The fight for skilled workers is fierce across all industries, including digital industries in Winnipeg that work in areas like artificial intelligence, e-commerce, and online media.  

YES! Winnipeg (YW) Economic Development Winnipeg’s business development team, stepped up to help local companies win the battle in finding the best talent with its first international recruitment mission to Buenos Aires, Argentina that took place in October. 

The South American country was flagged as a top spot for hard-to-find senior talent in software development, web design and data sciences, after intensive research and conversations with partner organizations and companies. 

Five tech companies signed on for the mission including ESLlibrary.com and Farmers Edge. 

“Attending the Recruitment Mission with YES! Winnipeg and Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program turned out to be a great success as we were able to find solid Senior Tech Talent for our organization," said Farmers Edge Recruitment Specialist, Niki Nelson. 

As of December 31, 28 offers were made to potential new hires with some Winnipeg companies expecting new people to arrive and start work in January 2020.  Companies expect more job offers could go out and get accepted as the year progresses now that a new talent channel has been identified for companies.  

YW ran ads promoting the mission and available positions in advance of the trip. It ended up generating, on average, 100 resumes for each position and in the end more than 3,000 resumes were sent to employers. 

“YES! Winnipeg, went above and beyond with helping us find the right tech candidates, organize and promote the venue and the event, and to help with any logistics that were involved,” says Marta Solodun, Head of HR and Talent with ESLlibrary.com. 

Talent missions are just the beginning. They are part of a larger workforce strategy YW has created for growing Winnipeg companies. 

The Talent Hub was just launched for high-growth companies looking to attract, retain and develop talent. This one-stop shop will identify skills and education gaps, connect companies to talent locally, nationally or internationally while linking them to settlement resources and marketing tools to showcase why Winnipeg is the ideal home for new hires. 

YW also worked closely with the Manitoba Provincial Nominee Program to make it easier for skilled workers to settle in our province as permanent residents, which was beneficial to employers on this inaugural trip. 

“Not only did the support of having these partners help us achieve our goals, they provided a strong sense of legitimacy for this event making candidates feel welcome throughout the weekend and the immigration process to follow,” added Nelson. 

YW tapped into strong partnerships with Industry, Western Economic Diversification Canada, the Manitoba Government and the City of Winnipeg to leverage $1.8 million dollars over 3 years to help companies find the talent they need.

Those efforts can go a long way to keeping costs down for local companies. 

“We know our talent strategy can save companies’ time and money. If we can help them find a large pool of talent locally or elsewhere and give them more tools to attract and retain that talent, we’re helping companies keep and grow jobs in Winnipeg. It’s a win for their bottom line and a win for Winnipeg,” says Ryan Kuffner, YES! Winnipeg’s Vice President of Sales and Business Development, who also lead the development of the Talent Strategy. 

That winning concept is something Marta Solodun with ESLlibrary.com wants to replicate. 

“We were pleased with the talent that we’ve met in Argentina and have made more job offers than anticipated prior to the start of the mission. We will definitely consider participating in any future tech hiring events with YES Winnipeg!” added Solodun. 

Plans are now underway for another mission in the Spring of 2020, this time focusing on companies across all sectors. 

If your company is interesting in hiring international talent or looking to develop your workforce, EDW’s YES! Winnipeg team can help.

Contact Yes! Winnipeg’s Business Development Manager: [email protected] or 1-204-954-0999.