At a recent event BC Tech took a poll of member experience with the current talent market in BC.
The results showed that even in more challenging market conditions access to talent is the number one issue for tech companies.
It isn’t surprising – tech is a people business and we are only as good as the talent we can attract.
I was pleased to see a minority (7%) happy that the talent numbers and skillsets in BC are all they need but unsurprised that twice as many were worried about the talent pipeline. Far more (43%) found things OK but noted the BC talent pipeline can be lacking in some key skillsets and just isn’t meeting the volume of demand.
Some believe that tech companies limit their growth to the talent available in BC. But of course that is economically nonsensical – what happens is that tech companies are forced to limit their growth and job creation in BC to the talent available here. 36% of members surveyed create jobs where they can find the talent they need to support their scaleup journey – whether that is Calgary, Austin, London or Singapore.
I’ve never loved the expression ‘data is the new oil’. Data is much more like the new sand – it needs to be adeptly navigated to access the value within. Talent is far more the source of value in a modern economy. The more highly skilled talent we can supply the more jobs will be created, the more tax revenue to pay for critical services will be generated and the more sustainable economy we will build for the future.
Next month BC Tech will launch our latest research report: BC Tech Talent 2024 – Keeping up with the Growth. Timed to release in Labour Day week it contains six actionable recommendations for how to build a stronger, more diverse, more accessible tech talent pipeline for BC. Watch this space!
Jill Tipping is the President and CEO of the BC Tech Association.
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