AC chats with Ottawa Business Journal about delivering on top talent  

Posted on Monday, November 21st, 2022

On Nov. 21, Algonquin College Vice President of Advancement and Strategy, Mark Savenkoff, joined the Ottawa Business Journal to chat about how the College is shaping learners into highly skilled workers ready to take on a rapidly changing world.

Paul Knowles, Vice-President and District Manager of PCL Construction, and Linda Krebs, Employer Brand Ambassador at Nokia Canada, joined the call to chat about how their strong partnerships with Algonquin College lead to bolstered workforces in their respective industries.

Divided into three parts, the live broadcast covered how Algonquin College partners with employers, responds to market needs and ensures graduates are work ready. In part one Savenkoff commented on the importance of industry partnership both for learners and employers.

“If we are envisioning a future without industry partnership, without proud graduates, or without donor support then we’re not dreaming big enough. We are proud to recognize the strong history that the College has had in securing those industry and community partnerships and we’re excited about what that next chapter will look like for us, our learners, and the communities that we serve,” said Savenkoff.

Echoing this sentiment, Krebs spoke to how partnership helps to fulfill the need for employees that are work ready, pointing out the timelessness of that need.

“There’s a talent shortage. Obviously with the pandemic [these challenges] have been expedited and there’s a shift in terms of the recruiting focus, there’s more hybrid work that is available, which means there is a lot more competition in terms of the labour market because employees could work from anywhere across the globe,” said Krebs.

Knowles commented as well on the value of partnership from an employer standpoint.

“Just in our Ottawa office, we have over 60 employees that graduated from Algonquin College which represents over 25 per cent of our total staff,” said Knowles. “We run 10 four-month placements every year out of Algonquin College — the retention value from that has been incredible. Construction is inherently pretty slow to innovate, but it has come a long way in terms of tech solutions and that is where we lean on the young students coming out of school, the technical knowledge that they bring with them is huge to our industry.”

Partnerships are at the heart of Algonquin College’s ability to deliver to the region’s workforce, to ensure employers get the highly skilled, work-ready employees they need when they need them.

“Whether it’s the academic programs that we offer, or that hands-on learning experience, we are confident that our graduates can meet the needs of our employers and industries, and ultimately make a big different in our communities,” said Savenkoff.

Interested in learning more about the value of Algonquin College partnership but couldn’t tune in to the chat? Click here to listen to the full conversation.


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