For many of B.C.’s key technology sectors, 2011 was a strong recovery year.
According to Statistics Canada’s latest economic data, GDP increased in five of nine B.C. tech sectors over the past two years.
Sectors recording the largest recoveries were:
•manufacturers of electrical equipment (a 41% increase in GDP to $183.7 million in 2011 from $130.2 million in 2009); and
•computer equipment manufacturers (a 19.2% increase to $172.4 million from $114.6 million).
Other sectors that increased their economic contribution to the province included B.C.’s pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturers (7.3%), technical and scientific service providers (2.2%) and tech-related industries in the information and cultural industries (1.9%).
The data coincides with information collected in Business in Vancouver’s annual list of the 100 largest tech companies in B.C. Total revenue for B.C.-based firms that provided data increased 9.5% in 2011 to $16.1 billon from $14.7 billion in 2009.
Total employment of the Top 100 firms, however, has yet to fully recover from its peak prior to the Great Recession. Based on BIV research, total employment of B.C.’s largest 100 tech companies has yet to return to its peak in early 2009 of nearly 39,200.
In the medium term, however, employment prospects are expected to improve. According to an Information and Communications Technology Council report, B.C. will be hit with wide-ranging skills shortages over the next five years, particularly for computer and information system managers, telecom managers, computer engineers, information systems analysts and electrical engineers and technicians.
Finding qualified staff will remain challenging for jobs that require more than five years’ experience. That will increase reliance on imported skilled labour. Most of those skilled workers are likely to find their home in the Lower Mainland, where nearly 70% of the jobs are. •
