If you work at QLT Inc. (TSX:QLT) and can point the company to a new hire, you will be $5,000 richer.
The Vancouver biotech, which shed 200 local jobs between 2002 and 2008, is now scrambling to find new employees. Offering a $5,000 bonus to existing employees who can help recruit new ones is one part of an aggressive headhunting effort.
"We are now on a very, very strong growth path," said Linda Lupini, OLT's senior vice-president of human resources and organizational development.
QLT is among the many Vancouver high-tech, clean-tech and life sciences companies that are in hiring mode. A survey released February 22 by the BC Technology Industry Association (BCTIA) calculates 3,000 new jobs will be created in Vancouver's high-tech sector this year.
QLT plans to hire 55 technicians, scientists and managers this year, 80% of whom are needed in its Vancouver labs, which now stands at about 190 people.
But it faces a major recruitment challenge. Because it is such an important market, and because it is the epicentre of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, the U.S. is the biggest talent pool for biotech. Professionals with FDA experience are parti cularly in demand.
But housing economics on both sides of the border pose a problem. On the U.S. side, potential new hires may be locked into underwater mortgages. And in Vancouver, housing prices are proving to be a major disincentive.
"They're coming to Vancouver with pretty much a par currency and they're doing a real estate tour and they're just about flipped out," Lupini said.
Prior to 2005, QLT decided it was spread too thin and decided to divest itself of some of its holdings – resulting in a series of layoffs – to focus on its one blockbuster product, Visudyne, which is now generating revenue.
The company now sits on $204 million in cash, has no debt, is getting $125 million in royalties on its prostate cancer drug, Eligard, and has two new pipeline products in clinical trials, which is why the company needs to ramp up.
"We'll offer very lucrative relocation packages, we'll do subsidies for rent – we'll do anything we have to do to get people to come to Vancouver," Lupini said. "But it has been a struggle."
QLT is not alone in its hiring frenzy. HootSuite planned a recruiting fair February 27 in an effort to meet hiring targets that are far surpassing its own projections.
In mid-2011, HootSuite founder and CEO Ryan Holmes told fellow techpreneurs at the Grow Conference that his company would be doubling its ranks to 50 by the end of the year. He was off by about 50: by the end of 2011, HootSuite's staff was approaching the 100 mark, according to the company's blog.
The social media dashboard creator now has close to 120 employees and is hoping to double that number by the end of this year. But it will be competing with digital media and software companies for talent. Amazon, Electronic Arts and Microsoft – all of which have Vancouver divisions – are hiring in large numbers.
EA's job board currently lists 62 positions for its Burnaby division, Amazon has 20 job postings dating back to the beginning of January on its job board, and Microsoft's B.C. game studios could hit 600 employees.
Most of the new job growth in Vancouver will come from smaller companies, however, according to BCTIA's bi-annual TalentTechBC survey. Eighty-two per cent of Vancouver's technology companies are small businesses with 10 or fewer employees.
The survey found new job numbers grew by 12% between 2010 and 2011, which added back all the jobs lost as a result of the 2008 recession – stronger growth than the BCTIA expected. Vancouver's tech sector expects to hire 3,000 new employees in 2012, and up to 10,000 over the next three years.
Hardware engineers, customer support staff, sales and marketing staff and technical managers are some of the jobs in greatest demand.
Now that the jobs lost post-2008 have been gained back, BCTIA CEO Bill Tam expects some companies may start experiencing recruitment problems, which means looking outside of Canada for people like Rogelio Silva, a Mexican IT specialist who decided to move to Vancouver after coming here on a ski trip in 2008.
Because of his background in information technology, Silva was granted permanent residency status, even though he had no job offer, and within nine months had a new job. He now works as the IT manager.
Silva, who has worked in the U.S., has had a number of job offers, including in the U.S. and Toronto, but plans to stay in Vancouver.
"I'm happy here in Vancouver," he said. "This is where I chose to raise my kids." •
