Your City Has Open Tech Jobs — Let’s Fill Them!
By Aden Van Noppen (Advisor to the US Chief Technology Officer) and Ryan Burke (Senior Advisor in the National Economic Council)
A few years ago, Jayana Johnson was a university student in Long Island until, like too many college students, she had to drop out. She spent several years as an Executive Assistant but felt that she was not reaching her full potential.
Today, 27 year-old Jayana is working as a paid intern at MasterCard, on her way to a web developer job making a well-paid, middle class salary.
Jayana’s trajectory changed when she enrolled in the NYC Web Development Fellowship, a collaboration between the NYC Tech Talent Pipeline, the city’s workforce system, and the Flatiron School. The Fellowship provides 22 weeks of intensive bootcamp-style training. It gives participants skills to compete in the new economy and earn a better life — without requiring a four-year degree. This program taps into Federal Workforce Investment Act funds to cover the cost.
Businesses added 13.5 million jobs over the course of 68 consecutive months of private-sector job growth, extending the longest streak on record. While this progress is significant, there are still more than six million people 17 to 29 years old that are neither working nor in school as well as others who are underemployed.
That is why the President Obama called on cities, states, and rural communities to expand opportunities for young Americans by creating pathways to well-paying tech jobs for those who who may not have access to the training they need. The President’s TechHire initiative is a bold multi-sector effort to increase access to tech jobs by empowering Americans with the skills they need through intensive tech training programs combined with new hiring on-ramps for workers based on their actual skills. The President’s goal is to create more stories like Jayana’s while also meeting the urgent need of employers to fill jobs.
This Tuesday, the White House TechHire Gathering in Baltimore brought together individuals from more than 30 communities that made independent commitments to support the TechHire initiative. They traveled from across the country to share their solutions alongside a wide cross-section of the Baltimore community that is committed to transforming lives and meeting employer needs in the city.
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith and Secretary of Labor Tom Perez launched Baltimore’s bold TechHire plan and announced new Administration support for all communities to expand their work.
The Department of Labor launched a $100 million competition to accelerate the path to well-paying tech jobs for more youth and young adults ages 17 to 29 and individuals with disabilities, limited English proficiency, and criminal records.
In addition, the Administration announced $20 million Department of Labor Training to Work Grant Competition to expand access to tech jobs and other high growth occupations for adults ages 18 and older returning from correctional facilities.
TechHire is demonstrating the powerful combination of providing access to tech skills training and connecting those trained tech workers with businesses in their communities that have urgent hiring needs. It is helping those who can do the job get the job.
Right now, the United States has 5.5 million unfilled jobs –the highest levels since the government began keeping track in 2000. More than 600,000 of these open jobs are available in the information technology field. They include software development, network administration, user interface design, digital marketing and cybersecurity — jobs that companies need filled in order to grow and thrive. These “tech jobs” pay 50 percent higher on average than other private-sector jobs.
Silicon Valley is known for its high-tech industry, but it isn’t the only location where good tech jobs are available. Tech opportunities exist across the country, in industries as diverse as healthcare, retail, manufacturing, energy, and local government. Many of these jobs do not require advanced degrees. Yet often those with the necessary skills are weeded out of the hiring process because of an unconventional resume.
Solutions to tackle this disconnect already exist across America. And that’s what TechHire is about — accelerated tech training and hiring pipelines.
As Secretary Perez shared in Baltimore on Tuesday, “The bottom line is we need to make sure everyone has access to the skills they need to excel in these jobs and share in this economic recovery. To get there, we must support everyone who is trying to build up their skill set and tear down barriers to employment. This is not simply a moral imperative or a social justice imperative, this is about our enlightened self-interest as a nation. It’s about building a stronger nation through shared prosperity.”
Americans in new tech jobs
Tracie Leonard, Baltimore MD
Tracie Leonard and his twin brother Trayvon became homeless before graduating from high school. They lived in a shelter until they found the Baltimore-based tech training program, Digital All Systems. Two months later, the twins were working with Digit All Systems to fix computers and build networks. Over the past few years, Tracie received certifications for Microsoft Office User Specialist, Google Educator, CompTIA A+, and CompTIA Net +. The twins, now twenty three years old, are founders of a technology company called Street Geekz that fixes phones, computers and networks. Partially because of their own experience, Tracie and Trayvon are committed to building and growing their employees’ skills in order to help bridge the digital divide.
Terrence Bowen, Missouri
Terrence Bowen discovered his love for technology while trying to make his job at a print supply store more efficient. He taught himself computer programming online, gaining the skills to make it as a professional programmer, but was repeatedly turned down for jobs since he lacked a college degree and work experience. Despite having a child on the way and knowing a career change would be risky, Bowen decided to apply to LaunchCode after reading about the program.
The St. Louis-based nonprofit facilitated a paid apprenticeship for Terrence at Clearent, a credit card processing company. In less than six months, Bowen was hired as a full-time programmer making 75 percent more than he did before. For Terrance, this experience allowed “employers to focus on his potential instead of what was lacking on his resume.”
Garland Couch, Kentucky
Garland Couch used to work in the coal industry. With nearly two decades of experience, the Whitesburg native worked in many of the positions the industry has to offer. That was until mid-2014 when, in the midst of the ongoing decline in eastern Kentucky coal mining, he became one of roughly 8,000 coal industry employees to find themselves unemployed since 2012.
He was out of work for three months when he found Bit Source, a 22-week software development training program. Garland trained with nine other people, including eight who also worked in coal-related jobs prior to joining Bit Source. In August, they each transitioned into roles as full-time coders.
Today, Garland is a junior coder helping to create websites and the type of apps and games he loved playing during his lunch breaks at Arch Coal.
Garland says he can clearly see that companies like Bit Source and careers in coding have the potential to improve the economy in the eastern Kentucky coalfields and create a new digital employment sector that didn’t previously exist.
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