TechHire working on need for more IT workers

AKRON — TechHire Akron/Summit County, coordinated by ConxusNEO, brought information technology (IT) talent ecosystem partners together recently to develop strategies that will mobilize the community to respond to data detailed in the “Understanding the IT Skills Gap in Northeast Ohio” report (www.conxusneo.jobs/labor-market-information.aspx). Some participants in the meeting are shown above.

Labor market data in the report indicates a significant regional deficit in skilled IT talent exists. A partner in TechHire, RITE gathered input from its newly formed human resources (HR) IT Roundtable that engaged IT talent acquisition specialists, recruiters and other HR professionals to help develop actionable solutions to the talent challenges.

ConxusNEO and the RITE Board have been working to identify opportunities for greater alignment of IT postsecondary education and training with the technical skills needed by companies in Northeast Ohio after finding the following: For every IT graduate there are between three and 10 job postings; graduation from computer science programs at local colleges and universities has remained relatively flat over the past few years; and there is need for curriculum enhancements in certain programs.

According to Conxus officials, TechHire Akron/Summit County grew out of a White House initiative launched in 2015 as a public-private initiative to train more people for well-paying tech jobs through nontraditional accelerated training programs and help companies shift their hiring practices to be more inclusive of this type of training. At the prompting of the late County Executive Russ Pry, Akron/Summit County applied for this designation in August 2015 and received recognition as a TechHire community in November 2015.

Based on this recent skills-gap research, TechHire Akron/Summit County has expanded its scope to include a broader list of priorities to attract more people into IT careers, upskill IT workers into mid-level jobs and create innovative funding models so residents can access training.

The project also was funded by Cuyahoga Community College, Lorain County Community College and Stark State College.

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Staff Writer. (2017, October 12). TechHire working on need for more IT workers. West Side Leader. Retrieved from http://www.akron.com/akron-ohio-business-news.asp?aID=35573