Vancouver's tech sector is booming, but a number of those in the industry have chosen to move elsewhere in search of higher salaries and a lower cost of living.During a press conference at Web Summit Vancouver on Wednesday, Mayor Ken Sim addressed the city's talent retention problem and laid out his plan to ensure those in the industry will want to stay long term..When asked by the Western Standard what Vancouver can do to not only build up the talent pool but prevent leakage to other markets, Sim said the solution was "multi-faceted."He explained that the city has worked to bring down the cost of housing by building more properties, and will continue efforts to make the city safer and "more vibrant."Sim cited Austin, Texas as an example of a city that had got it right, noting that officials there had lured people in by highlighting the music scene and other "cool" aspects of living there."It's a cool place to live, so the talent is there," he said, "and then the companies come in because we're in a global competition for talent.".Sim then turned his attention to events such as Web Summit, arguing that it will "pay dividends for generations to come.""Vancouver is a beautiful place," he continued. "Most people when they decide to live in Vancouver, it's probably one of three reasons: one, they grew up here; two, they went to school here; three, they came here as a tourist and fell in love with the city."Sim cited the case of a man named Brian, who sold his first company in 2016 and proceeded to tour the world's major cities looking for somewhere to settle down. After falling in love with the Lower Mainland, he moved to Vancouver and founded another company, Layer Zero, which all these years later employs hundreds of people and has a value of $3.2 billion.He concluded by pointing out that hosting tech events like Web Summit is integral to Vancouver's future success as it allows people from all over the world to potentially walk the same path as Brian.
