B.C. continues to be fertile ground for growing tech industries.
While the service, entertainment and retail industries struggle to recover from COVID-19, the tech industry booms, adding more than 165,000 jobs to the economy nationwide. Vancouver and Victoria are both in the top 10 major markets for the tech industry, based on a scoring system from CBRE Group.
The CBREB次元官网网址檚 market ranking system is based on 13 metrics, including talent availability and operating costs, to gauge suitability to tech employers and prospective employees. While some tech markets shifted positions within the top 20 from 2019 to 2020, the top seven remained unchanged.
Vancouver is ranked third only below Toronto and Ottawa. The size and recent growth of the tech labour pool, in addition to a rising number of tech-related degrees, puts Vancouver in a promising position. The city ranks third in tech degree completions and tech labour pool size, and itB次元官网网址檚 the second-fastest growing tech market with 27,500 jobs added between 2014 and 2019 B次元官网网址� an increase of nearly 48 per cent.
RELATED:
Although cost of living and real estate in Metro Vancouver is among the highest in the province, the market is ranked number 10 in terms of tech firm operating costs.
The pandemic called into question the need of physical office space as many Canadians switched to remote work. A tech education leader, Lighthouse Labs CEO Jeremy Shaki said as office spaces evolve, so too will their place in society. The importance of a central office would potentially come more as a social location than a traditional workplace, he added.
B次元官网网址淚 do believe the culture that emanates from a central office point is really helpful. While people donB次元官网网址檛 need community from their company, they need community from their locale, and they need people to connect with.B次元官网网址�
Victoria comes in at the seventh spot above Halifax, Quebec City and Hamilton. Tech industry concentration is among VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 strongest points, a market which Shaki described as B次元官网网址渦nreasonably large.B次元官网网址� Its primary industries are software and app development, advanced manufacturing and ocean science, whereas VancouverB次元官网网址檚 predominant tech sectors are software development, digital media and gaming.
RELATED:
In terms of job trends, Shaki expects in-demand skills to remain consistent with web development and cybersecurity being the most desirable. However, these skills are being integrated into jobs in multiple positions, resulting in upskills rather than reskills.
B次元官网网址淲hat I actually see happening is a lot more hybrid skills as opposed to full-out reskills,B次元官网网址� Shaki said. B次元官网网址淓veryone from HR to accountants to administrators is expected to know a lot more about data and technology.B次元官网网址�
According to the CBRE report, the tech industry outpaces multiple work sectors, growing three times faster than the national average due to a trend of reskilling.
To keep Canadian tech education thriving during the pandemic, Lighthouse Labs released $1 million in scholarship funding last year for upskilling and reskilling to help workers adapt as workplace tech changes.
adam.louis@bpdigital.ca
Like us on and follow us on .
