The Battle for STEM Workers: Implications for Firm Strategy

An increasingly important frontier for competition is in the labor market for skilled workers. In particular, competition for a limited supply of STEM workers (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) has drawn the attention of employers and policymakers worldwide because a) STEM workers are instrumental to the knowledge-based production that characterizes the industries that are driving growth in many modern economies (e.g. high-tech, pharma, healthcare), b) access to these workers can influence the firm's production choices and innovation outcomes, and c) constraints to the supply of these workers in specific markets affects prospects for attracting corporate investment and experiencing growth. Moreover, through their mobility, these workers are often the primary channel for the transfer of knowledge to new organizational contexts. Indeed, a critical determinant of employer performance in recent years has been the ability to successfully attract these workers, so to understand the innovative activities of firms, it has become important to understand the human capital investment and labor supply decisions of these workers. This symposium brings together leading experts in the human capital of science and technology to discuss factors affecting supply and demand in STEM labor markets. Implications for strategy are discussed."