While John Horgan’s Green NDP mans the anti-pipeline ramparts and preaches from the tech innovation pulpit, the realities of staffing the province’s economy are in danger of being lost in the polarized political roar.
Amazon underscores the challenges ahead. The monolithic trans-border enterprise is more than a threat to local retail enterprise. It is a massive talent vacuum. The 3,000 jobs it promises to create at the company’s new Post centre on Georgia Street might be good news for online shopping fans, but it is far less positive for other companies vying for the intellectual horsepower needed to drive their business game plans.
In Metro Vancouver, the real war for highly skilled technology talent is just beginning.
As a recent Korn Ferry report warns, the gap between future talent supply and demand is rapidly widening.
Global Talent Crunch estimates that by 2030 it could result in 85.2 million jobs being unfilled and US$8.5 trillion in revenue forgone in the 20 major economies used in the study.
Sectors facing the most severe talent deficits are finance, technology and manufacturing. Markets that will be hit hardest by talent shortages, according to the global consulting firm’s report, will be North America, Australia, France, Japan and Germany. In places like Metro Vancouver, where the cost of living and housing is skewed by significant inflows of offshore money, the shortage will be even more acute because attracting youthful energy and enterprise will be a major challenge.
The inaugural Canadian YouthfulCities Index ranked Vancouver last in affordability among the 13 cities in the study. That weighs heavily against B.C.’s southwest competing for top talent, regardless of the region’s geographic and livability upsides.
The provincial government needs to do more than preach tech innovation bromides and oppose resource industry initiatives, because pretty soon there’ll be no initiatives left to oppose and not enough human resources talent to sustain what remains.
