2008 TechTalentBC Labour Study

L A B O U R T R E N D S I N T H E B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A T E C H N O L O G Y S E C T O R

F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 8

BC Technology Industry Association Page 1 February 2008

CONTENTS

Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................2

Project Methodology................................................................................................................................................ 7

Section 1 – Labour Demand Forecast.................................................................................................................10

Headcount Overview.............................................................................................................................................. 10

Management Positions........................................................................................................................................... 11

Non‐Management Positions................................................................................................................................... 11

Key Barriers to Recruitment ................................................................................................................................... 16

Most Difficult Positions to Hire .............................................................................................................................. 17

Profile: Sole Entrepreneurs .................................................................................................................................... 22

Section 2 – Recruitment and Retention Strategies and Tactics ...........................................................................24

Recruitment............................................................................................................................................................ 24

Provincial Nominee Program.................................................................................................................................. 28

Quality of Work/Life ............................................................................................................................................... 29

Section 3 – Alternative Strategies for Talent......................................................................................................30

Nearsourcing and Outsourcing............................................................................................................................... 30

Utilization of Academic Resources ......................................................................................................................... 31

Hiring Technical Positions From Non‐Traditional Demographics ........................................................................... 33

Section 4 – Building Existing Talent through Training.........................................................................................35

Training Budget ...................................................................................................................................................... 35

Desired Training Areas............................................................................................................................................ 36

APPENDICES .....................................................................................................................................................38

Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................................39

Supporting Organizations ....................................................................................................................................... 39

Key Organizations................................................................................................................................................... 39

BC Technology Industry ....................................................................................................................................40

Fast Facts..........................................................................................................................................................41

BC Technology Industry Association Page 2 January 2008

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The 2007 TechTalentBC study indicates that BC’s technology sector is very bullish on their continued growth, with headcount predicted to grow more than 15.1% between September 1, 2007, and September 1, 2008. These findings are in line with the results of the 2006 TechTalentBC Labour Demand study, which predicted a bullish 14.6% increase in headcount for the period of September 2006 to September 2007. With a base of approximately 69,000 technology jobs (not including the 6,500 employees in motion picture production and and post‐production), a growth of 15% will create approximately 10,000 net new jobs in the industry. Although the actual headcount prediction is typically an optimistic projection (companies tend to assume that they will hit their requisite milestone targets and be able to find the talent they require when they need it), it indicates confidence in both the prospects for individual companies and the industry as a whole. Using 2006 as a baseline, companies expected an increase of 9,000 jobs, while BC Stats tracked growth of about 4,400 net new jobs for the same period. However, this does not mean that 9,000 jobs were not created in the last year, just that not all jobs were net new. One company’s gain typically creates an unpredicted vacancy at another local company, particularly as the vast majority of hiring is done locally. Assuming that the 2006 trend holds true and that the required talent can be found, the BC technology industry can expect to add at least another 5,000 net new jobs by Sept 1, 2008.

JOB CATEGORIES WITH GREATEST DEMAND (ABSOLUTE GROWTH)

Designed to collect employee headcounts from participating companies, the TechTalentBC Labour Demand profile focuses on current‐year headcounts by labour category, as well as expected headcounts one year hence. Changes to the anticipated employee counts and skills mix provide the foundation for understanding near‐term BC labour trends. Expected demand for new positions is highest in the following categories over the next twelve months. Note that while some positions (such as executive management) have a smaller projected relative growth, their absolute growth is still quite considerable.

Job Category Growth (%) Growth (#)

Executive Management 8.7% 240

Sales Management 41.8% 230

Sales Professionals 34.4% 480

Marketing 43.5% 300

Product Management 42.1% 180

Project Management 37.1% 550

Technical Management 21.4% 450

Technical Customer Service 24.0% 675

Software Engineer 36.0% 1,000

Total – Top Categories 4,105


In total, the top nine job categories account for more than 40% of the potential new jobs. Also of note is that all major categories (with the exception of software engineers) involve customer‐facing positions or management expertise, or both.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERTISE

Most notable is the inclusion of project management on the list of high‐demand jobs, a significant increase from the results of the 2006 study. This increase in the projected demand is likely attributable to two causes – greater participation in the study by engineering services companies and a maturing of BC’s technology companies such that they are engaging in larger, more complex projects that require more project management experience for timely and cost‐effective delivery. This demand for project managers and project management experience is seen elsewhere in the 2007 study, specifically within the most difficult positions to hire and the types of training desired by companies for their employees.

BARRIERS TO RECRUITMENT

Lack of available talent, both globally (23%) and within BC (16%), is cited as the main barrier to recruitment for BC technology companies. BC’s relatively high cost of living was also mentioned by 17% of respondents as a barrier, and 14% cited the price of talent as an obstacle (14%). Of note is that respondents do not perceive BC’s technology industry to be lacking in opportunity or technical excellence.

MOST DIFFICULT POSITIONS TO HIRE

Overall, it is clear that there are positions across the full spectrum of the technology industry that are challenging to fill. Responses to the “most difficult to hire” question ran the gamut from companies stating that they had no problems filling any of their vacancies to those that said all positions, from executive level to manual labour, were hard to fill. When asked to indicate the highest priority for hiring, the majority (60%) of respondents named senior‐level positions as their highest priority, with a third looking for intermediate positions and less than 10% seeking entry‐level positions. Of the specific job positions named, 66% were programming jobs. Intermediate and Senior level programmers are the hardest to find, and the range of programming skills sought was extremely varied, with Java skills being the most popular, followed by .Net, Linux, SQL Server, ASP, SQL and UNIX. HTML and CSS skills were also in high demand. A number of employers stated that they would accept staff members who are willing to learn rather than seeking specific skills or experience. Approximately 30% of the difficult‐hire positions were in the engineering field, while 13% of respondents named project manager as the hardest position to fill. Reflecting BC’s position as a leader in the New Media and Entertainment sector, approximately 15% of respondents named design positions as the hardest to fill. Many of the senior positions being sought in this job category involve advanced computer graphics, animation and special effects. As well, several of the positions require advanced knowledge of game design.


With respect to key experience attributes, BC technology companies tend to be looking for either three to five years’ work experience (24%), five to ten years’ work experience (22%) or team‐lead experience (23%), and in many cases both long‐term and team‐lead experience. The most highly rated skills, selected by nearly a quarter of all respondents, were the ability to work in teams and collaborate with others. Interpersonal skills, which play an essential role in teamwork, were also rated highly at almost 18%, while the willingness to share knowledge and mentor others was selected as a key skill by 15% of respondent companies.

SOLE ENTREPRENEURS

According to BC Stats (Profile of the BC Technology Sector, 2007), there are more than 13,000 companies with no employees (sole entrepreneurs) working in BC’s technology industry, compared to approximately 9,200 companies that have headcounts. While the supposition has been that most of these entrepreneurs are effectively contract employees, spending the majority of their time with a sole client as a full‐time employee (FTE), surprisingly, the entrepreneurs who responded to this study tend to work for multiple clients. Most respondent entrepreneurs (82%) indicated that they work for three or more clients during the course of a typical year. Only a few individuals (9%) stated that they spent the majority of their time with one employer, while none (0%) stated that they typically spread their work among just two or three major clients. Many of the entrepreneurs work in positions that service the technology industry, suggesting a nearsourcing culture. These positions include marketing and public relations; technical writing; product development or product management; management consulting; and sales, business or channel development. With respect to technical positions, most entrepreneurs (47%) stated that they provide design services (most often Web design), while other technically oriented sole entrepreneurs tend to focus on IT and network support (20.0%), engineering services (15.4%) and software development (7.7%).

Although just over half (55%) of sole entrepreneurs are expecting to remain one‐person companies over the next two years, many are planning to expand and hire one (22%) or more (23%) FTEs.

RECRUITMENT

As BC is unable to supply all of the positions required in the short term, a key potential source of labour is recruitment from other jurisdictions in North America and abroad.

The overwhelming majority of respondents currently recruit within BC, with 40% of respondents citing that their entire workforce is drawn from within the province and 86% stating that more than 75% of their workforce is drawn locally. Few companies (less than 10%) are recruiting outside North America. Less than 10% of FTEs are from the United States (9%) or the UK (6%), the most common countries for recruitment outside of Canada. Companies report that fewer than 2% of FTEs are recruited from the other countries included in the survey. This suggests that language and culture may play a role in choosing geographic areas from which to recruit. Also, it is likely that the ability of most BC companies to effectively search the world for top talent is very limited.


Interestingly, although the United States is the most common source for international recruitment of executive and middle management positions, technical recruits, both entry‐level and senior, are slightly more likely to be recruited from countries other than the United States.

PROVINCIAL NOMINEE PROGRAM

As international recruitment is an underutilized but increasingly necessary tactic for the BC technology industry to obtain needed talent, the 2007 study sought information regarding awareness of, usage and satisfaction with BC’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The PNP is a provincial government program designed to accelerate the immigration process for qualified skilled workers and experienced entrepreneurs who wish to become permanent residents of Canada. The study found that overall awareness is extremely low, with fewer than 23% of respondents having knowledge of the program. Of those respondents who are aware of the PNP program, only 55% have used it. Of the small group of companies that have used the program, the response was generally positive: 68% found the PNP to be very or somewhat effective, while only a small percentage (8%) found the program somewhat or very ineffective.

