Project Reflections from NL’s Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) Pilot

What happens when employers take the lead in defining the talent they need? NLWIC piloted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management model in rural Newfoundland and Labrador to explore whether an employer-led approach could help close the gap between workforce needs, training, and employment.

Traditionally, workforce development has focused on the supply side of the labour market: historical data and statistical projections for skills demand and labour supply, and the output of training and educational institutions. But lately, there has been a growing gap between skills and opportunities in the labour market. At the same time, employers in many sectors are struggling to find workers, while young people continue to experience higher unemployment compared to other age groups. This calls for not only a deeper look into why skills and jobs do not match, but more importantly, how can workforce development strategies successfully address this issue. 

The Employer-Led Workforce Development Project is one such strategy and novel approach, led by NL Workforce Innovation Centre (NLWIC) in collaboration with the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce (ACC) with support from the Baie Verte Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, and funded by the Future Skills Centre (FSC). The Project involved pilot-testing and evaluating the implementation of a unique Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) model in the rural region of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL).

A new approach: Putting employers in the driver’s seat

Employers regularly engage in workforce development consultations with training providers, but there is an opportunity to bring their role further upstream by having them apply supply chain management principles to workforce development and define collectively and strategically the talent they need. Instead of reacting to job vacancies, through the TPM model employers guide educators and training providers in building reliable, data-driven talent streams. And instead of asking what training programs exist and who they can train, the model starts with what specific talent employers need, and what would it take to build that talent pipeline. 

Testing ground in NL

NL is unique in its geography, its reliance on natural resources, and dispersed population. The province also faces challenges that are common elsewhere: an aging population, low birth rates, and outmigration. While population growth is a priority, when it comes to securing talent for many growing sectors, it is not just about having enough people in the province; it is about having the right people, with the right skills, in the right place. 

To pilot the TPM model,  we chose the Baie Verte Peninsula as our testing ground. The region is home to several mining operations and projects, including three major, active employers, and faces the very workforce challenges TPM is designed to address: a small and dispersed population and a limited local pool of available workers. 

From theory to practice: Six guiding strategies 

The TPM Academy Curriculum, which includes six distinct strategies, from organizing an employer collaborative to projecting critical job demand to analyzing talent supply and building supply chains, provided a clear and structured framework, while still allowing flexibility for the local context. 

Through the Collaborative, our mining employer participants, FireFly Metals, New Found Gold, and Shoreline Aggregates, identified a critical, high-demand occupation that is difficult to fill. With TPM Facilitator support, the HR experts further unpacked precise skill demands and essential credentials for this occupation to build a targeted talent pipeline. This deeper articulation of employer demand is the core of TPM: rather than just noting vacancies, employers dissect exact role requirements and pipeline needs.

We then compared these needs with relevant labour market information, explored available training options, starting with the ones close to home, and assessed how well they aligned with employer requirements. This process set up an initial pathway that will link student development directly to available job vacancies.

Lesson from the field: Collaboration over competition

In its early stages, the project successfully transformed competitor dynamics into collaboration, a process especially effective in smaller, rural regions where shared benefits are immediately apparent. By coordinating existing community assets like the Chamber of Commerce, local institutions, and the College of the North Atlantic (CNA) campus, the collaborative model also harnessed local capacity to build a sustainable talent pipeline. Ultimately, this coordinated approach does more than meet workforce demands, it builds and strengthens the broader community ecosystem as a whole.

The pilot and evaluation created a foundation for future scaling of the model in the region, with other employers and potentially other occupations. It also opened opportunities to explore how the approach could be applied in other sectors and similar communities across the province.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoint, official policy or position of the Future Skills Centre or any of its staff members or consortium partners.