Science Parks and the Attraction of Talents: Activities and Challenges

This paper explores activities undertaken by Science Parks to attract talent for their tenants. Despite the importance of accessing talent, there are very few studies focusing on this research area. The data in this investigation comes from seven cases studies on talent attraction activities carried out by three Science Parks in Sweden. We show that the parks conduct many different activities to attract talent including headhunting key personnel for start-ups, organising establishment platforms for foreign companies, and facilitating the exchange of knowledge and talent with higher education institutions. Science Parks house companies of different sizes, ages, and business orientations and therefore, park managers should be sensitive to the real needs of tenant firms when performing talent attraction activities.