QUALITY OF WORK/LIFE – MOST IMPORTANT NON‐MONETARY ATTRIBUTES

As the quality of work/life is becoming increasingly important to employees, the 2007 TechTalentBC study sought information regarding which non‐monetary work attributes respondents felt their employees valued the most. In addition to wages, respondents were presented with a list of non‐monetary attributes that are valued by employees. Employers indicated that convenient work location is the attribute valued above all other non‐monetary benefits (40%), while one‐fifth (20%) emphasized the importance of recreational amenities, recognizing the relatively health‐conscious nature of BC’s technology workforce. The overall corporate culture was cited by almost one in ten (9%) employers as a write‐in “Other” response. This is a significant finding which encompasses a number of the other culture‐related attributes that were cited, including a corporate commitment to sound environmental practices (11%) and corporate involvement/giving within the local community (8%). These findings reflect the general trend toward corporate social responsibility in BC.

SPONSORSHIP OF CO‐OPERATIVE EDUCATION AND INTERNS

To understand if and how BC technology companies might be extending their talent reach using BC’s academic resources, the study incorporated a series of questions regarding the sponsorship of research, participation in co‐operative education programs and the utilization of graduate interns. Overall, the response rate for this section was very low, with very few respondent companies stating that they are actively involved with BC’s academic institutions. However, those who do use co‐operative education programs and interns tend to do it with enthusiasm. Only 39 companies indicated that they sponsor co‐op students, with the number of positions sponsored ranging from 1 to more than 20, supported by a maximum budget of $628,000. Similarly, only 17 companies mentioned that they sponsor graduate interns, the range extends from 1 to 9 intern positions and the budget for these positions extends to $500,000. Several respondent companies stated that they ended up hiring their former co‐op students and interns, illustrating that the programs can be a significant source of new talent. In total, forty‐four companies reported hiring previous co‐op


students and interns in the past year, including one respondent company that hired more than twenty prior students. When asked to comment on their usage of co‐op students and interns, eight of the organizations stressed their commitment to co‐operative programs and the value of such programs to their organizations, two expressed concern regarding the lack of efforts made by academic institutions to raise awareness of these programs and two commented on the difficulty that smaller companies have in providing the required level of mentorship.

SPONSORSHIP OF RESEARCH CHAIRS AND RESEARCH PROJECTS

Not surprisingly, involvement in internship programs and co‐operative education is higher than sponsorship of research projects and research chairs. In total, seventeen companies reported sponsoring research projects at academic institutions, with budgets of up to $2.0 million, while three companies reported sponsoring research chairs, also with budgets of up to $2.0 million.

HIRING FROM NON‐TRADITIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS

To discover whether companies were evolving their hiring practices to reflect changing cultures and account for the emerging tech talent shortage, the 2007 study questioned respondents about their hiring of non‐traditional demographics including women, persons with disabilities, First Nations and seniors to fill technical positions. Of those that filled technical positions in the past 12 months, close to one‐third (32%) of respondents stated that they did not hire any persons from non‐traditional demographics for these roles. However, more than one‐third of respondents (33.6%) indicated that 20% or more of their hires did come from non‐traditional demographic groups. At the high end, 11.7% of respondents stated that more than 50% of their technical hires were drawn from non‐traditional demographics.

BUILDING EXISTING TALENT THROUGH TRAINING

Most of the respondent companies allocate a portion of their salary budget to support further training for FTEs. While the majority of respondents (55%) allocate less than 2% of their salary budget for training, a few respondents (5%) allocate more than 5% of their salary budget for training purposes. More than half (57%) of respondents stated that their entire budget allocation for training is used each year, with just over one‐third (35%) stating that they utilize between 50% and 75% of their annual budget. Some companies use very little of the budget allocated for training, with about 8% of companies stating that they use less than half of their training budget.

To understand the actual amount of training that is undertaken within the BC technology industry, the stated training budget for each respondent was multiplied by the actual utilization to derive the effective training budget. Using this formula, the effective training budget for the BC technology industry is about 1.37% of salary. Taking the total BC technology industry salary of $4.2 billion for 2006 (BC Stats, Profile of the British Columbia High‐Technology Sector), it can be extrapolated that the broad industry typically spends around $57.5 million annually on training activities.


PROJECT METHODOLOGY

The 2007 TechTalentBC Labour Demand study was conducted from September 25 to October 17, 2007. An invitation to participate in the study was sent to 4,500 companies, specifically to the senior‐most executive‐level contacts and/or the senior‐most HR‐level contacts available. Participants were given the option of either completing the online survey or participating via a fax‐back survey that could be readily completed offline. Labour Demand Profile The core of the survey was the labour demand profile that asked companies to provide their headcounts by major business and technical job categories. These categories were defined in the 2006 Labour Demand study with assistance from the Information and Communications Technology Council. Respondents were asked to provide their headcounts by category as of September 1, 2007, as well their expected headcounts by job category for September 1, 2008. The aggregate difference between the two figures provides the projected growth for each category. The labour demand profile is based on the profile from the 2006 baseline study, with the exception of refinements made to the business‐oriented job categories to capture more granular data than was obtained during the initial study. The 2007 study was also expanded to capture the activities and intentions of the sizable sole entrepreneur pool that exists within the BC technology industry. To keep the study focused, respondents were asked to only provide input on their BC‐based employment despite the fact that many organizations have national and global workforces. TechTalent Issues and Strategies Along with the labour demand projections, respondents were asked a series of questions to gather information regarding some of the issues surrounding the attraction of talent, as well as some of the strategies that companies use to increase their headcounts, both directly through recruitment efforts and indirectly through means such as:

• Sponsorship of research chairs, graduate students and research projects at academic institutions as a means of extending the organization’s workforce;

• Use of graduate student interns and undergraduate co‐operative students as a means of finding up‐and‐coming talent; and,

• Near‐shoring and off‐shoring of technical, production and business capabilities as a means of extending the organization’s capacity.

Additionally, respondents were asked about their internal training efforts as well as their use of non‐traditional demographics such as women, seniors, First Nations and persons with disabilities to fill technical positions. Sample Validity With 378 companies (including 65 sole entrepreneurs) reporting their projected labour demand, the data collected appears to be a representative sample of the total technology community in BC and as such, can be used to extrapolate data comfortably. Collectively, respondent companies represent $5.1B in revenue and 20,237 employees. Collectively, study respondents account for approximately 32% of the $15.2B in revenues, and 29% of the employee headcount that by BC Stats reports for the industry.


The sample appears to be skewed slightly toward larger, more mature companies, which can be seen in the average age of respondent companies (11 years), as well as their average size (41 employees), compared to the average of 8 employees cited by BC Stats. However, 50% of respondent companies reported having fewer than 8 employees (as seen by the median size), suggesting a good sample of smaller companies. As larger companies tend to grow more slowly than smaller companies, as was cited in the 2006 study, any extrapolation to the broader community should be a conservative reflection of growth.

LABOUR DEMAND PARTICIPANTS – RESPONDENT STATISTICS

With the exception of the Motion Picture Production and Post‐Production sector, the various industry sectors within BC’s broad technology industry (as defined by BC Stats) were well‐represented within the 2007 study. The largest response was from the Information and Communications Technology sector, which accounted for just under half (47%) of respondents. New Media and Entertainment accounted for nearly one‐fifth of respondents (18%), and Engineering Services for 15%.

Respondent Statistics

Total number of respondents: 378 Total revenue (past 12 months): $5.0B Total headcount (as of Sep 1, 2007): 19,079 Average number of employees: 52.6 Median number of employees: 14 Average revenue: $17.3M Median revenue: $1.3M Average company age: 11 years

Sector # of Companies % of Companies

Q. Please specify the primary industry sector in which your company operates:

Information and Communications Technology 174 47%

New Media and Entertainment 68 18%

Engineering Services 54 15%

Life Sciences 41 11%

Sustainable/Environmental Technology 25 7%

Aerospace 7 2%

Total 378


Type of Company # of Companies

% of Companies

Private Companies with FTEs (Including Divisions and Subsidiaries) 229 61%

Public Companies (Including Divisions and Subsidiaries) 74 20%

Sole Entrepreneurs 65 17%

Government Organization/Nonprofit Organization or Co‐operative 10 3%

A wide range of companies participated in the survey. Over half (61%) of the respondents indicated that they are private companies with FTEs. One‐fifth (20%) described their companies as public. Close to one‐fifth (17%) of respondents described themselves as sole entrepreneurships. The number of sole entrepreneurs in BC is growing steadily and comprises a significant proportion of the technology companies in BC. An overview of sole entrepreneurs is provided later in the report.

