It is being called a unique program and it should see a number of young women considering technical trades if all works well.
The Linamar Corporation and the Wellington Catholic District School Board have announced an opportunity for young women graduating from high school in June next year.
The two have entered into an agreement to select up to five female graduating high school students for training – and a full time job.
After a recruitment and selection process, the students are guaranteed a fully paid apprenticeship in one of several skilled trades as well as full time employment during and after their apprenticeship period.
Director of Education Don Drone said the program is something that has been building, because the school board has enjoyed a long relationship with Linamar that includes the placing of co-op students with the company.
He said that direct relationship has been over the past six to seven years.
Drone said Linamar has a demand for a highly skilled workforce, but obtaining one of the five apprenticeships will be a rigourous process.
Linamar Guelph has been operating just over 40 years, and evolved from a small machining operation to a leading supplier in the global vehicle and mobile industrial equipment markets.
From the entrepreneurial seeds planted by the founder and current chairman, Frank Hasenfratz, Linamar has evolved into a $2-billion company with 37 manufacturing facilities located all around the world.
Linamar operations are segmented into four groups; industrial, commercial, and Energy (ICE), manufacturing, driveline systems and Skyjack.
Drone said the female graduates can become apprentices as industrial electricians, industrial mechanical or millwright, or a general machinists.
The eligible applicants will be those who have graduated with a high school diploma with a concentration in some specific courses. Those need not be technical programs.
Drone said the courses that are likely baseline courses, are math and English. He said taking shop classes can be a benefit but all successful apprenticeship applicants will receive their training on the job.
He said the board and the company are very interested in the enhancement of training that will lead to skilled trades opportunities for women, and that Linda Hasenfratz had told him a few months ago that the company wants to proceed with the program.
It will start July 1 of 2012, and Drone said the school has planned to present the offer to girls in grades 10 and 11 at Bishop Macdonell, Lourdes, and St. James high schools this week.
That way, the students can ensure they have taken the proper courses to qualify for the program.
“We’ll do everything possible to make it a success,” Drone said, adding that Linamar has committed to a couple of years and will be evaluating the program to see if it is worth continuing.
Drone said, “I don’t know of any partnership that is so focused” as this one is for young women. “It’s all about women in the trades.”
He noted it is an incredible opportunity for girls graduating from Catholic high schools in Wellington and Guelph. He added that his board is willing to accept students who are not currently enrolled in the Catholic but who might want to take advantage of the latest in job opportunities.
Not only are the successful applicants being guaranteed training and a full time, good paying job, but also the skills they learn are portable and can be used in many places.
“To have a company step up like this is remarkable,” Drone said of Linamar.
