The year is coming to a close and as we know many people make their resolutions list, the time to make changes in our everyday life, like change to a new job, or starting a career. Maybe you’re thinking about technology and how you could be part of that world.
As 2016 arrives we see ourselves depending everyday more and more on technology, our bank, our phone, it’s how we get our daily information and even our car is relying on computer software technology as we drive to and from. Technology needs are ever increasing and so is the requirement for qualified people to work in this area, but unfortunately, at the same time many American businesses complain they can’t find enough “skilled workers” to fill these positions.
Last March the White House looking to fix this problem launched the Tech Hire initiative, which aims to empower Americans with the skills they need to acquire these Technology jobs. “When these tech jobs go unfilled, it’s a missed opportunity for low-wage workers who could transform their earnings potential with just a little bit of training,” Obama said in March. “And that costs our whole economy in terms of lost wages and productivity.” This initiative will combine forces from colleges, high quality online courses and also non-traditional education like coding bootcamps.
According to the White House, more than 6 million Americans from 16 to 24 years old are out of work and not in school while at the same time, our modern industries need workers with technical skills in areas such as software development, network administration and more. Initiatives like Tech Hire are designed to provide these young workers the opportunity to fill the technology skills gap that has been discussed for a while. For young workers the timing to get into technology today couldn’t be better.
A new report made by CareerCast shows 10 jobs that they expect will be especially difficult to fill next year, among those jobs we find tech jobs like Software Engineer and Data Scientist (you can check the whole list here:http://www.forbes.com/pictures/mkl45ekfji/data-scientist/). It is no surprise to us that Software Engineers are on the list, since the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a faster than average job outlook through 2022. 222,600 Software engineers will be needed to fill those job opportunities. The Conference Board also made predictions about tech jobs, the non-profit research group organization estimates there will be three jobs available for every new computer science college graduate in 2016.
Opportunities in technology continue to grow year over year and 2016 will continue the pattern. If you want to invest in a career in technology don’t waste any time, a college degree, an online course or a coding bootcamp are all good options, you just have to start!