The biggest tech firms operating in British Columbia have boasted revenue growth over the past five years while employing fewer people in the province, according to data collected on Business in Vancouver’s Top Technology Companies in British Columbia list (https://biv.com/datatables/top-100-tech-companies-bc-2020).
The three largest technology companies in B.C. with five years of data available reported declining employment as revenue climbed. No. 1 Telus Corp. (TSX:T) increased its revenue 17.3% to $14.7 billion in 2019, up from 12.5 billion in 2015. During that time, its provincial employment dropped 6.9% to 7,900 in 2019, from 8,489 in 2015. Telus was the only company among the top three to show signs of employment rebound, with a 1.3% increase to 8,000 employees in 2020.
No. 2 Shaw Communications (TSX:SJR.B) also increased its revenue. It was up 19% to $5.3 billion in 2019 from $4.5 billion in 2015. At the same time, Shaw cut its B.C. workforce 22.2% to 3,889 in 2019, down from 5,000 in 2015.
No. 4 Bell (TSX:BCE) followed suit, expanding its revenue 11.39% to $24 billion in 2019, up from $21.5 billion in 2015, while lowering its provincial employment by 30.8% to 1,800 in 2019, down from 2,600 in 2015.
However, some companies managed to buck this trend.
Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) benefited from the largest revenue growth of the top five. It grew 57.7% to US$280.5 billion in 2019 compared with US$177.9 billion in 2017. During that time, its B.C. employment surged by 61.1% to 2,900 in 2019, up from 1,800 in 2017.
Rogers Communications’ (TSX:RCI.B) revenue and B.C. employment also grew between 2015 and 2019.
While some of the technology giants have reported stagnant growth over the past year, the average employment growth for the top 100 tech companies in B.C. over the past year was 11.3%. The median one-year employment growth was 2.3%, suggesting that larger companies higher on the list grew faster than smaller companies lower on the list.
The most impressive five-year employment growth was recorded by a company ranked lower on the list. No. 24 iQmetrix increased its B.C. employee base 297.7% to 350 employees in 2020, up from 88 in 2016. It recorded most of the growth over the past year. This jump in employment helped iQmetrix shoot up 53 places on BIV’s list from 77th in 2016. No. 41 Copperleaf Technologies also posted large employment growth, increasing its employee base by 206.7% to 230 in 2020, up from 75 in 2016. This vaulted Copperleaf 37 spaces on the list to 41st in 2020 from 78th in 2016.
No. 38 Westport Innovations Inc. (TSX:WPT) had the steepest fall down the list, slipping 16 places from 22nd in 2016. This was the result of a 19.4% decline in B.C. employment, to 250 employees in 2019, down from 310 in 2016. Despite the decline, Westport’s B.C. employment has rebounded from its 2018 and 2019 low of 194.
