Biotechnology Human Resource Council's Career Focus Program Gives Young People a Foot in the Door of the Biotech Industry

The Biotechnology Human Resource Council (BHRC) is pleased with the continuation of its popular Career Focus Program.  Offered until 2008, the program is designed to offer youth aged 30 or under who are unemployed or underemployed valuable work experience in the Biotechnology sector. The project is an initiative that provides cash incentives to industries for the creation of employment opportunities for new graduates in biotechnology.

The core offering of the program is a wage subsidy that offsets part of the cost of staffing a new biotech position. Subsidies will cover approximately one third of salaries paid out to participants for a minimum 6-month period ($10,634 maximum subsidy for a 12-month period).  Every effort has been made to streamline administrative procedures for employers participating in this program so they won’t be burdened with too much red tape.  Under the new guidelines the cap on company size has also been removed, so larger companies can now benefit from the program.

BHRC research has shown that biotech companies have consistently stated a preference for new hires with past industry experience.  This unfortunately discourages new graduates who are eager to gain first-time experience in biotechnology and just want a chance to strut their stuff.  The Career Focus is therefore designed to help create an incentive to hire less-experienced workers who might require a bit more up-front training.

Many companies have been pleasantly surprised at how quickly a recent graduate can become an integral part of their workforce.  Candidates bring new ideas, energy and exuberance to their jobs and work very hard to prove themselves and make a contribution to the company.

The long-term sustainability of the biotech sector hinges on its ability to attract and develop highly skilled workers.  In order to avoid the skills crunches that faced the IT sector in the last decade (and the subsequent drastic measures that needed to be taken in consequence) it is imperative that individual companies make a strong commitment to training their workforce. 

By contributing to the Career Focus Program, the Government of Canada is demonstrating federal leadership in investing the skills required to meet the needs of the knowledge economy. 

Space in this program is limited!  If you are interested in participating, please contact Christine Strachan as soon as possible at youth@bhrc.ca

 or (613) 235-1402 ext. 225.  For more information on the Career Focus program, visit BHRC’s website at www.bhrc.ca/careerfocus