Oulton College

N.B. works to cope with IT employee shortage

NB Telegraph-Journal | Money - As published on page C1 on July 28, 2006

By DAVID SHIPLEY
Telegraph-Journal

MONCTON - A shortage of information technology workers in parts of the province is hampering growth in the industry, say experts.

New Brunswick's IT industry - battered when the dotcom bubble burst five years ago - has rebounded but some firms are finding it difficult to hire enough people.

One such company, Fredericton-based Professional Quality Assurance Ltd., is struggling to find enough qualified staff to help it expected its software testing business.

The company employs more than 80 people and plans to hire as many as 40 more thanks to a recent provincial government grant.

PQA's situation isn't unique, said Enterprise Fredericton executive director Doug Motty.

"A lot of the firms that we've spoken to, I think the number is between 73 and 77 per cent of the (IT and engineering) firms we've talked to, are looking to add new people," he said.

While the shortage is a challenge, Fredericton does have the opportunity to increase its pool of IT professionals thanks to thousands of graduates from its two university campuses, as well as its community college and private schools.

The key for the city and the province is retaining those students, Motty said.

"I don't think recruitment anymore is just placing an ad in the paper and expecting for one positions 100 resumes to fall in anymore," said Motty.

"I think what needs to happen is there needs to be a good linkage. Retention or recruitment for maybe a computer science graduate might start in the first or second year of that student's program."

Companies need to look at options such as co-op work terms or summer employment to form a connection with IT students, he said.

Keith Melvin, an economic development officer for Enterprise Saint John, said there is a shortage of high-tech workers to do certain IT jobs in the Port City.

"Companies are having challenges finding the right skill sets," he said. "I think anytime you can't get the skill set you need here, if you have opportunities and you can't find the person, that definitely hampers growth."

Enterprise Greater Moncton is hoping to get a clearer picture of labour issues in the information, communications and technology sector in the Hub City from a workforce survey in the fall.

If there is a shortage of skilled IT professionals in the greater Moncton area, it doesn't seem to be slowing down companies, said Patrick Goguen, an economic development officer with the agency.

"They seem to be still finding staff, so I can't see it being a huge issue as far as growth for our companies. You look at Whitehill (Technologies), you look at all our big IT firms, they are growing very well and they do find people."

New Brunswick's Post-Secondary Education and Training Minister Jody Carr said Thursday the province's community colleges and universities could do a better job of working together to meet workforce needs in the IT sector as well as in other sectors.

"There's room for improving the relationship with New Brunswick Community College and the New Brunswick universities," he said.

That relationship includes sharing resources and providing credit for programs taken in different institutions, he said.

Carr said there has been some collaboration between the college and the universities. Enhancing such co-operation would likely be an important aim of the government's soon-to-be-launched commission on post-secondary education.

The government has also struck a workforce committee that includes IT companies, Business New Brunswick, and the Department of Post-Secondary Education and Training.

The goals of the committee include determining the IT workforce needs in the province, as well as the resources needed to train enough people to meet that demand.

The province's Enterprise Network will conduct the research for the committee, which is expected to issue a report by March 2007.

"An issue like workforce labour shortage and human resource needs can only be solved by all the partners working together," said Carr.