations like NASA and Liebherr among its current customers.