I opened up my mail this morning to read the following press release from PropelSJ. This is indeed great news for the ICT sector and a positive outlook on the next 5 years for the province of NB.
--Trevor
Anticipation of 1,700 New Jobs in 5 Years; ICT Industry optimistic about its future according to new survey commissioned by propelsj
Saint John, New Brunswick, November 15, 2006 – The ICT sector in Saint John is developing steadily and needs to be prepared for further growth.
propelsj, an ICT industry association, raised the question on availability of future human resources capital in this sector both in Saint John and in the Province, and is ready to facilitate the process leading to a better understanding of supply and demand requirements for the future.
The Qualifications Needs Survey distributed online among 312 companies in New Brunswick in August/September 2006 assessed the demand of skills in the ICT sector in New Brunswick and was the first step to accomplish this.
According to Jeff White, propelsj President, "The mood of the ICT industry appears to be enormously optimistic, we need to ensure that all political, financial, and educational partners and resources are working together to be ready for this anticipated growth. This is good news for the ICT industry."
The 2006 Qualifications Need Survey was distributed online during August and September to firms in the ICT sector throughout the province. Of more than 300 firms provided with the survey, 25% responded and completed the survey with cumulative employment of 6,306 people (1,215 in Saint John). There is a positive perception among respondents about future growth of this sector in the province of New Brunswick for new employment; around 1,700 jobs will be created in the ICT sector in the Province in the next five years; most of these, 1,303, would be in Saint John. Over 600 positions will be created in Saint John in the next two years; a 132% increase. There will be approximately 40 positions at a managerial level in the next two years, and 100 more on a five years perspective.
Software Engineers, Computer Programmers, and Information Systems Business Analysts ranked high on the "wish list" of the ICT firms. About half of these new positions would require some undergraduate degree, particularly in Engineering, with the other half requiring at least a Community College Diploma. Project management expertise and certification ( e.g. Project Management Institute) are expected for engineering level or Business Analysts positions.
Dr. Henryk Sterniczuk, UNBSJ MBA Director and a propelsj Board Member, helped to develop the survey and create the report and points out that "this is an incentive for both academia and industry to further coordinate their activities and balance the supply and demand for the right set of skills and knowledge." Dr. Sterniczuk added, "We have an amazing opportunity here and we need to make sure it has all of the right conditions to grow. The growth and energy in this dynamic sector is very positive and we should take advantage of it as a community."
While the survey did not focus on obtaining deeper information on the local supply of ICT resources from the advanced educational institutes, more analysis and collaboration is required with all stakeholders, including government and industry, to help prepare for what could be a potential shortage of qualified resources if the trend continues.
Jeff Roach, Executive Director of propelsj's Catalict accelerator concluded that "The introduction of Catalict as a program to stimulate and support start ups and early stage ICT businesses should increase demand for more ICT personnel."
The survey findings correlate well with the findings of the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) which were shared with Atlantic Canadian audiences in the past few weeks at events in Halifax that show:
• There are over 600,000 Canadians employed in the ICT space.
• There is roughly 2% unemployment in the sector for candidates with relevant skills (compared to roughly 8% in all industries across Canada)
• There will be a demand of 90,000 new employees in the sector over the next four years.
propelsj will distribute the 2006 Qualifications Need Survey Report to its partners and stakeholders in the province and will make it available at http://propelsj.com.
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propelsj - surge ahead
http://propelsj.com / 506.642.9029
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