Even as Apple promoted new technology advancements at the company's "Spring Forward" presentation on Monday, President Barack Obama noted in a speech that more training is needed to produce workers who can fill well-paying tech jobs.
He introduced a new initiative aiming to create, build, and foster more tech talent, called TechHire, during a speech to the National League of Cities.
The president outlined his focus on developing high-tech jobs to make progress on the wage and skills gap plaguing the country.
Having already received 300 commitments from employers and local government in 20 regions of the U.S., TechHire aims to train, hire, and cultivate high-tech workers inside America. In the middle of an unprecedented tech boom, the $100 million program will be unveiled in 21 regions across the country, with Nashville, Chattanooga, and Memphis in Tennesse kicking off the program as the initial partner cities.
According to the White House, more than half a million jobs of the approximately 5 million jobs that are open are in fields ranging from cybersecurity to network administration to software development. The Nashville Technology Council will coordinate its efforts with the surrounding areas within Tennessee to hone the Middle Tennessee tech sector.
"It's us working together as a community to help solve and address the talent gap problem," said Bryan Huddleston, CEO of the Nashville Technology Council.
Through increasing potential worker's knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math, the core subjects in a STEM education, TechHire is set up to deconstruct the barrier stopping un- and underemployed Americans from going without dutiful work. By TechHire reaching out to connect skilled workers with potential jobs, participating companies will launch "fast track" programs to enable on-the-job training. Coding bootcamps will also be developed for women of all ages, minorities of any ethnicity, and veterans from any part of the U.S. military.
By only taking a few months of intensive training, the plan would be to bypass the traditional four-year computer science degree programs to help interested parties quickly place their foot on the ladder of new employment. While universities and community colleges will still do training, high-tech educational schools, coding bootcamps and high-quality online courses will be added to the mix.
TechHire partnerships will focus on expanded regional employer hiring and paid internships for IT jobs such as coding, web development, project management and cybersecurity, where the average salary for workers with high-tech skills is 50 percent higher than the average private-sector American job. Workers will be placed in accelerated training programs based on demonstrated competencies. The program will focus on connecting municipal leadership, workforce development programs and other local resources to get people trained in both alternative and traditional jobs programs based on their skills and job readiness.
Large companies such as Cisco, LinkedIn and Microsoft are standing behind the plan to place science and technology back at the forefront of American ingenuity. As TechHire continues to develop, the federal government has promised to provide an as-of-yet unspecified amount of federal assistance to help local governments facilitate training for these future high-tech workers.
Stagnant wages as well as unemployment is an issue the administration is tackling. Last month, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.5 percent, but average hourly earnings rose just three cents to $24.78 from January. As Congress continues to debate the merits of raising the national minimum wage, the TechHire campaign is creating opportunities.
"Helping more Americans train and connect to these jobs is a key element of the president's middle-class economics agenda," White House deputy press secretary Jennifer Friedman said.
Photo: Anthony Quintano | Flickr
