The largest female-owned businesses in British Columbia have increased their local employee base by an average of 33% since 2014, according to data from Business in Vancouver’s Biggest B.C. Businesses Owned by Women list (page 13).
In 2018, the average number of employees at the province’s largest female-owned businesses increased to 294 from 223 in 2014.
The 20 businesses on the list grew their local employment an average of 8.5% in 2018 from 2017. The median employment growth was roughly the same, suggesting that businesses lower on the list experienced a similar employment boost to those higher on the list.
Globalme Localization Inc. had the largest one-year employment increase of any company on the list, growing 64% to 41 employees in 2018 from 25 in 2017.
Mustel Group had the largest employment decline of any company on the list, falling 16.25% to 67 employees in 2018 from 80 employees in 2017.
Of the top five businesses on the list, SimpeQ Care Inc. had the largest five-year workforce growth, increasing its employment 106.1% to 707 employees in 2018 from 343 employees in 2014. SimpeQ Care also had the largest one-year employee increase of the top five at 29.7%.
Purdys Chocolatier was the only company in the top five to report an employment decline. The company had its employment drop over both five-year and one-year time periods. In 2014, the company had 663 employees in the province; by 2017 its employment had fallen 5.9% to 624 employees. Over the past year, Purdys Chocolatier’s provincial employment fell an additional 6.6% to 583 in 2018. •