Decade Company Founded # of Companies % of Companies

2000 to 2007 123 32%

1990 to 1999 121 31%

1980‐1989 64 17%

Prior to 1980 42 11%

No response 36 9%

Range of Years and Median 1865 to 2007; median year: 1996

The majority of the companies that responded to the survey are reasonably well‐established, with a median age of 11 years, a median headcount of 14 employees and median annual revenue of $1.3 million. These statistics do reflect a slight skew to larger, more mature organizations, which suggests that the numbers are more likely to be conservative and more predictive than a sample comprising predominantly less mature companies. Historical labour trends from BC Stats indicate that the BC technology industry has experienced considerable growth over the past two decades. The number of companies entering the industry and the number of full‐time employees in the industry have grown steadily since the late 1980s, and this pattern of this growth is reflected in the age of the companies that responded to the survey. The majority (63%) of companies were established in 1990 or later. A third of the companies were formed in 2000 or later (32%), and another third in the 1990s (31%). Only a few (11%) respondent companies cited that they were established prior to 1980.

Min Max Median

Year Founded 1865 2007 1995

Annual Revenue $0 (pre‐revenue) $1,150,000,000 $1,400,000

Total Annual Revenue $5,000,000


SECTION 1 – LABOUR DEMAND FORECAST

HEADCOUNT OVERVIEW

TOTAL BC HEADCOUNT

The 2007 study asked respondents to estimate the aggregate number of FTEs that they employed in BC at the time of the survey (September 2007) and the number they expected to employ by September 2008 to determine the anticipated industry growth over the next year. Most (68%) companies stated that they expect to add full‐time employees within the next year, although close to one‐fifth (18%) expect their overall headcount in BC to remain constant between September 1, 2007, and September 1, 2008. A small number of respondents (1% or N=5) mentioned that they expect to decrease their number of BC‐based FTEs by September 2008.

Expected Growth # of Companies % of CompaniesExpecting to Add FTEs 265 68% Expecting No Change in FTEs 68 18% Expecting a Decrease in FTEs 5 1% No Response 48 13%

Median Mean Total

2007 13.5 52.6 19,079

2008 18 60.4 21,973

Absolute Growth (FTEs) 2,894

% Growth 15.1%

Overall, the 2007 TechTalentBC study indicates strong growth potential for BC’s technology sector, with headcount predicted to grow more than 15.1% between September 1, 2007, and September 1, 2008. These findings are in line with the results of the 2006 TechTalentBC Labour Demand study, which predicted a bullish 14.6% increase in headcount for the period of September 2006 to September 2007. With a base of approximately 69,000 technology jobs (not including the 6,500 employees in film and post‐production), a growth of 15% extrapolates to approximately 10,000 net new jobs in the industry. While the actual headcount prediction is typically an optimistic projection (companies tend to assume that they will hit their requisite milestone targets and be able to obtain the talent they require when they need it), it is an important indicator of confidence in both the prospects for individual companies and the industry as a whole. Using 2006 as a baseline, respondent companies expected an increase of 9,000 jobs while BC Stats tracked growth of about 4,400 net new jobs for the same period. This does not mean that 9,000 jobs weren’t created in the last year, as one company’s gain typically creates an unpredicted vacancy at another local company, particularly as the vast majority of hiring is done locally. Assuming that the 2006 trend holds true and that the required talent can be found, the BC technology industry can expect to add at least another 5,000 net new jobs by September 1, 2008.


MANAGEMENT POSITIONS

2007 2008 Growth (FTEs) % Growth

Executive Managers 903.7 982.7 78.9 8.7%

Sales Managers 183.9 260.8 76.9 41.8%

Product Managers 144.0 204.6 60.7 42.1%

Marketing Managers 125.7 157.1 31.4 25%

Project Managers 493.9 676.9 183.0 37.1%

Program Managers 116.9 141.1 24.3 20.8%

Technical Managers 702.9 853.0 150.1 21.4%

MANAGEMENT TOTAL 2670.9 3276.1 605.2 22.7%

To estimate the human resource needs at the management level, respondents were asked to indicate the number of managers employed at the time of the survey (at the beginning of September 2007) and the number of managers expected to be employed by the company by September 2008. According to the results, all areas of management are expected to grow over the following year. Overall, total management headcount is projected to grow by almost one‐quarter (22.7%) in the next twelve months, indicating that qualified managers will most likely represent a growing labour need. The areas of highest anticipated percentage growth are product managers (42%) and sales managers (42%), followed by project managers (37%). Executive managers are expected to have the lowest headcount growth at 8%. The field expected to experience the highest absolute growth is project managers, with the need for 183 FTE positions forecast, and technical managers, with 150 new FTE positions needed during the next 12 months. This extrapolates to a requirement for approximately 550 new project managers and 450 new technical managers.

SPECIALIST MANAGEMENT


Regulatory/Clinical Affairs 35.4 39.4 4.0 11.3%

Licensing Management 16.5 20.5 4.0 24.3%

Intellectual Property Management 19.3 31.6 12.3 63.5%

Quality Assurance 154.6 191.6 37.0 24.0%

Supply Chain Management 84.4 98.4 14.0 16.6%

SPECIALIST POSITIONS TOTAL 310.0 381.3 71.3 23.0%

Among the specialist positions, the strongest percentage growth is expected in intellectual property management specialists, with an increase of 64% over the next 12 months. The strongest absolute growth will be in quality assurance, with the creation of 110 new jobs in BC.

NON‐MANAGEMENT POSITIONS

In addition to management positions, respondents were asked to indicate the growth they expected across a number of non‐management fields including marketing, sales, customer service, hardware and software, and technical positions. Overall, the FTE headcounts for all non‐management positions are expected to increase in each of the areas. The largest


increases in FTEs are expected for sales, marketing, hardware and software, and technical areas. Respondents anticipate less increase in FTEs in customer service and specialist positions. Respondents were also asked to indicate the level where they expected the greatest growth: entry‐, intermediate‐ or senior‐level employees. The greatest growth in entry‐level positions is expected to occur in non‐technical jobs such as sales, marketing and engineering. Hardware and software and technical (non hardware and software) are mixed, with the significant growth projected in both entry‐level and more senior positions depending on job title. For example, respondents are expecting greater growth for entry‐level analysts and operations employees working in hardware and software than in engineering, testing and developing, where significant growth is anticipated among more experienced employees. The expected growth in each of the non‐management fields included in the survey is presented in the sections that follow.

MARKETING

In line with the 2006 study, which found the greatest demand for sales and marketing positions, the 2007 study specifically identified an extrapolation of approximately 300 new marketing positions over the next year.


Marketing – Entry 44.2 66.0 21.8 49.3%

Marketing – Intermediate 84.3 128.0 43.8 51.9%

Marketing – Senior 89.2 118.2 29.0 32.5%

MARKETING TOTAL 217.6 312.2 94.6 43.5%

In all areas, marketing headcount is expected to grow strongly over the next 12 months, with an overall increase of 44%. The highest percentage growth is expected to occur among intermediate‐ and entry‐level staff, both of which are predicted to grow by approximately 50%. The highest absolute growth will be in intermediate‐level staff, with the addition of 130 new FTE positions predicted in the next 12 months.

SALES


Sales – Entry 69.5 104.0 34.5 49.6%

Sales – Intermediate 184.5 249.0 64.5 35.0%

Sales – Senior 217.1 280.0 62.9 29.0%

SALES TOTAL 471.1 633.0 161.9 34.4%

Sales headcount is forecast to grow by just over one‐third (34%) over the next 12 months. The highest percentage growth is expected among entry level staff, with headcount forecast to grow by 50%. Intermediate sales positions are expected to grow by over one‐third (35%), and senior sales positions are expected to grow by just less than a third (29%). The highest absolute growth will be in intermediate and senior staff, which is predicted to increase by 195 and 190 FTE positions respectively.


CUSTOMER SERVICE

Also in line with growth projections from 2006 is the need for more customer service positions, both general customer service and technically‐oriented customer service reps. While 2006 saw a demand for 800 customer support positions, the 2007 study suggests the addition of 960 net new positions.


General – Entry 94.0 128.0 34.0 36.2%

General – Intermediate 383.0 431.0 48.0 12.5%

General – Senior 113.5 127.0 13.5 11.9%

General – TOTAL 590.5 686.0 95.5 16.2%

Technical – Entry 335.5 434.0 98.5 29.4%

Technical – Intermediate 359.0 446.0 87.0 24.2%

Technical – Senior 241.5 280.8 39.3 16.3%

Technical – TOTAL 936.0 1160.8 224.8 24.0%

CUSTOMER SERVICE TOTAL 1526.5 1846.8 320.3 21.0%

The overall growth in general customer service staff is relatively small compared to the other divisions. This area is projected to grow by less than a fifth (16.2%) over the next 12 months. Most of this growth is expected to be in entry‐level positions, which are anticipated to increase by just over one‐third (36%). Technical customer service staff headcount is predicted to grow at a greater rate than general customer service. FTEs are expected to increase by almost a quarter (24%) over the next 12 months, with most of that growth in entry‐ (29%) and intermediate‐level (24%) positions. The areas of highest absolute growth will be entry‐level technical customer service staff, with 98.5 FTE jobs forecast, and intermediate technical customer service staff, with 87 new FTE positions anticipated.

