Local tech company ‘thinking outside the box’ to attract young talent
Posted July 9, 2016 9:10 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A Vancouver tech company is taking an unusual step to try and attract young talent. They feel they have to think outside the box because too many people are leaving thanks to sky-high housing prices.
Canada Drives, which is in one of the Bentall towers in Downtown Vancouver, is teaming up with Google which has captured the offices using its street view technology.
The company’s Elyssa Macfarlane says applicants want to see what things looks like before they get here and try to find housing. “It’s pretty frustrating because we’ll have people lined up to start Monday or within the next week and they’re scrambling in order to find a place and sometimes that gets pushed back, so it really can be tough when you’re in a period of rapid hyper-growth.”
She adds despite the challenges they’re not looking to leave Vancouver anytime soon. “As a growing tech company in Vancouver, the fact of the matter is that you are competing with other cities where the cost of living is lower and the price of housing is lower too.”
There have been reports of a lot of millennials leaving Metro Vancouver recently because of the housing prices and lack of affordable rental options.
Tech companies are said to occupy nearly 40 per cent of Downtown Vancouver’s commercial real estate, and across BC, the tech sector employs 86,800 people, which is more than forestry, mining, and oil and gas combined.
