Planet Hatch is preparing to launch a new program that prepares post-secondary students for the coming wave of employment opportunities, and it hopes to extend the program beyond New Brunswick.

The Fredericton-based innovation hub is working with the University of New Brunswick on the pilot of the Future of Work Skills-Development program, which it hopes to launch in the next few months.

Overseen by Ignite Fredericton, Planet Hatch is developing a suite of programs that aim to develop entrepreneurs and employees who can compete globally and be able to participate fully in coming economic trends. It aims to identify future economic trends and create strength in the industries that will grow in coming years.

“Our focus is on establishing channel partners and collaborating with educational institutions,” said Planet Hatch Director Adam Peabody in an interview. “It’s raising our sights in Atlantic Canada, knowing we can compete in any other jurisdiction. We’re focusing on talent and we’re focusing on export-oriented companies."

Now in its seventh year, Planet Hatch is a multi-sectoral entrepreneurship hub, meaning that its client companies come from a range of sectors. IT companies comprise about a quarter of its residents, while the others work in such fields as personal services, food production, beauty products and fashion, to name a few.

The organization in the past few years has developed several accelerators, including its Sales Accelerator and its Export Accelerator, both of which offer not only instruction but also development capital. The seven companies that have gone through the Sales Accelerator this year have seen their monthly recurring revenue increase 290 percent.

The Export Accelerator, said Peabody, works with such groups as the Canadian Trade Commissioner service and Export Development Canada to help companies understand their competitive position in foreign markets and position themselves to succeed in them.

Read about Planet Hatch's Startup Management Accelerator.

With the Future of Work program, Planet Hatch is attempting to help entrepreneurs and employees of tomorrow’s companies understand where the opportunities lie in coming years, and to prepare for them. The global consultancy McKinsey has predicted 14 percent of the global workforce, or a total of 375 million workers, will have to be retrained by 2030 to accommodate the changes in technology and work culture.

“We’re becoming aware of what skills will be replaced, so what skills will be more in demand?” asked Peabody. 

The program will aim to develop a mindset within students that encompasses entrepreneurship and innovation, and will help them adapt to the rapidly changing environment as automation becomes more prominent. It will also focus on the jobs that will thrive – rather than be jeopardized – in an automated economy.

This fall, the program will work with an expected 120 students through partnerships with the University of New Brunswick and New Brunswick’s Anglophone School District-West. In the future, it hopes to expand program access to more students, and has begun partnership discussions with such organizations as Ignite Labs in rural Nova Scotia and Startup Zone in Charlottetown to offer the program to other students.

Most of the Planet Hatch accelerators provide companies with the resources to hire a university student during their time in the program, helping the companies and providing experience in growing companies for the students.

Larry Shaw, the CEO of Ignite Fredericton, said his organization wants to work with other organizations in the region and develop programs that complement one another and benefit all Atlantic Canadians.

“I don’t want to build two of anything,” said Shaw. “The more we can remove duplication of anything, the better it is for everyone.”