President Obama Aims to Close IT Skills Gap With Recent Initiative

In an effort to drive up higher-income employment, close the skills gap facing the IT industry, and ultimately position the country’s technology sector as a global leader, last month President Obama announced his TechHire initiative. The initiative, which came on the heels of his Executive Order on Cybersecurity, aims to build a larger technology workforce by providing Americans, who may not have access to it otherwise, with hands-on training for high-level IT roles.

“We’ve got to keep positioning ourselves for a constantly changing global economy,” said Obama upon his announcement. “If we’re not producing enough tech workers, over time that’s going to threaten our leadership in global innovation, which is the bread and butter of the 21st century economy.”

To get this initiative off the ground, the President’s administration will provide $100 million in competitive grants to joint initiatives by employers, training institutions, and local governments in order to prepare Americans for opportunities in the ever-evolving IT industry.

With New York City on the list of communities that have committed to participating, it will be interesting to see how the IT job market will be impacted in the months to come.  Stay tuned for updates!