Challenges and job opportunities in Information Technology (IT)
Information Technology (or the use of the Internet to communicate and do business globally) has been available for a while, but it has really taken off in the last 5 years and its influence on our everyday lives continues to grow.
Such growth, especially in the United States, has created a huge demand for Information Technology professionals that could not be met, and has led to critical shortages (9,000 annually in Minnesota alone). These shortages and the prospect of loosing work orders because of it, has led many US businesses to look elsewhere for IT professionals. One such place has been Canada, which has lost thousands of skilled workers to the US due to the allure of higher pay, lower taxes, and greater opportunities.
Northwestern Ontario also lost some IT professionals who emigrated to the US, and faced the prospect of losing even more as opportunities in Thunder Bay and region remained limited. This threat did not go unnoticed to some young local entrepreneurs who also saw the potential for their companies to expand in the US and international market and ensure that their skilled IT workers would not leave.
The powerful combination of a lower Canadian dollar; the ability to do work remotely (via Internet); the shortage of IT professionals; and the similarity of language, culture, and legal systems, helped companies such as Computer Mind and Veruna of Thunder Bay develop strategic alliance and joint ventures with major US Information Technology companies. This in turn has allowed them to not only retain, but hire more people locally to serve this ever-expanding international market.
More companies in this sector are following a similar path in international markets, while others have developed a niche within the Northwestern Ontario market. There are now 50-60 small and medium size companies in this field as compared to 25-30 only a year and a half ago. However, the growth has not been even. In fact, as a part-time instructor of International Business to graduating computer programming analysts at Confederation College last fall, this became obvious when not all graduates could find suitable work here and many had to leave town. Other companies on the other hand, cannot find trained individuals with the right skill-sets and have to go outside to fill such positions.
The growth in this sector if properly managed, has the potential to create hundreds of good paying jobs for young people. This situation was discussed at the North of Superior Training Board (NSTB) strategic planning session at the beginning of the year, and the Board is now in the process of identifying the bottlenecks in the system. A recent survey sent to small and medium size IT companies in the region, is the first step in developing a multi-facet approach to solving this problem and helping both the local employers find suitable trained people while giving our young graduates the opportunity to find work in our region.
Frank Pullia is the principal of Pullia Accounting & Consulting and a Business Director on the North Superior Training Board (web site www.nstb.on.ca). He can be reached at 767-6579 or via e-mail at frank@frankpullia.com