OTTAWA, 16 MARCH 2015
The Quest for Talent in a Global IoT Economy
We have witnessed in recent decades unprecedented global economic growth primarily driven by technology advances – a critical enabler behind any modern economy. The impending smart and hyper connected marketplace is upon us, creating a healthy demand for high skilled workers. ICTC’s 2015 Labour Market Outlook finds that cumulative hiring requirements in Canada for ICT talent are expected to be over 182,000 by 2019.
The combined offering of mobile, cloud services, apps, analytics, social media, and many others, under the larger umbrella of the Internet of Things (IoT) is also shaping to be a determining factor for talent quest in Canada and across economies around the world.
While building a healthy talent supply through education and training is a key focus in Canada, the lead-time to staff and train critical positions is a challenge for many industries, especially SMEs (small and medium enterprises). Improving the educational system responsiveness to the labour market needs will be paramount, and a key enabler in this environment will be the ability to better forecast the skills needs of the future. Educational institutions that offer industry-targeted and short duration programs will also be critical, before and after graduate school. Apprenticeships and the provision of workplace training can also help both young people and the unemployed to build connectivity with the industry and gain useful work-related skills.
Success in managing the up-and-coming ICT supply and demand market imbalance will depend primarily on our ability as an economy to forecast all the required skills of the future in a timely manner, build strong employer bridging programs, and provide ongoing short duration industry up-skilling. “We are in the midst of a very global and competitive landscape, positioning our digital talent as a comparative advantage will be paramount in the coming years”, said Namir Anani, President & CEO of the Information and Communications Technology Council.
The Labour Market Outlook 2015–2019 is NOW available here for free