The Automotive Industries Association of Canada has announced that the AutoConnex website, focused on providing tools to employers and promoting careers in the aftermarket, is being readied for release.

The site will include interviews with aftermarket professionals revealing what attracted them to the industry and detailing their career paths.

Myths, such as those that do not reflect the importance of knowledge based workers in the aftermarket, the realities of gender diversity, and the wide variety of career choices available, are a key areas of focus.

It will also include detailed demographic and compensation information for 14 industry occupations.

Much of the foundational information can be found in the recently released AIA Aftermarket Labour Market Intelligence (ALMI) which is available for download HERE and is funded by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program.

A key focus of the information is the promotion the facts about gender diversity in the industry, with graphics and statistics noted throughout the information on the site.

The AutoConnex project is the first of its kind in the automotive aftermarket.

The AutoConnex tool will make a significant impact in supporting access to functional and timely labour market information for the industry, and will be essential for industry employees and employers, job seekers, and students.

In the long term, the tool will help:

• Showcase up-to-date employment trends (e.g. labour shortage, high unemployment rate, etc.)
• Support the development of education programs (academia, students, workforce development agencies, etc.)
• Support underrepresented groups in the industry (i.e. aboriginal, youth, women, and internationally-trained workers)
• Accessing information on compensation.
• Availability of industry employment by region, occupations and demographic projections.

The AutoConnex tool will benefit stakeholders across the spectrum:

Employees and employers: Access to accurate, timely and comprehensive labour market information.

Government Officials: Access to comprehensive labour market information essential for more effective policy designs that will improve economy’s performance and lower unemployment.

Educators: Helps to fill in educational gap, and ensure that educational institutions are planning, evaluating and implementing programs and providing guidance in both short and long-term career planning.

Youth: Career Planning and Job Connection. What jobs are trending, what skills are needed to work in those jobs, what jobs are available regionally, the salary of those jobs.

Internationally trained workers: Timely and accurate information will support foreign workers’ integration into the Canadian labour market.

For more information, visit AutoConnex or e-mail autoconnex@aiacanada.com.

The recently released AIA Aftermarket Labour Market Intelligence (ALMI) is available for download HERE