Addressing the Technician Shortage

and Skills Gap

E360 Forum • Chicago, IL • October 5, 2017

Becky HoelscherDirector ─ AC Aftermarket

Emerson

Tony TrappApprenticeship Coordinator

Upper Valley Career Center

Why We Should Support

HVACR Trades

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Largest Pain Point in the HVACR Industry

• Finding qualified technicians to fill open positions

• Retaining technicians in HVACR industry

• Developing technicians for future of electronics and remote monitoring

• Current: Shortage of 20,000 technicians in United States

• 2018: Estimated 80,000 shortage with aging workforce

With Baby Boomers Retiring, the Ability to Fill Positions Is a HUGE Challenge.

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PAHRA Survey Results

New Technicians Aren’t Trained for Current Needs

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Indicate the type of HVACR institution they attended:

How would you rate the HVACR knowledge? What was the obvious HVACR skill missing?

% of population that hired technicians who recently graduated from HVACR program:

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

Yes

No

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

High school vo-tech

Technical school

Community college

Other

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Very impressive; job ready

Prossessed basic knowledge; not quite job ready

Many shortcomings

Lacked necessary skill set expected

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

None; entry-level ok

Basic understanding of systems andequipment

Inadeqauate soft skills

Preliminary Results

Emerson Confidential and Proprietary

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Preliminary Results (cont’d.)

Areas missing in student’s basic understanding of HVACR:

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

General knowledge

Basic understanding of math & science

Brazing

Electrical wiring/controls

Refrigerant charging and reclamation

Air flow

Testing equipment

Areas of soft skill training missing:

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Proper dress, hygiene

Communication skills

Driving record

Drug free

Showing up to work on time

Basic day to day realities

Unaware of wage and pay scale realities

General customer service skills

Emerson Confidential and Proprietary

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How Can We Help?

Recruit, Mentor, Train, Retain

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Incorporate/Support Local Advisory Councils

It is important that we build relationships with HVACR vocational schools, tech schools and universities.

H – Help with the curriculum

V – Viable to our future service needs

A – Advocate to legislation to supply monetary aid to programs

C – Collaborate with surrounding businesses, schools and industry

R – Recruit new students

• School districts (elementary – high school)

• Career technical schools

• Post-graduate technical institutions

Early Recruitment Is Essential to Fill Our Industry’s Needs.

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Advisory Council’s Responsibility for Student Recruitment

• Recruiting students in the community

• Participate in career fairs

• Speaking at open houses and orientations

• Help conduct events recognizing students, employers or others active in aiding the program or school

• Be a classroom speaker

• Host luncheon for guidance counselors in local school district

A Good Advisory Council Member Is an ACTIVE Member!

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Value to Advisory Member

• Supports industry’s leadership and commitment to education in our community

• Provides improved facilities for advisory training

• Expands learning opportunities to train future technicians on new equipment

• Provides resources to expand current training activities to a broader level

• Inputs the needs of the industry for curriculum

• Recruitment of top students with regular interactions throughout the students’ training program

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Value to Students: Post-Secondary Partnerships

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• Engineering pathway

• Students earn transcript credits while attending the HVACR program

• ___________ = transcript credit

• Example:

B.S. in engineering technology

Biggest Value to Students: Future Jobs, Not Able to Outsource HVACR Trades

History of Advisory Committees

• Early Twentieth Century

– Vocational technical schools perceived as a threat from local school officials with strong academic backgrounds

• U.S. Congress 1917 – Smith-Hughes Act

– Encouraged the use of citizen advisory groups to facilitate planning and evaluation of programs and helped link the programs with schools and communities

• During the 1960s, community colleges and vocational-technical education centers emerged

– The use of advisory committees became more common practice.

– There was an expansion of vocational-technical education offerings.

• Vocational Education Act of 1963 established the National Advisory Council for Vocational Education

– 1968 amendments included the first legal mandate calling for the formation of state advisory councils.

– Education amendments of 1976 emphasized greater involvement than in the past of national and state councils and called specifically for advisory councils at the local level.

