Page 41 - BusinessWest January 9, 2023

TECHNOLOGY >> Securing a T
Workforce
As IT Sector Grows, Attracting New Talent Is a Constant Challenge
BY KAILEY HOULE
[email protected]
he information technology (IT) field in the U.S. is crying out for new talent, with hundreds of thousands of job openings and average salaries ranging from
organization that connects people to train- ing support and career opportunities in the IT field, while also working with employ- ers around the region, from nonprofits and higher education to medical organizations and corporations.
She explained that a lot of workforce- development organizations are not seeing quite as many people engaged in training as they’d hoped for.
Tech Foundry offers about 50 open slots with everything included: a laptop, one-on-one mentoring, internships, and more. Canavan thinks people don’t neces- sarily see themselves in the IT field, with the exception of those who have a love for video games and technology. But her orga- nization’s mission is to connect people to living-wage jobs in IT; increasing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the IT sector for underrepresented and underserved people; while also helping companies thrive by being part of their talent solutions.
“Everybody in the world is completely
$86,000 to over $163,000. So why aren’t more people entering the field? A look at the local landscape sheds some light.
“Even prior to the pandemic, employ- ers were having trouble filling their open positions, and that certainly has been exac- erbated since,” Tricia Canavan said. “We saw from the early days, and continuing
to the present, that available workers are not filling the numbers of the jobs that are available.”
For every two job openings, one per- son is applying to be part of this rapidly growing workforce, said Canavan, CEO of Tech Foundry in Springfield, an IT-focused workforce and economic-development
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Tech Foundry helps people find jobs in the IT workforce.