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT – HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE


Hardware Engineer – Entry 21.0 26.0 5.0 23.8%

Hardware Engineer – Intermediate 86.0 113.0 27.0 31.4%

Hardware Engineer – Senior 68.5 83.0 14.5 21.2%

Hardware Engineer – TOTAL 175.5 222.0 46.5 26.5%

Software Engineer – Entry 169.0 231.0 62.0 36.7%

Software Engineer – Intermediate 395.0 561.0 166.0 42.0%

Software Engineer – Senior 373.2 482.5 109.3 29.3%

Software Engineer – TOTAL 937.2 1274.5 337.3 36%


Operations – Entry 55.0 71.3 16.3 29.5%

Operations – Intermediate 109.4 131.9 22.5 20.6%

Operations – Senior 90.4 102.2 11.9 13.4%

Operations – TOTAL 252.7 303.3 50.6 20.0%

Testing – Entry 62.8 73.8 11.0 17.5%

Testing – Intermediate 104.1 137.1 33.0 31.7%

Testing – Senior 72.7 84.0 11.3 15.5%

Testing – TOTAL 239.6 294.9 55.3 23.1%

Analysts – Entry 2.5 4.5 2.0 80%

Analysts – Intermediate 28.0 43.0 15.0 53.6%

Analysts – Senior 44.4 57.1 12.8 28.7%

Analysts – TOTAL 74.9 104.6 29.8 39.7%

Multimedia Developer – Entry 11.1 13.4 2.3 20.7%

Multimedia Developer – Intermediate 41.0 61.0 20.0 48.8%

Multimedia Developer – Senior 38.3 55.3 17.0 44.4%

Multimedia Developer ‐ TOTAL 90.4 129.7 39.3 43.5%

HARDWARE & SOFTWARE TOTAL 1770.2 2328.9 558.8 31.6%

Overall growth in hardware and software headcount is predicted to be just under one‐third over the next 12 months. The divisions that are expected to grow at the greatest rate are multimedia developers (44%), followed by analysts (40%) and software engineers (36%). Positions in operations are expected to grow the least (20%). The positions with the highest percentage growth will be entry‐level analysts (80%). For operations (20%) and engineering (26%) the most significant growth is expected to occur in entry‐level positions. For all other job areas, greater growth is projected in intermediate‐ and senior‐level positions. The areas of highest absolute growth will be intermediate and senior software engineers, at 166 and 109.3 new FTE positions.

TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT – NON‐HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

2007 2008 Growth (FTEs)

% Growth

Civil Engineer – Entry 24.0 31.5 7.5 31.3%

Civil Engineer – Intermediate 16.2 25.0 8.8 54.3%

Civil Engineer – Senior 28.2 35.0 6.8 24.1%

Civil Engineer – TOTAL 68.4 91.5 23.1 33.8%

Environmental Engineer – Entry 3.0 5.0 2.0 66.7%

Environmental Engineer – Intermediate 4.0 6.0 2.0 50%

Environmental Engineer – Senior 10.1 12.2 2.1 20.8%

Environmental Engineer – TOTAL 17.1 23.2 6.1 35.7%


Electrical Engineer – Entry 5.0 8.0 3.0 60%

Electrical Engineer – Intermediate 19.0 22.0 3.0 15.8%

Electrical Engineer – Senior 20.1 29.0 8.9 44.3%

Electrical Engineer – TOTAL 44.1 59.0 14.9 33.8%

Mechanical Engineer – Entry 18.0 26.0 8.0 44.4%

Mechanical Engineer – Intermediate 79.0 99.0 20.0 25.3%

Mechanical Engineer – Senior 56.0 73.0 17.0 30.4%

Mechanical Engineer ‐ TOTAL 153.0 198.0 45.0 29.4%

Other Engineer – Entry 27.0 35.0 8.0 29.6%

Other Engineer – Intermediate 80.0 100.0 20.0 25.0%

Other Engineer – Senior 47.0 55.0 8.0 17.0%

Other Engineer – TOTAL 154.0 190.0 36.0 23.4%

Scientist – Entry 8.0 12.0 4.0 50.0%

Scientist – Intermediate 17.0 22.0 5.0 29.4%

Scientist – Senior 25.0 31.0 6.0 24.0%

Scientist – TOTAL 50.0 65.0 15.0 30%

Technical/Technologist – Entry 50.0 67.5 17.5 35.0%

Technical/Technologist – Intermediate 104.0 128.0 24.0 23.1%

Technical/Technologist – Senior 99.0 111.0 12.0 12.1%

Technical/Technologist ‐ TOTAL 253.0 306.5 53.5 21.1%

Production – Entry 107.8 166.8 59.0 54.7%

Production – Intermediate 390.0 425.5 35.5 9.1%

Production – Senior 446.4 485.2 38.8 8.7%

Production – TOTAL 944.2 1077.5 133.3 14.1%

TECHNICAL TOTAL 1683.8 2010.7 326.9 19.4%

Technical growth ranges fairly consistently from one‐fifth to one‐third across all sectors, with an overall percentage growth of just under one‐fifth. The areas of highest expected percentage growth are entry‐level environmental engineers (66%), entry‐level electrical engineers (60%) and entry‐level production (55%). The areas of highest absolute growth will be entry‐ and intermediate‐level mechanical engineers, at 20 and 17 new FTE positions respectively.


KEY BARRIERS TO RECRUITMENT

Barrier # %

Q. In your experience, what are the key barriers to recruitment in BC? (Please select up to three)

Lack of Available Talent 113 22.9%

Higher Cost of Living 86 17.4%

Lack of Local Talent 81 16.4%

Price of Talent 69 14.0%

Cost of Recruitment 30 6.1%

Perceived Lack of Opportunities for Career Advancement in BC 26 5.3%

Difficulty Obtaining Work Permits or Visas for International Recruits 26 5.3%

Lack of Graduate Students from BC Academic Institutions 22 4.3%

Lack of Recognition of BC as a Center for Technological Excellence 21 4.3%

Lack of Employment Opportunities for Spouses 10 2.0%

Other 11 2.2%

Respondents were presented with a list of potential barriers to recruitment in BC. Lack of talent in general (23%) and within BC (16%) was cited as the main barriers to recruitment by many respondent companies. The higher cost of living was also mentioned by 17% of respondents as a barrier, as was the price of talent (14%). The perception of some companies that a hiring barrier for BC is a lack of talent suggests that the quality of academic and technical training institutions should be further explored. Co‐operative education programs, internships and up‐to‐date curricula are needed if BC is going to maintain a leadership position in the technology industry. A positive finding is that BC is not perceived as lacking in opportunity or technical excellence. Specific comments in the “Other” category included the following:

• Problems with the government classifications for new media companies

• Lack of understanding of the benefits of co‐operative entrepreneurship

• Poor academia/industry communication

• Lack of stability in the BC technology industry owing to the high percentage of small/micro businesses

• Difficulty attracting people to areas of BC outside the Lower Mainland, particularly because most of the academic institutions are based there


MOST DIFFICULT POSITIONS TO HIRE

To gain more understanding of the specific types of jobs that BC technology companies are having difficulty filling, the 2007 study posed a series of questions including “What is the job title of the single position you have the most difficulty hiring?” Other questions solicited information regarding the desired experience level, education and skills for these hard‐to‐fill positions.

Overall, it is clear that there are positions across the full spectrum of the technology industry that are challenging to fill. Responses to the “most‐difficult‐to‐hire” question ran the gamut from companies citing that they had no problems filling any of their vacancies to those that said all positions, from executive level to manual labour, were hard to fill. When asked to indicate the highest priority for hiring, the majority (60%) of respondents named senior‐level positions, with a third looking for intermediate positions and less than 10% seeking entry‐level positions. Entry level positions are the lowest priority for the majority (75%) of respondents despite the growth predicted in these positions discussed earlier in the report. This suggests that entry‐level positions are generally easier to fill.

Highest Priority

Second Priority

Third Priority

Q. Please rank the preferred experience level that you are seeking for the difficult hiring position mentioned above.

Number % Number % Number %

Entry Level 13 8.4% 23 16.9% 96 72.7%

Intermediate Level 52 33.6% 83 61.3% 4 3.0%

Senior Level 90 58.0% 30 22.1% 32 24.2%

Senior positions form the majority of difficult‐hire positions, suggesting that BC has not yet found a way to attract the kind of experienced senior talent that has traditionally been difficult to bring to the province. The technology industry in BC is increasingly positioning itself as world‐class, but it is not yet drawing the kind of world‐class talent that is needed at the senior level.

ICT New Media Engineering Life Sciences

Entry Level 6% 17% 11% 17%

Intermediate Level 21% 22% 5% 4%

Senior Level 73% 61% 84% 79%

Although all sectors identify senior‐level positions as the most difficult to recruit, a few differences occur across sectors. Companies within the Engineering sector more often cite senior‐level positions as the most difficult to hire (84%) than companies in the Information and Communication (73%) and New Media (61%) sectors. Of the positions named, 66% were programming‐type positions. The range of programming skills sought was extremely varied, with Java skills being the most popular, followed by .Net, Linux, SQL Server, ASP, SQL and UNIX. HTML and CSS skills were also in high demand. A number of employers stated that they would accept staff members who are willing to learn rather than seeking specific skills or experience.