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Anatomy of an Advisory Committee

• Membership composed of the public, students, faculty, and representatives from business and industry (employers and employees)

– Public member(s)

– Business/industry representatives

• Student representatives

• Faculty

– Program Director

– Full-time/part-time faculty

• Job description(s)

– Defines a specific and important role on the committee

– Facilitates reporting back to the committee

– Encourages engagement

– Formalizes the relationship with the group

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Recruiting Members

• Ideas for recruitment

– Program alumni

– Trade/internship site staff

– Representatives from Professional Organizations Associated

– Retired faculty/staff of the program

– Representatives from business/industry who hire graduates

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Apprenticeship Program

Recruit, Mentor, Train, Retain

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Apprenticeships/Hiring Students

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• Career center: school-to-work apprenticeship program for students who qualify

– Students’ interest and progress are monitored during junior year

• Minimum GPA established

• 95% attendance requirement

• Recommendations from academic and career teachers

• Pass drug screening

• Reliable transportation

• On track to graduate

• Parent/guardian support

– Students receive on-the-job training, related technical instruction and experience while earning money while still in high school

A Unique Opportunity for Career Tech Students to Enter a Highly Skilled Occupation While Attending Their Senior Year of High School

Registered Apprenticeship

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1. Business involvement

2. Structured on-the-job training

3. Related instruction

4. Rewards for skill gains

5. National occupational credential

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Benefits of Apprenticeship Programs

• Apprentice benefits:

– Secure immediate employment opportunities that typically pay higher than average wages and continued career growth

– Learn highly sought-after technical and life skill sets

– Earn portable credentials from the DOL and recognized by the Department of Education that are nationally and often globally recognized

– Gain the opportunity to apply apprenticeship training to two- and four-year college programs

• Employer benefits:

– Helps recruit and develop a highly skilled workforce

– Improves productivity and the bottom line

– Provides opportunities for tax credits and employee tuition benefits in some states

– Reduces turnover costs and increases employee retention

– Creates industry-driven and flexible training solutions to meet national and local needs

Everyone Wins!

• Assist with a survey of local employment needs

• Assist with a task inventory to determine the skills needed by local industry

• Advise on changes in industry standards and recommend acceptable performance standards

• Advise on new developments in technology

• Review the length of CTE programs in terms of entry-level job skills needed by industry

• Advocate or promote awareness of the CTE program through news releases, radio and

television announcements http://www.tennessee.gov/education/cte_council/information

Level of Participation of an Advisory Committee

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Success Story

Upper Valley Career Center | Piqua, OH

Tony Trapp

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• 1995: Scott Naill hired to take a dying appliance repair program and transform it to an HVACR program

–Eight total students between junior and senior classes

–Two advisory committee members on the board

• 1998: formed a partnership to host classes; wholesalers training on campus

• 2002: Tony Trapp hired to assist Scott due to increased enrollment

• 2005: First building addition (new state-of-the-art HVACR technologies lab)

• 2006: Created website development for the program to reach out to students, parents and business partners

• 2007: Partnered with to develop a marketing brief for program

• 2008: Creative concept “Branding the Upper Valley HVACR program” trademark

• 2009: Launched for communication with past, present and future students as well as employers

• 2012: formed a partnership to restart their program in Mesa, Ariz.

HVACR Overview

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HVACR Partnership

• The pre-apprenticeship program with Emerson and UVCC in the production evaluation labs during the past 15 years has introduced many students to the excellent opportunities in our industry.

• 2005: UVCC proposal of $200,000 requested from Emerson that seeks to enhance the new HVACR facility with a state-of-art training center for training, support and marketing purposes

• UVCC and Emerson work in collaboration to recruit, educate and retrain HVACR students

• Emerson continues to donate equipment to UVCC HVACR program to provide students with technology for up-to-date, hands-on training

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Current Partnerships — Business and Post-Secondary

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UVCC Apprenticeship Program

• 2012 – Six apprentices

• 2017 – Sixty-Three apprentices

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Questions?

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Thank You!

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