Panel, Conference Presentation
The Talent Crisis: Strategies to Build a Skilled Technology Workforce and Assure Diversity
- The US economy is projected to face a talent shortage of up to 5 million people by 2020, with a current specific deficit of 1.5 million tech workers.
- Fortune 100 companies anticipate a severe talent attack within the next three to five years, driven by a predicted skills gap expected to persist for the next decade that cannot be resolved through traditional credentials alone.
- Current student outcomes indicate that approximately 37% of individuals starting computer science or STEM degrees do not complete them with a degree in the field.
- The Level Playing Field Institute plans to release a report titled "Path Not Found" on May 7th and an interactive website detailing several dozen leaks in the talent pipeline.
- LaunchCode reports a 90% placement rate for IT apprentices, while Opportunity at Work aims to have at least one-third of IT employment in 21 participating communities adopt hiring based on mastery.
- Catalyst IT Services achieved doubled revenue in the last year, maintains an annual turnover rate of 13% compared to the 40-50% competitor average, and expects operating margins twice as high as main competitors.
- About half of the entrepreneurs currently invested in by Cape War Capital are expected to be underrepresented people of color and women.
- Approximately 70 million people in the US job market hold jobs that could be upgraded to better tech roles, though the percentage capable of learning new skills remains unknown.
- Proposals to address the gap include immigration reform to attract global talent, increasing H-3B visa prices by at least 10 times to fund robotics and computer labs in low-income public schools, and engaging in collective action between Silicon Valley and Washington.
- Educational strategies include changing school curricula to teach coding earlier, establishing new engineering schools like the one in New York City to feed local tech ecosystems, and making alternative CS degrees available with paid internships to allow degree completion without student debt in two years.
- Historically black colleges are urged to create campus incubators integrating business, computer science, and art programs to foster future leadership.
- Traditional organizations are expected to require massive re-skilling efforts to remain competitive against tech giants like Google and Facebook, as less than 1% of course descriptions at the top 100 business schools have mentioned emerging digital or social technologies in the last 15 years.
- Failure to proactively train adults based on potential is expected to result in a persistent and worsening talent crisis, necessitating that companies reach into dynamic talent pools if current US talent cannot be secured.