Approximately 30% of the difficult‐hire positions were in the engineering field. Employers generally have rigorous standards for these positions, looking for professional qualifications backed by considerable experience. Engineers are challenging to hire across the full spectrum of technology sectors, with programming again featuring heavily – network and software engineers are in particularly high demand – along with wireless and mechanical engineering. Approximately 15% of respondents named design positions as the hardest to fill. Reflecting BC’s position as a leader in the New Media and Entertainment sectors, many of the senior positions being sought involved advanced computer graphics, animation and special effects. Several of the positions were in the gaming industry, requiring advanced knowledge of game design. Project managers were named as the hardest position to fill by 13% of respondents. Senior project managers were particularly difficult to find. For project management positions the key quality employers sough was prior experience, followed by the appropriate technical or business qualifications. Sales positions were also identified as difficult to fill at all levels, particularly front‐line sales staff and account managers. For front‐line sales staff, no particular qualifications or skills were required. For account managers, employers were looking for individuals with experience and/or finance qualifications. A number of other positions were named by just one or two respondents. These included product managers, business planners, executive positions, a number of manual positions and marketing personnel. Technical positions were the single area in which demand was highest overall, with just over half of all named positions being senior technical roles.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

In keeping with the high number of technical positions that were named in the first part of the question, almost a quarter of employers were looking for candidates who hold a technical degree. More than half (55%) of employers were looking for a technical degree, diploma or other technical certificate. Business degrees or diplomas were also required by almost a quarter of respondents, especially in management and business planning positions.

Qualification # %

Q. Please select the key job attributes that you are looking for in your difficult hiring position.

Technical Certificate 32 13.4%

Technical Diploma 41 17.2%

Technical Degree 63 26.4%

Masters‐Level Degree 22 9.2%

Doctorate 3 1.3%

Business Diploma or Degree 23 9.6%

MBA 2 0.1%

Professional Designation 23 9.6%

Other, Please Specify 30 12.6%


The responses to the “Other” field focused predominantly on the value of relevant experience. A third of respondents stated that they were looking for experience rather than a particular qualification. This was especially true for programming positions; several respondents commented that programming experience and willingness to learn are considerably more important than a formal qualification. Other respondents stated that they are looking for broad industry experience, relevant skills and the right attitude. Management positions featured extensively in the list of difficult hires, totalling almost a quarter of the positions named. Again, companies were looking for extensive experience in these roles, with a quarter of respondents looking for at least three years’ work experience and just over one‐fifth of respondents looking for more than five years’ work experience.


Technical Certificate/ Diploma

44% 59% 22% 54%

Technical Degree 44% 31% 54% 41%

Masters‐Level Degree/MBA

12% 10% 17% 5%

A few differences occur across the sectors. Companies within the Engineering sector are the most likely to seek higher qualifications, such as a technical degree (54%), compared to those in the Information and Communications (44%) and New Media (31%) sectors.

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

25.00%

30.00%

Q. Please select the key job attributes that you are looking for in your difficult hiring position.


Management Experience # %

Team Lead 48 23.1%

Middle Management 17 8.2%

Executive Management 2 1.0%

2 to 3 years Work Experience 31 14.9%



More than 10 years Work Experience 11 5.3%


Responses reflect the ongoing challenge faced by the BC technology industry in recruiting experienced talent to senior, management and executive positions.

SKILLS

A number of the skills that were rated most highly by respondents reflect the increasingly collaborative and team‐driven nature of the modern workplace. The most highly rated skill, selected by almost a quarter of respondents, was the ability to work in teams and collaborate with others. Interpersonal skills, which play an essential role in teamwork, were also rated highly at almost 18%, and the willingness to share knowledge and mentor others was emphasized by 15% of respondents. These skills play an essential role in fostering an open, collaborative workplace where workers share their ideas and experience and work together to develop creative and innovative solutions to problems. In addition to teamwork and collaboration skills, the ability to handle stressful situations such as time crunches and short delivery cycles was named as an essential skill by almost one‐fifth of respondents. This is a reflection of the qualities


required in the highly demanding technology industry, where companies are under constant pressure to create better products and bring them to market faster than their competitors, which are frequently US companies with access to far larger capital markets than BC companies.

Skills # %

Ability to Work in Teams and Collaborate with Others 137 22.9%

Ability to Handle Stressful Situations (for Example, Time Crunches) 111 18.6%

Strong Interpersonal Skills 104 17.4%

Ability to Share Knowledge and Mentor Others 92 15.4%

English as a First Language 64 10.7%

Sense of Humour 60 10.0%


English as a Second Language 13 2.2%

Responses to the “Other” field were wide‐ranging. Several respondents cited self‐motivation and the ability to work unsupervised, reflecting the growing movement toward telecommuting. Others named organizational skills, leadership skills, creativity in troubleshooting and problem solving, and understanding of the global markets. The skills that employers are seeking reflect the nature of the modern worker: highly‐motivated, able to think on their feet, and aware of the global marketplace in which twenty‐first‐century businesses operate. These are the skills that employers have come to expect in the modern high‐tech worker, and these are the skills that BC industry leaders are looking for to drive the future growth and success of their companies.


PROFILE: SOLE ENTREPRENEURS

As part of 2007 Labour Demand study, several questions were asked of sole entrepreneurs to determine whether they are predominantly true entrepreneurs and contractors or ”contract employees” who spend the majority of their time with one employer and as such are essentially FTEs at these client companies. According to BC Stats (Profile of the BC Technology Sector, 2007), there are more than 13,000 companies with no employees (sole entrepreneurs) working in BC’s technology industry, compared to approximately 9,200 companies that have headcounts. While they comprise 59% of BC’s technology company population, 17% of the study respondents indicated that they are sole entrepreneurs.1 The majority of sole entrepreneurs work in non‐manufacturing areas of the technology industry.

CONTRACT EMPLOYEES VS. CONTRACTORS

Client Base # %

Q. Which of the following best describes your business?

The Majority of My Time (60% Or More) is Contracted to One Major Client 5 9.1%

I Work for Two to Three Major Clients 0 0.0%

I Typically Work for Three or More Clients 45 81.8%

Did Not Specify 5 9.1%

Surprisingly, the entrepreneurs who responded to this study tend to work for multiple clients, with most (82%) indicating that they work for three or more clients during the course of a typical year. Few individuals (9%) stated that they spend the majority of their time with one employer, while none (0%) stated that they typically spread their work among just two or three major clients.

SERVICES PROVIDED

Sole entrepreneurs were presented with a list of services and asked to indicate which service(s) they provide. Just over three‐quarters (76%) provide multiple services. By far, design is the most common service provided by entrepreneurs – almost half (47%) cited that they work in design. Many of the entrepreneurs work in positions that service the technology industry – suggesting a nearsourcing culture. These positions included marketing and public relations; technical writing; product development or product management; management consulting; and sales, business or channel development. With respect to technical positions, sole entrepreneurs tend to focus on IT and network support (20.0%), engineering services (15.4%) and software development (7.7%).

1 Sole entrepreneurs are a difficult‐to‐reach group, which likely accounts for their low representation in the sample compared to the industry as a whole.


Services Provided # %

Q. As a sole entrepreneur, what types of services do you typically provide? (Choose all that apply)

Design Services 31 47.7%

Marketing and/or Public Relations 20 30.8%

Technical Writing 14 21.5%

IT/Network Support 13 20.0%

Product Development or Product Management 11 16.9%

Engineering Services 10 15.4%

Management Consulting 9 13.8%

Sales, Business or Channel Development 9 13.8%

Intellectual/Property Management 6 9.2%

Software Development 5 7.7%

Supply Chain Management 1 1.5%

*Note: Figures may add up to more than 100% owing to multiple responses

EXPECTATION TO HIRE

When asked about the number of additional FTE hires, close to an equal number of entrepreneurs cited that they expect to hire additional FTE(s) as those that planning to remain sole entrepreneurs. While just over half (55%) of sole entrepreneurs are expecting to remain one‐person companies over the next two years, many are planning to expand and hire one (22%) or more (23%) FTEs. This growth may have an impact on future labour strategies and is a key area where further research is required.

# of forecast FTE hires in next 24 months # %

How many FTE employees are you planning to hire within the next 24 months?

Zero 33 55.0%

One 13 21.7%

Two 5 8.3%

Three or More 9 15.0%

In summary, sole entrepreneurs provide a significant base of support for the technology industry in BC (15% of the total technology industry headcount), and offer a number of valuable nearsourced services to the broad BC technology industry. More importantly, they are a substantial funnel for growing new, larger enterprises in the sector. However, the predominance of sole entrepreneurship does create potential challenges for the technology industry’s labour strategies, particularly with respect to productivity. For example, many entrepreneurs are ill‐equipped to handle larger projects. One way to potentially overcome this challenge is to facilitate collaboration among sole entrepreneurs working in the same or similar service areas.


