A central Ohio-wide effort by businesses, universities and public-private partnerships is needed to bridge the gaps between business needs and the IT worker competencies needed in the next five years, says
a new study released late last week.
TechColumbus and
Columbus State Community College, with funding from the
Ohio Skills Bank, worked in partnership with
Wright State University and
Community Research Partners in a four-month analysis of businesses, contractors, consultants, IT workers and universities. The objective was to identify the growth rate for IT jobs, the replacement rate for jobs and the mix of needed jobs and skills.
The study found that between 2006 and last year, 9,000 new IT jobs were created in central Ohio, but that an additional 23,500 IT workers will be needed by 2016. The problem is, there currently aren't enough skilled workers to fill those slots.
The study found:
-- A shortage of workers with required technical skills
-- A need to develop the current workforce in areas relating to soft skills, critical thinking skills and business acumen
-- A shortage of relevant worker training programs
-- Difficulty retaining students in Central Ohio after graduation
-- Increasing worker competition and poaching among local firms
-- Difficulty attracting and retaining talent from outside the region and state
-- Changing relationships and processes between IT contractors and buyers that contribute to the worker shortage.
-- Structural changes in the workforce due to increasing number of “free agents” and aging baby boomers moving into retirement
The report recommends short-term actions that include training programs for high demand jobs, a greater emphasis on internships, innovative collaborative practices among educators, business and public/private partnerships, innovative career and retention practices and regional marketing and recruiting initiatives.
Long term, the report suggests actions ranging from a collaborative system to exchange supply and demand across business and university communities, to marketing central Ohio as a “cool” community.
Tim Haynes, VP of member services and marketing for TechColumbus, says the study was launched based on growing perceptions of the IT environment during the past three to four years. He says the results should provide additional impetus for those affected by the skills gap to work together.
“We believe that many organizations in a position to mitigate the issue will act on this opportunity purely because it’s in their business or program’s best interest,” Haynes says. “In other words, sharing this information will be a catalyst. At the same time, more funding may become (available) to accelerate improvements.”
Source: TechColumbus and Tim Haynes
Writer: Gene Monteith