1QBit Founder & CEO Discusses Need for Skilled Talent to Grow Quantum Companies

(Fortune.com) Quantum companies are racing to hire skilled talent, which is currently limited because the field is so nascent. There are not enough educated quantum tech professionals to meet the employment demands, which include people who are trained in fields like materials science, cryogenics (quantum machines need to run in extremely cold temperatures), as well as quantum theory and development. Andres Fursman, the co-founder and CEO of the startup 1QBit, said that it’s taken five years for his quantum software startup to employ 100 people. Fursman commented during a presentation at Fortune’s annual Brain Tech conference, “..that is “not a sustainable thing to build this industry.”
As for what separates a giant company like Microsoft from his startup in quantum research and development, Fursman cracked wise: “Microsoft has more lawyers than we have employees.”