SECTION 2 – RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION STRATEGIES AND TACTICS

In line with the labour demand forecasted above, the 2007 TechTalentBC study also delved into the various sources and strategies used for labour recruitment, as well as strategies and tactics for labour retention.

RECRUITMENT

As BC is unable to supply all of the positions required in the short term, a key potential source of labour is recruitment from other jurisdictions in North America and abroad. To understand the potential for recruitment outside BC, respondents were asked where they are currently recruiting FTEs by region, country, province and city.

RECRUITMENT BY JURISDICTION

BC Canada USA Europe Asia World

% of Workforce % % % % % %

Q. What percentage of your workforce have you recruited from the following jurisdictions?

0% 0% 11% 25% 25% 45% 33%

1 to 24% 2% 73% 70% 66% 52% 63%

25 to 49% 4% 9% 2% 4% 3% 2%

50 to 74% 9% 2% 2% 4% 0% 2%

75 to 99% 46% 4% 2% 2% 0% 0%

100% 40% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%


The above table and chart show the percentage of FTEs recruited from BC, Canada and internationally. The overwhelming majority of respondents currently recruit within BC, with 40% of respondents indicating that their entire workforce is drawn from within the province, and 86% stating that more than 75% of their workforce is recruited locally. After BC, respondents tend to recruit from the rest of Canada, followed by the United States. Recruitment from Europe, Asia and the rest of the world tends lags significantly. Interestingly, while the majority of recruits for executive and middle management positions are drawn from the United States, technical recruits, both entry‐level and senior, are slightly more likely to be recruited from other countries.

British Columbia Rest of Canada United States International

Role # % # % # % # %

Q. When recruiting new talent, what is the main region for recruiting the following job categories?

Executive Management 118 60.2% 41 20.9% 21 10.7% 16 8.2%

Middle Management 132 69.1% 35 18.3% 13 6.8% 11 5.7%

Entry‐Level Technical 150 80.7% 25 13.4% 3 1.6% 8 4.3%

Senior Technical 138 60.0% 40 19.6% 20 8.7% 27 11.7%

Respondents indicate that they recruit all levels of management, as well as entry‐ and senior‐level technical positions, predominantly from BC. The majority (81%) of entry‐level positions are recruited from BC, as are the majority of middle management positions (69%). More than half of executive management (60% each) and senior technical staff are also recruited from BC. Among the levels of management and technical positions, respondents are least likely to look outside the province for entry‐level technical workers.

ICT New Media Engineering Services

Life Sciences

BC 64% 43% 60% 78%

Rest of Canada 18% 24% 24% ‐‐‐

Outside Canada 18% 32% ‐‐‐ ‐‐‐

The table above shows the percentage of companies recruiting from BC, the rest of Canada and outside Canada by industry sector. The sectors are very similar in their recruiting patterns, with the exception of New Media. Although all sectors recruit mainly from BC, the New Media sector is more likely to recruit internationally (32%) for senior technical positions than the Information and Communications (18%) sector. Well over half of respondents from the other sectors, including Information and Communications (64%) and Engineering (60%), recruit from BC, compared to only 43% of New Media respondents.


BY COUNTRY

COUNTRY # of Respondents % of Respondents

Q. Are there specific provinces, cities or countries where you focus your recruiting? (Please list up to five)

Canada 132 80.0%

USA 14 8.5%

UK 10 6.1%

Australia 3 1.8%

Germany 2 1.2%

China 1 0.6%

Eastern Bloc 1 0.6%

France 1 0.6%

Mexico 1 0.6%

In addition to the regions, respondents were asked about their recruiting patterns from specific countries. Again, it was found that they overwhelmingly recruit from within Canada. Few companies (less than 10%) are recruiting outside North America. Less than 10% of FTEs are from the US (9%) or the UK (6%), the most common countries for recruitment outside Canada. Companies reported that less than 2% of FTEs are recruited from the other countries included in the survey. These results suggest that language and culture may play a role in selecting the geographic areas where companies look to recruit. As well, it is likely that the ability of most BC companies to effectively search the world for top talent is very limited.

BY PROVINCE

PROVINCE # of Respondents % of Respondents

BC 80 48.5%

Alberta 23 13.9%

Ontario 13 7.9%

Quebec 5 3.0%

Saskatchewan 5 3.0%

Manitoba 1 0.6%

New Brunswick 1 0.6%

Newfoundland 1 0.6%

Prince Edward Island 1 0.6%

The above table shows the respondents’ recruitment patterns by Canadian province. By far, BC is the most popular province for recruitment within Canada, with almost half of respondents drawing their workforces from within the province, followed by Alberta (14%) and Ontario (8%). Few respondents are recruiting from the other provinces. In line with previous results, Vancouver is by far the most popular city for recruitment, named by 15% of respondents. Overall, nearly one‐fifth of respondents named Vancouver or the Lower Mainland as their key recruiting areas, followed by Toronto (7%) and Calgary (4%). Only 2% of respondents recruit from Victoria and the Capital Region.


BY POST‐SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS2

UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE # of Respondents % of Respondents

Q. Are there specific schools where you look to recruit new talent? (Please list up to top three schools)

British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) 24 19.0%

University of British Columbia (UBC) 23 18.3%

Simon Fraser University (SFU) 15 11.9%

University of Victoria (UVIC) 9 7.1%

Camosun College 7 5.6%

Art Institute of Vancouver 5 4.0%

Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design 5 4.0%

Vancouver Film School 5 4.0%

Capilano College 3 2.4%

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology 3 2.4%

University of Waterloo 3 2.4%

College of New Caledonia 2 1.6%

Kwantlen University College 2 1.6%

Thompson Rivers University 2 1.6%

University of Toronto 2 1.6%

Institute # of Respondents % of Respondents

Schools in British Columbia 95 75.4%

Schools in Canada (Excluding BC) 30 23.8%

Schools in Canada (Including BC) 125 99.2%

Schools in the United States 1 0.8%

Not surprisingly, given the level of recruitment from BC and the Lower Mainland in particular, Vancouver‐based schools dominate as recruitment schools, with BCIT the most popular at 19%. UBC is a close second with 18%, followed by Simon Fraser at 12%. Almost all (99%) of the respondents who named specific schools chose Canadian institutions, with 75% naming schools within BC. The only non‐BC‐based school that was mentioned was MIT in the United States.

2 Only top 15 responses included in table


PROVINCIAL NOMINEE PROGRAM

As International recruitment is an underutilized but increasingly necessary tactic for the BC technology industry to find the talent that it needs, the 2007 study solicited information regarding awareness of, usage and satisfaction with BC’s Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). The PNP is a provincial government program designed to the accelerate immigration process for qualified skilled workers and experienced entrepreneurs who wish to become permanent residents of Canada. The British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program helps fulfill BC’s technology labour needs by offering an accelerated immigration process for qualified skilled workers and experienced entrepreneurs who wish to settle in British Columbia and become permanent residents of Canada. The program offers support to BC employers who wish to recruit foreign‐born skilled labour to meet staffing needs.

AWARENESS

YES – I Am Aware NO – I Am Not Aware

Number of Respondents 44 147

% of Respondents 23.0% 77.0%

Awareness of the Provincial Nominee program is extremely low. Less than one‐quarter (23%) of respondents stated that they are aware of the program, which suggests that considerable promotion of the program is needed if it is to become an effective tool for recruiting skilled labour to BC.

EFFECTIVENESS

Effectiveness of Program # of Respondents % of Respondents

Q. Have you found the Province's Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) to be an effective program for recruiting foreign talent?

Have Not Used the PNP* 20 44.4%

Very Effective 3 12%

Somewhat Effective 14 56%

Neutral 6 24%

Somewhat Ineffective 1 4%

Very Ineffective 1 4%

* Small base size: results are meant to be directional only Of those respondents who are aware of the PNP program, usage does appear to be positive; 55% of those who are aware of the program have used it. Of those who have used the program, well over half (68%) found it very (12%) or somewhat (56%) effective, indicating that the program is useful for recruiting skilled talent, and further supporting the need to promote the program. Few respondents (8%) found the PNP either somewhat ineffective or very ineffective. Close to one‐quarter (24%) of respondents who had used the program had no strong opinion about its effectiveness.


Study participants were asked if the program had any specific limitations. Only two responded, both saying that the program did not speed up the process of hiring skilled labour from abroad. While this is not a representative sample, previous research from the 2006 TechTalentBC Labour Demand study suggests that HR and senior people in the technology sector perceive that it is difficult to hire foreign workers despite these programs. This reinforces the need to promote the program more effectively, as well as to examine in greater detail some of its limitations.

QUALITY OF WORK/LIFE

NON‐MONETARY ATTRIBUTES MOST VALUED BY EMPLOYEES

As the quality of work/life is becoming increasingly important to employees, the 2007 TechTalentBC study sought to understand which non‐monetary work attributes companies felt their employees valued the most. In addition to wages, respondents were presented with a list of non‐monetary attributes that are valued by employees. By far, employers felt that convenient work location is the attribute valued above all other non‐monetary benefits (40%), while one‐fifth (20%) emphasized the importance of recreational amenities, recognizing the relatively health‐conscious nature of BC’s technology workforce.

