Building relevant workforce development programs in a fast-pace digital economy (E)

The digital economy jumped from 9.5% to 11% in terms of employment in Canada during the COVID crisis. The pace of change driving every single industry to digitize and transform the way they operate has accelerated. As a result, the demand for digital workers grew significantly both in breadth (+23% in terms of employment) and in depth (with top skills in high demand and highly paid). The recent wave of layoffs due to the fear of a looming recession in 2023 has barely curved the demand, while the labour market keeps growing and the unemployment rate fell by 0.1% to reach 5% last December, close to full employment. Industry is as thirsty as ever for digital workers but the next generation preparing for a career won’t be enough.ICTC has developed a unique model that has been highlighted by the OECD as one of the best workforce development practice in a recent publication (June 2022). This data-driven and research-informed approach empowers partnering colleges, institutes, and universities to rapidly develop training programs and microcertifications that are highly relevant for industry with pressing hiring needs. Furthermore, we’re collaboratively working with industry to support workers that are losing their employment or at risk of losing their employment due to industry shifts, whether they’re resulting from disrupting technologies or macro-economic shocks.Our interactive session will build on best practices to collectively explore innovative ways to respond to Canada’s talent challenge, while our digital economy face significant threats on the global stage.