When we think of technology centers, the images of San Francisco or New York may come to mind, but these coastal cities are not the only ones with prosperous technological communities. Heartland cities such as Kansas City, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Detroit are among the fastest growing cities in technology jobs.
In March, CompTIA published its annual Cyberstates Report, confirming this industry trend across the United States. Communities in the Heartland is creating access to training and employment opportunities so that a single parent who works in three jobs or a high school graduate who taught herself how to code can start significant careers in technology.
At the same time, Americans looking for a path to the middle class and fulfilling the American dream are trying to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered by a vibrant and vibrant technology industry. Our organization, Opportunity @ Work, is a social enterprise dedicated to facilitating that.
Through initiatives like TechHire, a national movement with 72 communities across the country, we are working to create avenues for Americans who are overlooked and underrepresented to acquire skills and access open technology jobs throughout the country. The idea behind our efforts is simple: we believe that if you can do the job, you should get the job.
At this time, there are 6.1 million open jobs in the United States, 700,000 of which are in the IT / technology sector. As the demand for technology continues to increase, that number will increase to 1 million by the end of this decade. The current job market is dominated by recruitment processes and prejudices that "eliminate" job seekers based on their past and pedigree, such as resumes and college degrees, denying millions of Americans the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and obtain access to good jobs.
The talent is out there. Between 30 and 40 million Americans started college but they did not finish. It is estimated that 6 million young people in this country are not in school or in a job. The financial incentive is there, too. According to a 2015 CEB report, companies spend an average of $ 407 per day of hiring time, which averages $ 8.5 million per 1,000 vacancies.
Heartland communities and businesses can grow their technology economies by taking advantage of the technological talents that are overlooked and underrepresented in their own backyard. An example of a TechHire community is that the City of Detroit partnered with training provider Grand Circus and employer Quicken Loans to offer a six-week programming camp to community members who want to launch technology careers.
Another example of the community is the city of Birmingham, Alabama, which has partnered with Innovate Birmingham to train and place more than 300 people in technology jobs. Innovate Birmingham received a grant from America's Promise that provides free training to people between the ages of 17 and 29 who qualify to receive training funds. Working in close collaboration with Cocalence, Generation IT, and Birmingham Business Alliance, Cocalence, Birmingham has forged strong partnerships with the community to build the local technology training line.
Americans across the country desperately want and need more access to new career paths, opportunities that will allow them to join the middle class and work, learn and achieve their full potential. If employers had to look beyond traditional talent groups to fill their technology jobs, they could improve financial results while helping underrepresented communities to join growth industries and gain access to more meaningful and lucrative careers . In short, expanding the talent pool would be a boon to the businesses and communities of Heartland that they increasingly call home.
By working with parties on both sides of the problem - employers who need talent and underestimated and ignored talents who need employment - we can link need to need and demand to demand. Opportunity @ Work is creating a process of evaluating an individual's technical and behavioral skills for a variety of IT jobs. We use these assessments to "select" a diverse group of job-ready candidates that employers would otherwise automatically "block", allowing employers to connect with these Americans ready to work.
For Heartland communities to experience a resurgence - and for emerging centers such as Kansas City, Indianapolis and Detroit to maintain their impressive growth - community leaders, local employers and training providers must put their hands together to ensure that people who are out of work or underrepresented in their communities have access to technological training and employers committed to hiring according to skills, not the pedigree.
Breaking some of these structural barriers around hiring practices and the costs of technology training will help reconnect the US labor market. Closing skills and opportunity gaps will benefit both businesses and job seekers, empowering all Americans to join a new technology workforce and create a brighter economic future for the country.