*Re‐coded from “Other” category The overall corporate culture was cited by almost one in ten (9%) of employers as a write‐in “Other” response. This is a significant finding which encompasses a number of the other culture‐related attributes that were cited, including a corporate commitment to sound environmental practices (11%) and corporate involvement/giving within the local community (8%).

# of Respondents % of Respondents

Q. Which of the following non‐monetary attributes do your employees most value? (Choose up to three)

Work Location 129 40.8%

Recreational Amenities 63 19.9%

Corporate Commitment to Sound Environmental Practices 35 11.1%

Corporate Culture* 28 8.9%

Corporate Involvement/Giving within Local Community 24 7.6%

Volunteering Employee Time To Charitable/Not‐for‐Profit Organizations

9 2.8%

Charity Drives/Events 8 2.5%

Flexibility (e.g., Flex Days, Telecommuting)* 8 2.5%

Perks (e.g., Free Food, Showers, In‐House Massage Therapy)* 5 1.6%

Diversity of Work* 2 0.6%

Professional Development Opportunities (e.g., Conferences, Training)*

2 0.6%


SECTION 3 – ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES FOR TALENT

NEARSOURCING AND OUTSOURCING

BY SERVICE AND JURISDICTION

Do Not Outsource

Within BC Rest of Canada

United States

Europe Asia Rest of World

# % # % # % # % # % # % # %

Which, if any, of the following services do you outsource to other companies?

Production: Low‐Volume, High‐Margin

82 59% 29 21% 7 5% 10 7% 0 0% 6 4% 4 3%

Production: High‐Volume, Low‐Margin

80 64% 17 14% 8 6% 10 8% 2 2% 8 6% 1 1%

Marketing and PR 87 68% 31 24% 3 2% 5 4% 2 2% 0 0% 0 0%

Design 83 58% 34 24% 8 6% 8 6% 4 3% 4 3% 2 1%

Testing/Trials/ Certification

87 59% 24 16% 8 5% 16 11% 4 3% 5 3% 4 3%

R&D 93 72% 16 12% 6 5% 4 3% 5 4% 3 2% 3 2%

Sales 102 78% 10 8% 4 3% 4 3% 2 2% 3 2% 5 4%

Engineering 79 55% 34 24% 9 6% 11 8% 5 4% 3 2% 3 2%

The survey included a list of functions that companies could potentially outsource. Between 55% and 78% of respondents said they do not outsource any of these functions. The majority of companies that do nearsource or outsource do so within BC, with marketing and PR; design; engineering; and low‐volume, high‐margin production coming from within the province. Twenty to 25% of respondents said that they nearsource in these areas. Testing, trials and certification are outsourced to the United States by 11% of respondents. Little outsourcing is done beyond North America.


Production – Low 64% 43% 60% 78%

Production – High 62% 54% 69% 68%

Design 62% 55% ‐‐‐ ‐‐‐

Engineering 65% 48% 63% ‐‐‐

R&D 73%% 64% 76%% 71%

Trials 68% 54% 59% 58%

Sales 78% 79% 76% ‐‐‐

PR/Marketing 52% 48% 58% ‐‐‐

The above table shows the percentage of companies who said they do not outsource by sector. In general, sectors have similar outsourcing patterns with the exception of New Media. Companies within this sector were more likely to indicate that they outsource a number of functions, including production, engineering, trials and R&D.


UTILIZATION OF ACADEMIC RESOURCES

To understand if and how BC technology companies might be extending their talent reach through the utilization of BC’s academic resources, the study asked a series of questions regarding the sponsorship of research, the participation in co‐operative education programs and the use of graduate interns. Overall, the response rate for this section was very low, with very few respondent companies stating that they were actively involved with BC’s academic institutions. Only 39 companies responded that they sponsor co‐op students, with the number of positions sponsored ranging from 1 to more than 20 positions, with a maximum budget of $628,000. Similarly, only 17 companies mentioned that they sponsor graduate interns, the range extends from 1 to 9 intern positions and the budget for these positions extends to $500,000.

SPONSORSHIP OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

# of Cooperative Positions Sponsored # of Respondents

1 10

2 12

3 4

4 to 9 8

10 to 19 4

20 + 1

TOTAL COMPANIES INVOLVED 39

BY DOLLAR VALUE

Min Max Median

$ Value (000s) $1000 $628,000 $50,000

SPONSORSHIP OF INTERN EDUCATION

# of Intern Positions Sponsored # of Respondents

1 9

2 5

3 0

4 to 9 2


BY DOLLAR VALUE

Min. Max. Median

$ Value (000s) $5,000 $500,000 $30,000


HIRING OF PREVIOUS INTERNS AND CO‐OP STUDENTS

Several respondent companies stated that they ended up hiring their former co‐op students and interns, illustrating that the programs represent a significant source of new talent. In total, 44 companies reported hiring previous co‐op students and interns in the last year, including one respondent company that hired more than twenty prior students.

# of Positions Hired # of Respondents

1 16

2 14

3 10

4 to 9 2

20+ 2

TOTAL COMPANIES INVOLVED 44*

*Note: Total is higher than for current involvement in internship programs as not all companies are still involved. When asked to comment on their use of co‐op students and interns, eight respondents stressed their commitment to co‐operative programs and the value of such programs to their organizations, two expressed concern over the lack of efforts made by academic institutions to raise awareness of these programs and two commented on the difficulty that smaller companies have in providing the required level of mentorship. One respondent suggested that additional assistance from the academic institutions would help smaller businesses participate in the program.

SPONSORSHIP OF RESEARCH PROJECTS

Not surprisingly, involvement in internship programs and co‐operative education is higher than sponsorship of research projects and research chairs. In total, eighteen companies reported sponsoring research projects at academic institutions, with budgets of up to $2.0 million, while three companies reported sponsoring research chairs, also with budgets of up to $2.0 million.

# of Projects Sponsored # of Respondents

1 6

2 5

3 3

4 to 9 2

10 + 2


BY DOLLAR VALUE

Min Max Median

Value $30,000 $2,000,000 $1,000,000

Only eighteen respondents indicated that they are sponsoring research projects. The companies involved in academic research projects tend to cite a greater monetary value for their companies, generally over $500,000.


SPONSORSHIP OF RESEARCH CHAIRS

# of Chairs Sponsored # of Respondents

1 2

2 0

3 0

4 to 9 1

10 + 0


BY DOLLAR VALUE

Min Max Median

Value $2,000,000 $2,000,000 $2,000,000

HIRING TECHNICAL POSITIONS FROM NON‐TRADITIONAL DEMOGRAPHICS

To discover whether companies are evolving their hiring practices to reflect changing cultures and account for the emerging tech talent shortage, the 2007 study questioned respondents about their hiring of non‐traditional demographics including women, persons with disabilities, First Nations and seniors for technical positions. Of those who filled technical positions in the past 12 months, close to one‐third (32%) stated that they did not hire any persons from non‐traditional demographics for these roles. However, more than one‐third (33.6%) indicated that 20% or more of their hires did come from non‐traditional demographic groups. At the high end, 11.7% of respondents stated that more than 50% of their technical hires were drawn from non‐traditional demographics.

PAST 12 MONTHS


Q. Of your technical hires over the past 12 months, approximately what percentage have come from non‐traditional demographics such as women, persons with disabilities, First Nations or seniors?

None 44 32.1%

Less than 10% 28 20.4%

10% to 20% 19 13.9%

20% to 30% 16 11.7%

30% to 40% 8 5.8%

40% to 50% 6 4.4%

More Than 50% 16 11.7%


FORECAST FOR NEXT 12 MONTHS


Stay About the same 116 70.3%

Increase 44 26.7%

Decrease 5 3.0%

Most of the respondents do not anticipate changes in the hiring of non‐traditional demographic groups in the next year. Nearly 75% of respondents expected their hiring of non‐traditional demographics to remain the same. Just over a quarter (28%) of respondents predicted an increase in non‐traditional hires. Just 3% expected non‐traditional hires to decrease.

Current trends suggest that technical positions in the industry are increasingly being filled by FTEs from non‐traditional demographics. This is an area that deserves further exploration because it may indicate a shift in the technology industry’s workforce that could have an impact on future labour needs.


SECTION 4 – BUILDING EXISTING TALENT THROUGH TRAINING

TRAINING BUDGET

% of Salary Budget # of Respondents % of Respondents

Q. What percentage of your salary budget is allocated for training your employees?

None 24 14.3%

Up to 0.9% 34 20.2%

Between 1.0 and 1.9% 42 25.0%

Between 2.0 and 2.9% 31 18.5%

Between 2.0 and 3.9% 13 7.7%

Between 4.0 and 4.9% 16 9.5%

5% or More 8 4.8%

Most of the respondent companies allocate a portion of their salary budget toward further training for FTEs. While the majority of respondents (55%) allocate less than 2% of their salary budget for training, a few respondents (5%) allocate more than 5% of their salary budget for training purposes. The training budget allotted to employees is consistent across all industry sectors.

