With its beaches and great weather, it would seem that San Diego wouldn’t need any help getting workers to move here.

However, some local business leaders say attracting talent in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, world can be a challenge when competing with Silicon Valley and other well-known innovation hubs.

To help attract talented workers, the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. launched a campaign last week that it says employers can use for recruitment. The program includes a website and downloadable materials that serve as a one-stop shop for employers looking to sell the region to a prospective worker.

“We’ve heard from more than one (human resources) person, more than one talent recruiter, that they need our help,” said Lauree Sahba, chief operations officer for the EDC. “They need us to raise the visibility of San Diego.”


The toolkit’s materials emphasize studies that put San Diego in a good light.

Reports include Robert Half Technology listing San Diego as the No.1 city where technology hiring would increase the most in the first half of 2018; A 2013 article from a Forbes contributor that said San Diego was the No. 2 most inventive city in the world (based on number of patents compared to number of residents); No. 3 strongest life sciences cluster in 2017 in the state, said a report from the California Life Sciences Association.

Materials avoid mentioning housing costs, which have continued to rise and could be a downside to relocation. San Diego County’s median home price hit its highest point ever in March, $550,000, increasing 6.8 percent in a year.

Sahba said the point of the campaign is to promote the region’s attributes. She also said San Diego is cheaper than other places workers might be looking, such as the San Francisco Bay Area, where the median price of a single-family home was $1.6 million in March, said Paragon Real Estate Group.


“We know we are competing with places that are not inexpensive,” she said.

Workers in the STEM fields — especially in their 30s and 40s — usually have more money than the average San Diego homebuyer, said Gary Kent, a real estate agent who works in La Jolla, Pacific Beach and Clairemont.

“They tend to make good money, so they can afford San Diego,” he said.

Mike Krenn, president of the San Diego Venture Group, said the main issue with recruiting workers here is some potential employees worry that if they lose their job at, for instance, Qualcomm, that there will be no where to go after. Also, many have spouses and they worry that they won’t have as many options if they move for a job.


“Some of that is just marketing and perception, which is why we like (the EDC campaign),” he said. “Some of it is just trying to dispel the notion that it is just Qualcomm here and nobody else.”

EDC materials pitch cities based on fun attributes, including Oceanside as a “Northern beach town for younger professionals” and La Jolla as a “beachy burb” for families.

Sahba said the $1 million campaign started in 2017 and so far the EDC has raised about $550,000 to pay for it. She said that is far less than what has been spent in other areas to recruit workers, and the EDC is relying on mainly companies to pay for it — not government agencies or foundations.

Some companies that have contributed to the campaign are Chase Bank, Viasat, Qualcomm, Cleantech San Diego, Kaiser Permanente, Sudberry Properties and Carrier Johnson + Culture.


Professional opportunities are played up as much as the beaches, such as Qualcomm’s work on 5G technology, Illumina’s quest to lower the cost to sequence the human genome, and researchers at Scripps Research Institute working on ways to eradicate the Ebola virus.

San Diego-based recruiter Bob Watkins, owner of R.J. Watkins & Co., said it would be great if the region could produce workers with in-demand skills. He said if it was up to him, every single elementary school in San Diego County would have a computer coding class. But, for now, much of his work is looking outside the region.

“The opportunities are incredible, we just need to go out and find the people,” he said.

Of course, employers are encouraged by the EDC to play up the livability of the San Diego region, including access to good public schools, walkable neighborhoods, trendy coffee shops, pet friendly restaurants and parks, the FRED (Free Ride Everywhere Downtown) program and two international airports.


A website aimed directly at potential workers has also been launched, SanDiegoLifeChanging.org, that showcases the city’s art scene, beer culture and outdoor adventures. It has an interactive map of tech, life science and lifestyle companies.

“In San Diego, we work for and create cool companies that believe in changing the world,” says the website’s Work section.

Employers looking for materials can sign up on the website and get a 13-page booklet that highlights the region’s strong points. Companies can also download photos of life around San Diego — including pictures of surfboards and craft beer — as well as get industry profile sheets, videos and other multimedia.

This isn’t the first time San Diego’s leaders have made efforts to attract talented workers.


This year, the nonprofit Cyber Center of Excellence stepped up efforts, along with industry leaders and the academic community, to expand apprenticeships and recruiting efforts to keep more well-trained graduates in the area.

In late 2016, San Diego opened a small satellite office in San Francisco to try and get Silicon Valley money. The idea was the space was would be used for San Diego startups to secure venture capital from Bay Area firms.


Business

phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar

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