Fuelling BC'S Tech Talent Pipeline: The Role of Universities

Surrey Board of Trade was honoured to be a part of the Fuelling BC'S Tech Talent Pipeline: The Role of Universities research paper, released by University Canada West (UCW).

University Canada West believes that the post-secondary education sector plays a critical role in fueling BC'S tech talent pipeline.

Last year, they embarked on a listening exercise to better understand whatmore universities can do to prepare the tech workforce of the future. They hosted a series of panels, conversations, and one-on-one consultations with tech leaders, thinkers, founders, and C-suite executives to hear firsthand what they had to say about how universities can help address the talent crisis.

While many reports have been written on this subject, this exercise was intended to be a more qualitative, human look at the real-time needs of tech companies in BC and what the province's universities can do to help meet these needs.what they heard was a rallying cry from BC'S tech community for academia and industry to embark on a coordinated approach to fill the gaps in the labour force. Most revealing was that many of the issues, insights and ideas that they heard aren't new. We still have important work to do. Industry and academia must join forces to act collectively and with a greater sense of urgency.

The report outlined 5 interrelated opportunities where post secondary institutions can help prepare today's students for tomorrow's tech realities:

1. Help build the skills of tomorrow

Tech leaders are looking to post secondary educational institutions to develop talent with a combination of technical, strategic and humanistic skills. While companies can teach people the business, students need to come with the ability to be creative, entrepreneurial and collaborative problem solvers.

2. Bring academia and industry together sooner

Companies expressed a pressing need to bring academia and industry together much earlier by integrating tech leaders in the classroom where students can be more regularly exposed to industry experts and creating work related experiences embedded directly into the course curriculum or completed as work integrated learning with real businesses.

3. Reimagine how students learn and are assessed

Companies are looking for people with different perspectives who can bring unique solutions forward. Universities can help by rewarding differences and championing interdisciplinary learning. Universities can also help set students up for success with a greater focus on iteration, not perfection.

“We need to reward students for a much faster pace of work and a first mover mentality,” said Mike Cheng, CEO and Co Founder of Lumen5.

4. Create solutions for upskilling and reskilling

BC'S tech industry is largely made up of small and medium businesses that don't have inhouse professional development programming available to employees. Companies are looking to universities to help provide training solutions for today's employers.

5. Change the narrative

UCW heard that BC needs to change the way the province is perceived both in Canada and around the world. Universities can help change this narrative and build BC'S reputation as a tech hub and leader in innovation. Report: ucanwest.ca/tech-talentpipeline