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Last months announcement that AWS will create a regional hub in Calgary sent a buzz through the local tech sector

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It only took a few hours for the applications to start flooding in.

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After Amazon Web Services announced in early November it will build a new cloud-computing hub in Calgary and team up with Mount Royal University on a local training program response from hopeful employees and would-be students was immediate.

Three weeks later, it continues to expand.

We had dozens of applicants (for training) within 24 hours, and within a week, hundreds of applicants, which is great, AWS country manager Rejean Bourgault said in an interview Thursday from Montreal.

(Were) getting hundreds of resumes, too. So were very pleased by the demand . . . by the talent were getting.

Last months announcement that AWS will create a regional hub in Calgary, building three data centres in the region, has sent a buzz through the local tech sector, another sign of its evolution.

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It underscores the potential to expand the industry, but also the need to develop digital skills for workers to fill new jobs.

As local and provincial authorities are ramping up training for the sector, Calgary Economic Development says more than 2,000 technology positions remain open in the city.

Its not just a Calgary issue, its happening globally, said Brad Parry, CEDs interim president.

There will always be a bit of a crunch for that senior talent, which is what people are really looking to bring in, but we are starting to see that turn the corner a little bit.

Seattle-based AWS expects it will create 871 jobs locally by 2037, as well as positions outside the province.

Construction has started on the three data centres, although AWS doesnt disclose where theyre being built for security reasons.

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The hub wont start operating until late 2023 or early 2024, but AWS is already advertising for about 30 positions, from data centre technicians and logistics specialists to a regional environmental engineer, Bourgault said.

We have to pick the right place and also we have to make sure we have the right talent, he said.

We are very confident that we will have the right talent, especially with the resumes were getting. So we know now that we bet the right way we basically decided on the right region.

Other international tech companies are moving into the city, while a number of startup firms are quickly scaling up and adding staff during the pandemic.

The Council of Canadian Innovators, a technology industry group, said Thursday that finding and hiring new staff will be the No. 1 challenge for homegrown tech firms, and the biggest barrier to growth in 2022.

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Yet, companies are expanding, with many training staff internally.

Childrens streaming service Kidoodle.TV, a Calgary-based firm, has expanded its workforce to about 100 employees from 40 in the past year, mainly in Alberta. Chief technology officer Daniel Riddell said he wouldnt be surprised if staffing doubles again next year.

Kidoodle, which reported a 3,200 per cent increase in customers last year, uses AWS for storing and delivering video files to customers, for data analysis, inter-company communications and advertising.

Skills in cloud computing are critical for the future and hiring people with those abilities has been challenging in the province, he said.

Its been very difficult, I would say, because that skill set generally comes later in a career and those people have tended to move south of the border and are employed down there, Riddell said.

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The solution is, quite honestly, starting the exposure and training much earlier. This is the kind of thing that should be taught in junior high school, because this is how the world works today.

While Alberta faces a tech talent shortage, it is still grappling with high unemployment, with the jobless rate expected to average 7.1 per cent next year, according to the provinces new fiscal update.

Programs to help Albertans obtain necessary digital skills will pay off over the longer term, but multinationals moving into the province will exacerbate the existing labour shortage for technology firms, said Bronte Valk of the Council of Canadian Innovators.

We do have zero unemployment in tech right now, she said.

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Thats why training initiatives are so important.

When CED began operating a program to re-skill displaced oil and gas professionals looking to pivot into IT a couple of years ago, demand was enormous, with 1,200 people applying for 100 training seats, Parry said.

Other post-secondary programs at the University of Calgary and SAIT have added student positions, while some companies are coming to the province with their own internal training programs.

Multinational IT company Infosys announced last spring it will create up to 500 new jobs in Calgary within three years, and signalled it will make the city an innovation hub where it works with post-secondaries to create a steady talent pool.

AWS will team up with Mount Royal University, along with support from CED, to offer a free 12-week skills development program. The initiative is intended to help unemployed or underemployed individuals acquire the necessary skills for entry-level cloud positions.

More than 100 people signed up for information about the classes within a day of the announcement (for 40 available spots in the first class) and the list now tops 325, said Brad Mahon, dean of MRUs faculty of continuing education.

The program is expected to launch in late February.

It really addresses a need here in the province, Mahon said.

Not only do we have a displaced workforce that needs to re-skill, but we also have this emerging sector. And what this program does is connect those two.

Chris Varcoe is a Calgary Herald columnist.

cvarcoe@postmedia.com

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Varcoe: Amazon 'bet the right way' choosing Calgary for new data hub and tech training - Calgary Herald