ANNUAL UTILIZATION OF TRAINING BUDGET

% of Salary Budget # of Respondents % of Respondents

Q. What percentage of your training budget is actually utilized in a given year?

Between 10.0 and 24.9% 2 2.3%

Between 25.0 and 49.9% 5 5.8%

Between 50% and 74.9% 17 19.8%

Between 75% and 99.9% 13 15.1%

100% or More 49 57.0%

Over half (57%) of respondents stated that their entire budget allocated for training is used each year with more than one‐third (35%) citing that they utilize between 50% and 75% of their annual budget. Some companies use very little of the budget allocated for training, with approximately 8% of companies stating that they use less than half their training budget.

EFFECTIVE TRAINING BUDGET

To understand the actual amount of training that is undertaken within the BC technology industry, the stated training budget for each respondent was multiplied by the actual utilization to derive the effective training budget. As such, the effective training budget for the BC technology industry is about 1.37% of salary.

Using the total salary from the BC Technology Industry of $4.2 billion for 2006 (BC Stats, Profile of the British Columbia High‐Technology Sector), it can be extrapolated that the broad industry typically spends about $57.5 million annually on training activities.


DESIRED TRAINING AREAS

Further testing was undertaken to ascertain the demand for a set of training topics suggested by the TechTalentBC advisory team. Respondents were asked to outline specific courses they would like to see offered within BC.

Topic # of Respondents % of Respondents

Q. To assist with your training needs, which of the following topics would you like to see offered as courses or events by external organizations? (Please select up to five)

Project Management 96 16.4%

HR Essentials 75 12.8%

International Marketing 71 12.1%

Product Management 67 11.4%

Market Development 44 7.5%

Sales 43 7.3%

Quality Assurance/Six Sigma 41 7.0%

Sales for Engineers 35 6.0%

Leadership 34 5.8%

ESL for Engineers 26 4.4%

Business Development 17 2.9%

Working in Teams 13 2.2%

Channel Management 9 1.5%

Other 15 2.6%

Notably, Project Management was the course of greatest interest, likely reflecting its broad demand as a skill set, and the specific demand for project managers that is seen in the labour demand forecast for the next 12 months. The next‐most popular was an HR Essentials course, likely reflecting the continued upward mobility of workers from technical to management roles that was seen in the 2006 study, and which the 2007 study indicates is a continuing trend. Product and Market Development courses also appear to be in high demand, with 11% of respondents indicating an interest in Product Management, while 12% cited an interest in International Marketing and 7% would like to see courses offered in general Market Development. Quality Assurance is also of interest to about 7% of respondents.


BREAKDOWN OF OTHER TRAINING AREAS

Topic # of Respondents % of Respondents

Technical Skills (Programming) 6 1.0%

Finance 1 0.2%

English as a Second Language 1 0.2%

Marketing 1 0.2%

Motivational Training 1 0.2%

Records Management 1 0.2%

Non‐Specific 4 0.7%

With respect to topics suggested under the “Other” category, at the top of the list was upgrades to technical skills (specifically courses in programming), again reflecting the high demand for software engineering resources.


APPENDICES

Sector # of Companies % of Companies

Please specify the primary industry sector in which your company operates.

Information and Communications Technology 167 45.3%

New Media and Entertainment 68 18.4%

Engineering Services 54 14.6%

Natural Resources Technology 16 4.3%

Clean Energy Technology 13 3.5%

Sustainable/Environmental Technology 12 3.3%

Medical Devices 8 2.2%

Aerospace 7 1.9%

Biotechnology and Life Sciences 7 1.9%

Ocean and Marine Technologies 7 1.9%

Security 4 1.1%

Agri‐Food, Nutroceuticals, Aquaculture 3 0.8%

Wireless 3 0.8%

Type of Company # of Companies % of Companies

Private Company – with FTEs 209 55.3%

Sole Entrepreneurship 65 17.2%

Public Company 49 13.0%

Division or Subsidiary of a Public Company 25 6.6%

Division or Subsidiary of a Private Company 20 5.3%

Non‐Profit Organization or Co‐operative 6 1.6%

Government Organization 4 1.1%


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TechTalentBC Labour Demand Study is an annual industry study designed to identify the growth and hiring trends of British Columbia’s technology industry. This knowledge provides a better understanding of the needs of the industry and the ability to identify actions and initiatives needed to address these needs.

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS

New Media BC – www.newmediabc.com Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC – www.asttbc.com BC Ministry of Advanced Education – www.gov.bc.ca Western Economic Diversification Canada – www.wd.gc.ca/

KEY ORGANIZATIONS

BRITISH COLUMBIA TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION – WWW.BCTIA.ORG

The British Columbia Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) is a not‐for‐profit organization that represents the technology industry of British Columbia. As the voice of BC's technology industry, the BCTIA provides the leadership, connection, and action needed to foster the continued growth and success of the industry.

E‐CUBED MEDIA SYNTHESIS – WWW.E‐CUBED.COM

E‐Cubed Media Synthesis has considerable experience in the areas of small business and corporate management, strategic consulting, programming, graphic and technical design, systems administrations, and e‐commerce solutions.

THOMSON & ASSOCIATES – WWW.THOMSONCONSULTING.CA

Led by Steve Thomson, SL Thomson & Associates Consulting is a boutique research and consulting firm specializing in market intelligence and strategy consulting for high‐tech organizations. Thomson & Associates employs a mix of quantitative, qualitative, and competitive intelligence research to drive actionable product and business development efforts.


BC TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY

The following is an outline of the major industry sectors in BC and their relative strengths with respect to number of companies, number of employees and annual revenues.

Data compiled from Profile of the British Columbia High Technology Sector (2007), Wireless in BC (2005), New Media BC, Aerospace Industry Association of BC, and Security Technology Snapshot (2006). Sectors contain overlapping data due to companies being listed in more than one sector.

TECHNOLOGY SECTOR STATISTICS

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATIONS Hardware, Software, Telecommunications and IP over Everything

6,000 companies 46,000 employees $9 billion in revenue

WIRELESS Hardware, Software and Broadband Internet

220 companies 5,200 employees $1 billion in revenue

LIFE SCIENCES Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices

179 companies 2,700 employees $800 million in revenue

NEW MEDIA Interactive Multimedia, Gaming and E‐Learning

900 companies 14,000 employees $1.2 billion in revenue

SECURITY TECHNOLOGY Enterprise Data and Surveillance; Environmental Monitoring, Asset Tracking and Loss Prevention; Solutions for Law Enforcement, Military and Homeland Defence

400 companies 10,000 employees $1.25 Billion in revenue

AEROSPACE Engineering, Manufacturing and Training

190 companies 1,550 employees $450 million in revenue

CLEAN TECH Hydrogen; Fuel Cells; Power Electronics; Energy Storage; Wind, Ocean and Solar Power; Environmental Technologies

1,360 companies 22,000 employees $2.5 billion in revenue


FAST FACTS

• BC’s technology industry has reached a historical high, reporting a total of 22,377 technology companies in 2005 – with 8,748

full‐time employees and 13,629 self‐employed entrepreneurs. • BC leads Canada in percentage growth of high‐tech employment, reporting 70,490 workers in 2005. • Research and development tax incentives totalling 28% of qualified spending make BC an attractive place to do R&D. • The majority (69%) of BC’s exports go to the U.S., with the Pacific Rim as the second‐largest destination. • BC is the most connected province in Canada, with 7 out of every 10 households and 8 out of every 10 businesses having a

computer and Internet access. • For a decade the University of British Columbia has led Canada in the number of U.S. patents awarded and the gross income

earned from technology licenses. • BC has experienced the highest employment growth rate in Canada since 2001 – 10.4%. • The Port of Vancouver, which is Canada’s busiest trade intersection, facilitates trade with more than 90 nations worldwide and

is a recognized gateway to Pacific Rim markets. • BC technology companies promote a flexible and healthy working environment. • BC has 28 public post‐secondary institutions comprising university colleges, institutes, colleges and universities.

As can be seen from the following table, BC is home to a considerable number of global companies, most of which have an R&D or operational presence in BC due to the acquisition of innovative local companies.

GLOBAL COMPANIES WITH A PRESENCE IN BC

3M Touch Systems Alliant Techsystems Ballard Power Systems Inc.* Boeing Broadcom Corporation Business Objects CDC Software Dolby Canada Eastman Kodak eBay Electronic Arts Harman International Industries Honeywell Video Systems HSBC Group IBM Intel MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA)*

Microsoft Corporation McKesson Corporation Nokia Open Solutions Plug Power Phillips Lighting Robert Bosch GmbH Sage Group Schneider Electric Scientific Atlanta – a Cisco Company Sierra Wireless* Seiko Epson Corporation Sophos TELUS* UTStarcom Vivendi Universal Walt Disney

* Headquartered in BC

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

2008 TechTalentBC Labour Study

Business

Transcript of 2008 TechTalentBC Labour Study