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TAM - Technical Talent in Vancouver, BC
Based on information provided by the Vancouver Economic Commission, the total addressable market for technical talent in Vancouver, British Columbia is approximately 75,000. Vancouver holds 75% of the entire British Columbia technical talent market. It is estimated that there are 2,000 current vacancies with 15,500 to 27,000 new vacancies expected in Vancouver by 2021.
Methodology
The data pertaining to the technical talent market in Vancouver was taken from reports published by the Vancouver Economic Commission and the BC Tech Association. The estimates exclude non-technical incidental jobs and talent that may develop from the growth and expansion of technology companies such as sales, marketing, and administrative support. Vancouver makes up 75% of the technical talent market in British Columbia. When data covered all of British Columbia, we applied the 75% market share to estimate the portion attributed to Vancouver.
Current TAM of Technical Talent
According to the Vancouver Economic Commission, British Columbia has over 101,000 tech professionals with about 75,000 of those working in Vancouver. Over 6,800 high technology businesses in British Columbia are located in the Mainland/Southwest region with most of those located in Vancouver. Microsoft, Sony and Amazon have opened in Vancouver and there are a number of high tech clusters in the alternative energy, digital media, gaming development, and biotechnology sectors.
Growth of Technical Talent Market
The tech sector in Vancouver employed about 28,000 in 1990. This number increased to around 58,000 by 2010. From 2010 to 2016, 8,000 new tech jobs were created. By 2017, tech sector employment reached 75,000. At current employment growth expectations, the tech sector talent pool in British Columbia is expected to grow by 16,500 by 2021. At 75%, 12,375 would join the Vancouver talent pool, bringing the total to 87,375 (16,500 X .75 + 75,000).
One of the initiatives set forth in the BC Tech Growth Strategy is to increase tech sector jobs to 120,000 by 2020. Of the 20,000 additional jobs, about 15,500, roughly 75%, could be located in Vancouver. It is estimated that there are currently 2,000 unfilled tech positions. Added to the 15,500 new jobs, the Vancouver tech talent pool will need to increase by 17,500 to meet the demand. Since only 12,375 are expected, over 5,000 will be unfilled.
However, the rapid expansion of the tech sector, in general, may result in higher than expected growth in tech jobs. Using an expanded growth model, an estimated 36,000 new tech jobs could be created in British Columbia by 2021. At 75% of the market, Vancouver may see up to 27,000 of these new jobs, leaving over 14,000 of these new jobs vacant (27,000 - 12,375=14,625).