From the start of 2020 through the end of 2022, Canada’s tech talent workforce expanded by 150,000, according to data from CBRE’s 2023 Scoring Tech Talent report.
Momentum halted last year, though, when 150,000 tech workers were laid off globally across 1,000 companies. It was a wild and bumpy ride for many.
But layoffs haven’t damped Canada’s enthusiasm for technology and innovation, a recent dispatch from The Globe and Mail posits, as change is in the air.
“The current market has created a shift in terms of available opportunities for tech talent as companies have become more selective about the skill set, seniority, and quality of candidates they want,” writes journalist Radhika. “Despite numerous layoffs in the technology sector in Canada, there’s still a large demand for tech talent.”
Qaiser Habib, site lead at Snowflake’s Toronto offices, informed Panjwani that “Canada has deep technical talent which will continue to be in great demand.”
Certain roles, such as software engineers, remain especially coveted. Another area with ample demand is Canada’s compromised cybersecurity sector.
And no surprise that it is increasingly critical talent be familiar with generative artificial intelligence. According to Microsoft’s 2023 Work Trend Index Annual Report, half of executives in Canada intend to implement or increase AI integration within the next year.
“It is becoming clear that AI-empowered professionals will outpace those who don’t take advantage of this era of transformation,” Thomson Reuters CEO Steve Hacker stated recently.
Habib agrees, suggesting that those who accumulate relevant experience and engage in up-skilling “will find themselves in constant demand even in turbulent markets.”
Entire industries are still adjusting to new realities amid uncertain markets and rapid digital transformation, experts believe.
“Tech has had to adjust to changing economic circumstances with office right-sizing and layoffs,” CBRE Canada Chairman Paul Morassutti stated in July.
These shifting circumstances have thrown entire city cores into flux—but adapting to change is something the tech sector specializes at.
According to Morassutti, therefore, short-term trends will not wield much influence over the momentum of tech in Canada.
“Regardless of these short-term trends, Canadian cities have a solid tech employment base and job growth in Canadian markets,” he said. “Canadian tech is on a path to more a normalized, sustainable growth trajectory which will make for a healthier sector in the long run.”
